Editors' Note

Connections

The social justice issues that our group brings to the table may be various, but they have a very significant sense of public misunderstanding attached to each of them. Each of us are trying to dispel the myth and show the truth.

The misrepresentation of the BDSM community. The misguided attempts to control reproductive rights. The misrepresentation of people who have broken the law. And finally, the misinformation that could possibly cost us the ability to call Earth “home”.

Each dynamic subject brings something raw and honest to the table and - as a group - we are proud to have an intriguing and determined magazine to deliver to broader audiences. Each of us cares deeply about our topics and we feel our magazine gives our readers the opportunity to discover new perspectives in areas that may feel worn down or familiar.

Revisions

Throughout the creation of the magazine, we all used many different techniques to revise our pieces. As we worked through this project together, we would routinely ask what is the missing point of the piece? How can regain our focus? First, we selected which pieces we felt would both draw in an audience and immediately grab hold of their attention, while also using unique and diverse mediums to ensure our magazine would not become stale for our readers. After discussing what we would all like to do with our Persuasion pieces, we delved into what we could do with our next piece: the Information pieces for the Recidivism and Climate change topics packed a punch of contemplation, while the jolt of the Reproductive Flash Memoir reminds the audience that “it could happen to them”…before finally being lulled by the beauty of the BDSM profile; a comfortable place to learn more about a subject that has crossed all of our minds.

Adaptations

A newspaper. A photo map. A cubism profile. A musical timeline. Our group aimed for different, unique, interesting, and entertaining: a magazine someone would truly want to read. We did this through group meetings, bouncing ideas off each other, discussing what we thought would be a challenge to ourselves and what our audience would want to see…but more importantly, we wanted to be able to give our audience some solid, interesting new information to chew on and to make them reconsider the world around them.

Desiree chose her Profile to adapt because she wanted to create a literal profile of her subject using an art medium to go along with the work. Specifically, she chose the colors of various blues, pinks, and greys in a cubism because those are the color schemes for Planned Parenthood, the organization where Desiree’s subject, Cecile Richards, is President.

The adaptation Sharlyn chose was her notebook activity because she wanted to know what people are saying about climate change, to give her response to their statements and to show another side of how it reflects on animals too. She decided to combine it this way because not only did she want the readers to know about climate change but also to her message across. It gave a good tie-in for her other projects as well. The newspaper was an excellent choice because she wanted it to be a headline that would get people’s attention and let them discover why climate change is an important topic today.

Jaden chose to adapt his Profile project because he felt like Kalief Browder’s story is something everyone can learn from. He specifically chose the Profile project because he felt obligated to share a certain awful situation that any of us could be put in and how a courageous high school boy reacted.

Suzanne chose her notebook activity to adapt into a musical timeline. This project carried the theme of media misrepresentation and showed how stereotypes and misconceptions are projected not just in movies and televisions but also in the music we listen to every day. The stigma and shame surrounding these practices are so commonplace we don’t even question whether it is right to call them freaks and outcasts.

Choices

Desiree chose her Flash Memoir because it was her most personal piece this semester and it felt important to share because it represents a moment all of us could find ourselves in. Overall, she says her other assignments felt more like homework and the projects she chose to place in the magazine feel more like her heart and soul went into them.

When Sharlyn was selecting papers for the magazine, she wanted to have information that would be relevant to her topic about climate change. She decided to use her information effect piece to help allow her to discuss what is global warming, why is it a big deal, and what could happen if we don’t solve the issue. She decided to use a Venngage to help explain those questions and make it easier for people to study the causes, evidence, impact, and prevention.

Sharlyn used her persuasion effect piece to help with discussing the economy and how it affects natural disasters by billons of dollars. She used a Prezi because she wanted her readers to feel like was easy for them to navigate through her piece and not get lost along the way. In the end, it just came together so perfectly and was well put together. The pieces helped explain a problem that is affecting not only Utah, but the world.

Sharlyn decided not to use her flash memoir or profile because they wouldn’t fit in with the information she was providing already. It wasn’t really going to have a natural flow to it. It was a tough decision to make because her profile project was one that she loved.

Jaden chose the Information and Persuasion projects because he felt they were his strongest. At first he chose to do a text based article with media but after many revisions, he chose to adapt his persuasion project to an infographic. This helped him to easily get information across while presenting a strong rhetorical argument.

Jaden excluded his personal memoir because he felt it was the least qualified for the magazine project. For example, the Profile project had a substantial amount of evidence and credibility that directly correlates with his issue whereas the Flash memoir did not. He knew by translating his Profile into an infomap, he could make it into something he could be proud of.

Suzanne’s persuasion piece focused on the media misrepresentations of BDSM in society. Specifically, it talks about Fifty Shades of Grey and the horrifying ways it misrepresented a community of people. Suzanne chose to include her Profile project into this piece to bring a real face to BDSM. Our misconceptions and stereotypes are so ingrained that most people imagine a dominatrix, unstable person, wealthy eccentric or nymphomaniac. They don’t understand that the very normal person standing in line next to them at the grocery store may be into BDSM. That doesn’t make them a freak or weird. It is simply another aspect of their personality. By showing how very normal Liz is, the Profile project sets the tone for how out of line our assumptions are.

Suzanne excluded her information effect project and flash memoir because they did not contribute to the rhetoric of the article. Both had good information and were decent arguments when read on their own but as part of this magazine, they did not contribute to the voice we wanted.

Discoveries

There were a lot of discoveries made throughout the writing and revision process for this magazine. We discovered:

Writing is a resource people use to do things, be things, and make things in the world: Our writings are resources in that they reflect well researched and cited statistics, facts, studies, and pattern. Our topics provide a base for people to leap off into the bigger picture of our subject matter, with solid information to consider and compare against the other information they encounter in their studies.

Writing is a form of action. Through writing, people respond to problems and can create change in the world. Our writing calls for people to act. Correct your friends and family when they say something incorrect. Write to your representatives. Vote. Protest. March. Or even do something as simple as starting to recycle. Every action matters and helps make the world a better place.

Meaningful writing is achieved through sustained engagement in literate practices (e.g., thinking, researching, reading, interpreting, conversing), and through revision. Look at it. Then look at it again. Then look at it upside down. Then have someone else look at it. An ever-evolving perspective and challenge to push ourselves further took our works to new levels and not only questioned other people and their beliefs, but through thinking and talking and revision and receiving peer feedback, we built upon what we thought we knew and turned our pieces into pinnacles of thought, provocation, and intrigue.

Advice

Meet early and create a plan.
Be confident in your choice.
Have an end rhetorical goal so that you can stay on track during revisions.
Communication is key. Use the discussion boards, texts, online meetings or whatever is easiest for your team.

Evaluation

The consensus of our group is that we did a great job working together by putting in the amount of effort required for a well-rounded magazine.

We made progress from beginning to end by communicating through email, text messages, and online communication platforms. This allowed us the opportunity to make improvements that we wouldn’t have otherwise.

We learned that by taking a step back and seeing the whole picture from many points of view, we pushed each other to create some of our best work.

We feel the magazine is strong in all its objectives because everyone took the time to thoroughly research their issue and thus create some amazing pieces; the layout and the study made it possible to put this magazine together as smoothly as we did.

We are proud to present our magazine to you and we hope you learn to seek the truth.