To start, I would like to revisit my original topic from Essay #1 which was gender inequality. I believe both topics I chose were very important and meaningful issues and I would like to try and incorporate both within my essay. If I were to include both I believe my audience would be considered those who are afraid to fight for what they believe in. With this in mind, I plan to use a visual genre. I would like to include pictures of the different time periods within the Black Lives Matter movement and the fight for women’s rights. I could possibly create and collage of all of the pictures I have found or make a slideshow to show how the movements have progressed over time. My main goal within this essay is to provide examples of how speaking up for what you believe in and doing things such as protesting could really change a country for the better. Because my audience is those who are unaware of the power of speaking up, I think providing photos of protests or marches would hopefully change their mind. In my last essay, I focused specifically on America and the impact #BlackLivesMatter had on the country. However, I would like to focus, this time, on nations all around the world. I feel as though because this is such an influential topic it would be important to not limit myself to one country. I believe using a visual genre, I would be able to show the progress across the world very well.

The previous topic I wrote about was the foster care system and how the conditions foster kids undergo have an impact on their behavior. I would like to readdress this issue on the following visual genres.

There are two different types of audiences I’m targeting, that being previous foster kids and the people in power in relation to the foster care system, this includes social workers and the Department of Child Protective Services.

With that being said, one of the genres I intend on using is an advertisement. Advertisements can be seen anywhere by anyone at any given time, especially a subway advertisement. If previous foster kids see an advertisement addressing an issue they’ve experienced, they would be more likely to speak up about anything they went through so they didn’t feel so alone. I’m thinking about using images found online of kids going through a happy childhood and kids going through the conditions presented in the foster care system to demonstrate the difference. However I want to use a little editing to almost blend the two images to illustrate how their situation has been overlooked.

As for the other genre I intend on using, I’m debating between a poster or a political cartoon. Both could raise awareness on issues occurring within the system while also demonstrating its effects on the kids. Through these genres, I can appeal to social services and the Department of Child Protective services to pay close attention to the situations these kids have undergone. While a poster could provide all this information in both visual and textual formats, a political cartoon might draw the attention of more individuals because of its visual and emotional appeal.

The topic of my research essay was how to improve the quality of American education. My purpose was to present potential solutions in improving American education with the help of many sources. The main audience for my essay was educators since they are mainly in charge of ensuring the education of students. They need to understand possible solutions in improving the quality of American education so the students can be nurtured well and not fall victim to the flaws of the system such as being pressured to perform well due to certain expectations. For this assignment, I plan on using visual genres to convey my message about how the American education system is flawed. I think visuals are good for audiences like educators because it shows them a bigger picture of what the issue is and gives them a general idea on how to solve certain issues. I can use a poster to convey my message about the problems within American education. For now, I thought about making bullet points on the flaws of it as well as including some sort of picture that demonstrates those flaws. My next visual genre is leaning towards a meme in which it would be a mockery towards American education which can bring the educator’s attention since the issue can be serious. I have a general idea of what to include in my meme in which it would show how the American education is lacking behind other countries by including the difference between them like the concept of standardized tests, homework, and teacher pay.

In my research-based essay, I addressed the negative impact of social media on adolescents. I would like to further inform my audience of the negative consequences of social media by using visuals. I think that visuals are an important part of understanding.  I feel like a lot of people prefer visuals more than long written work. For my genres, I would like to consider four examples such as poster, PowerPoint presentation, subway advertisement, or meme.  The reason I want to make a poster is that I can inform my audience of the consequences of social media by using visual art and some spoken words. I would place a big image of the “broken” brain/mind in the center of the poster, to draw attention to the mental health issues caused by social media. On the top center, I would put real quotes from real people affected by social media with ream comments from SM such as “They said I look fat”. At the bottom, I would consider using some statistics about suicide, depression, and anxiety rates. I also think that a similar project would also complement the subway advertisement. I would focus on the facts and put something creative to catch attention. Although the similarities, the PowerPoint presentation would straightforwardly inform the audience, with facts, pictures, and videos.  However, I feel like a subway advertisement is a great way to reach the specific intended audience since almost every person of every age rides the train. Another genre I thought of using is a meme. I feel like memes are a great way to catch someone’s attention, especially something that is relatable. I would consider putting a hilarious image with some text that complements my research topic. Although the implementation of a humorous aspect, I would try to make the tone serious so the audience is aware of the negative effects of social media. 

In my previous research essay, my research topic was rape, which is now a serious issue in our world. Most of the developed countries are trying to overcome this problem. For this assignment, I choose a political cartoon for my visual genre. This political cartoon has an extreme significance to influence my audience and help them to change their perspective. I collect this political cartoon from an Indian Newspaper called “The Indian Express.” This political cartoon was clearly indicated the same issue that I already talked about in my research essay. It’s not so surprising a girl who is experienced sexual harassment, the second guess in our society is her outfit. But this political cartoon is trying to transforming our mind by adding a “Not” in the last line. In the end, the last line was too significant because we can’t judge anyone’s outfit, and “Showing skin is not a crime but rape is a crime.”

 My main intended audiences are our government officers and police officers who are trying their best to stop this crime. They need to make sure that the victim must report the incident that she experienced. Sometimes the victim’s family doesn’t want to report the incident for getting thread or fear of getting attacked. So, our government and police officers need to protect the victim’s family and encourage them to file a case. Secondly, our parents or guardian plays a huge role in our life. Our parents or guardians need to encourage their daughters to join the self-defense programs and encourage them in every step they made in their life to become successful. Our feminists who are working for women’s rights are also part of my audience. Their role is to make sure women get equal rights as men and support them to report any sexual harassment they experience to the police. Also, they need to make sure the victim gets justice. 

Another Genre that I am trying to use will be a poster or I will choose a political cartoon. That will encourage my audience to look at the problem and make certain improvements in our society. A political cartoon allows my audience to deliver information effectively and it is easy to transfer your message to your audience. 

The topic of my second essay revolved around the college education system in the United States. Throughout the article, I tried to maintain an informative stance regarding the benefits and drawbacks of attending college in the United States. The purpose of my essay was mainly to provide awareness and inform those who wish to know more about an important system that many will have to think about at some point in their lives. The primary audience in regards to my second essay and this assignment are students in the United States and more specifically, high school students thinking about their future regarding college education. Due to high school students being the primary audience for this assignment, I believe using a visual genre is a good choice in regards to the audience as it will attract their attention more easily. Visuals are generally more appealing to younger generations than a long essay would be. More specifically, I believe I can convey the same purpose I had in my second essay through an informative poster about a college education. This poster will be used to provide direct statistics and facts for students to read without it being very wordy. Another specific visual genre that I can use is advertisements for a certain college. The advertisement must use conveying strategies to draw students into wanting to apply there. These are good genres to use for my topic because we see posters being put up around high school hallways for students to look at while they walk by going from one class to another, and many high school students also take public transportation in cities where we see advertisements being shown all around.

The topic of my inquiry-based research essay was about the effects rape has on victims and different ways we can minimize the numbers of rape. I want to go on the same path by writing about violence against women in every form. I want to focus on the people who are not interested in the topic understand the issue and also those who disagree with certain parts of the topic. I will be using videos of victims expressing their feelings and what they went through. I will also be using data that will prove the massive number of women who are going through physical harassment every single day. I want to make a video because it will give the audience a clear visual of how affected these individuals are from the trauma they are going through. Which will help them to understand the situations these women go through and spread awareness about this issue.
Another genre to spread awareness about violence against women and the effects is an opinion editorial. It will provide me with more information and maybe help me to look at the issue from a different perspective. I will be able to use more information and knowledge on how we can provide safety to the women population.

For Essay #3- Composition in Two Genres, I would like to explore the contrast of opinions centered around one of the possible contributing factors to the Covid-19 crime spike. As addressed in my research-based essay, the divide among Americans when it comes to law enforcement is growing alongside social and political unrest. These existing contentions may have been further aggravated by the mandated stay-at-home orders and eventual virus fatigue leading to widespread eruptions of discontent. Because my intended audience are working class and urban dwelling citizens who watch local news broadcasts and read national newspapers, I would like to borrow from The New Yorker magazine’s cartoon captioning contest concept and alter two cartoon captions to represent opposition of the same issue. My ultimate goal is to locate one cartoon that can embody two contradictory mindsets just by adapting the nuance of the caption. A cartoon that is subtle enough in its illustration to run in two distinctly different publications that target audiences with opposite viewpoints by simply manipulating the text presented underneath. I was mindful in my research paper to present both supporting and challenging stances to influential crime factors; I think it would be interesting to represent that same model in a pictorial context. I am also considering writing a Letter to the Editor in response to one of the feature articles sourced for my paper. This would be my secondary genre alongside the visual genre.

I again want to focus on homelessness for this assignment. I will continue to focus on the issue of homelessness in New York City. When looking at the sample assignments, I became inspired because I have seen many political cartoons, social media memes, and ads regarding my topic. But, once I read that I had to create my own visual aids, I was worried if my own version of images like this would be too similar to some that already exist. However, I want my two genres to be a poster and a political cartoon. I feel that, when not too hard to interpret or analyze, political cartoons and posters are very effective in getting a message across to an audience. Despite this, I was also thinking about using advertisements, as I have seen advertisements speaking on the topic of homelessness. Or maybe even commercials. But, I am not sure how to make my own commercial. I want to communicate how important this issue is to my audience. Because it is such a normalized injustice, as we are often exposed to homeless people, I feel that our society just accepts how things are. Maybe I can communicate how, just like that, you could be homeless as well. People get so comfortable in the positions they are in regarding money or housing, the possibility of any of us becoming homeless seems so out of reach. Nonetheless, things happen, people who are not homeless end up becoming homeless. For example, my coworker’s building caught on fire when she was younger. She lost everything and had to live in a church. Maybe I will include how one can be a solution to this issue. I know when we come together as a community to help someone, a lot can be done. For example, many gofundme pages go around detailing someone in a vulnerable situation, in need of money. Maybe people can become encouraged to pool money among a lot of people to donate towards organizations that aid and support our homeless population. I want my target audience to be citizens of the United States. I want to encourage my audience to think critically about their place in this world, how they can help uplift our homeless population, how privileged we really are.

My inquiry based research essay was written on the topic about the abuse of immigrant detention centers and the concerning impacts it has on detainees. I think for this essay I want to continue my based essay on immigrant facility abuse on and focus my audience on educators and government officials. I want to use the political cartoon and poster as my use of pushing my topic to a view of understanding. Since my audience are going to be mainly educators and government officials I feel that a political cartoon will further give a visual representation of what is clearly going on in the picture. Furthermore, I will also elaborate the posters and political cartoon to give a specific explanation of what is being showcased and the message it is trying to send to the audience. I am thinking of considering the option of using additional visual representations to represent the message and impact that the immigration detention centers have on detainees that are locked under inhuman conditions. I feel that the visual genre is the best route for me because the representation of what men, women, and children go through from beginning to end in detention facilities. I feel that I should incorporate real life situations as a result of abuse in detention centers, because most people do not receive the recognition needed to showcase the real life things happening. Beginning the process by researching political cartoons and real life visuals with quotes from people who have experienced being in a detention centers and what is was like.