Reflection Final
By: Aly Gorday
5 May 2016 Beth Eakman Re St. Edward’s University Campus Mailbox #998 South Congress Avenue Austin, Texas 78704 Dear Beth, I would like to start off by thanking you for all your help this semester. You have truly expanded my knowledge as a writer. In rhetoric and composition 1, my professor taught us about rhetoric. He said that rhetoric is the art of using language effectively. Knowing this information before starting rhetoric and composition 2 helped advance my learning on how to use rhetoric. Throughout this class, I have learned a lot about myself as a writer. As a writer, I learned how I think as a writer and researcher. I saw how I developed my thoughts and put them on paper through rhetoric, composition, research, critical reading and moral reasoning. In our first assignment, I was asked to record a brief fifteen-minute screen capture video of myself seeking information about wild horses in North America. It was thought-provoking to watch the video afterwards because I never thought about my research strategy, I simply just did it. I would consider myself very good at researching because I think the strategy I used throughout my first assignment shows how my research strategy is effective. From watching the video, I learned how I research which helped with my second assignment of writing a memo. The subject of the memo was myself and my research strategies. I re-watched my video and saw how I conducted research. I started by looking up the background information on my topic because I had never researched wild horses in North America so I did not know much about them. From the background information, I found an article on the origin of wild horses. Within this article, I came across a term I had never heard of but I found it to be important so I googled the term. After looking into the origin, I moved into the history to find that they are Spanish horses that had migrated. When I completed the background information, I wanted to research any debates within the topic. I
found a debate and read both sides of it and from the debate article; it led me to the problem of horse overpopulation. By this time, my fifteen minutes were over but I covered a lot of information with my strategy so I found it to be very effective for me as a researcher. Realizing how I conduct research, I noticed that I use this strategy when I begin a new assignment. It has helped me gather evidence. Learning how I conducted my research helped when I had to write a research report on what writing and research look like in my discipline. This assignment consisted of two parts: conducting research and then writing a report on my findings. I interviewed a student, professor and professional to gather evidence about what kind of writing was done as a graphic designer. I had trouble understanding the objective of this paper. When I turned in my first copy, I thought I had done it correctly but after talking to you, I saw where I had made mistakes. I was not specific enough and I did not truly explain the kind of writing that was done as a designer. I did not note the type of writing that was done nor did I give examples of the writing graphic designers use. I could not get across that yes designers do using writing, but we use it in different ways and in unconventional ways. Designers use writing through proposals and with our visual works. Designers use both persuasive and argumentative writing. Designers use persuasive writing to convince their audience or clients that they are the best person for the job. They use argumentative writing to argue that their skill level as a designer is best fit for the projects their clients or audience will ask of them. Designers also speak through shapes, mediums, and colors. Designers speak their own language with objects, structures and relations. This is how graphic designers write and they use proposals to help those who are not graphic designers understand the visual language in a better way. It is important as a designer to learn the language of design to be fully capable of communicating to their audiences. This assignment then led to my hot topic research paper. I was asked to find a debate within my discipline. I struggled at first because I could not find a debate within my discipline that had a lot of evidence to back up either side but then I came across the issue of copyright in graphic design. Every day, designers are faced with the question of who owns the design, the client or the designer? It is important that every artist have an understanding of copyright law. Second only to an artwork’s aesthetic qualities, it is copyright law that drives a work’s value and integrity. This is because copyright law establishes and defines what it is
that the artist owns of his or her work, both while the artist possesses the work and after the work has been sold, copied, displayed or performed. Throughout this research paper, I start by defining copyright law and giving the background information on it so that my audience will understand what I am talking about. I clarify the many different aspects of copyright so that when I get to the debate my audience can understand both sides of the argument. This class has not only taught me about writing but it has also taught me about my discipline. I have learned how writing is involved with graphic design because coming into college, I did not think writing was a big part of my major but throughout the countless assignments on my discipline I learned how valuable writing is. Finally, the last assignment was a remix project. For this assignment my group and I were asked to describe the concept of transfer through multiple modes. My group decided to do a comic with audio and then we put it on YouTube. Personally, I feel that my group conveyed the meaning of transfer through multiple modes of rhetoric for the assignment. When looking back on all my assignments, I see how I changed as a writer. Every assignment taught me something different about writing but it also taught me more about graphic design. Coming into this class, I had always excelled on my papers but you truly taught me how to develop my thoughts throughout my paper and how to be specific. I think organization and development have been my biggest improvements in this class. I saw the differences in my development from writing a research paper in my discipline to writing a hot topic research report. I still face challenges as a writer. Yes, I have become better at development but I have not mastered it yet. I think working on it and asking for help from my professors and the writing center will help me get over this challenge. Again, thank you for being such an amazing mentor not only in writing but also as a designer. Sincerely, Aly Gorday