What, specifically, is this piece trying to accomplish—above and beyond satisfying the basic requirements outlined in the prompt? In other words, what work does, or might, this piece do? For whom? In what contexts?
The goal of my piece for my third major project is creating content and resources that are student friendly inorder to educate students who in turn can turn into advocates. My assignment I decided to focus on the Chicago Teachers' Union protests. I had realized through the selection of my topic for class how uneducated I was on what current events were happening in Chicago. I am originally from a Chicago suburb so when I am home during breaks, I am much more in the know of what is going on in the city. However, when I venture back to Champaign suddenly my awareness of anything that is going on outside of the 61820 bubble is nonexistent. I felt as though this is a problem for a ton of college students who lack the time to watch the nightly news or read long lengthy articles. Thus came the idea behind my project. I wanted to create transmodal media that can help educate college students be being easy to read and not take up a ton of time. Half of the transmodal pieces are made to educate the audience on what the protests were about and more importantly where the CTU is now in regards to upcoming contracts. The other two transmodal media are used to support the cause. I wanted to create options for students who view my educational pieces but want to take the next steps and get involved. Essentially the project is an extension of what the Chicago Teachers' Union does online by offering resources and ways that you can get involved with the causes. However, by being a student that is not directly in Chicago it can feel difficult to get involved and truly understand what is going on from miles away. My hope is this project will be able to educate students about what happened and also give them a starting point to show their support.
What specific choices did you make to accomplish the goal(s) you outlined in your response above? Consider the rhetorical principles, methods, materials and technologies (everything from pen and paper to Photoshop) that you chose in your process. Include choices that you might not have consciously made, such as those that were made for you when you opted to work with certain genres, materials and technologies.
For my project I ended up creating four transmodal materials. The first I wanted to create was a short minute long video that could be watched as a summary as to what the protests were about and how they ended. I really wanted to focus on making this video under 1 minute long inorder to best target my audience of students. 18-22 year olds are used to social media where videos are no more than a few minutes long so I wanted to keep that same format. When doing research to create this project I had to read through multiple articles in order to fully understand what had happened during the protests. The entire time I wished there was a quick summary that got to the main points of the protest to make it easier to know what I should focus on. To make the video I used imovie and some photos regarding the protests. The editing was simple as I wanted them to focus on my voice over explaining the incident. However, I did try to input videos or interviews into the video rather than photos. I think if I could of done this the video would become more engaging and enjoyable to watch. This video would ideally be shareable on social media to allow other students who watch it be able to send it to friends. I chose it to be posted on social media because that is where my audience is and now more than every people are using instagram stories as a platform to share their interests and causes. If my video was posted on an instagram account designed to share news students would be able to share it with friends to spread more awareness on the cause.
The next object I created was an infographic that summarized some of the major changes the Chicago Teachers Union won through the protests. This was also something I thought could be of use to the CTU itself. On the website they have a breakdown article of the results of the protest but it is lengthy and difficult to understand. I decided to simplify it in order to make it easier to read and get to the point as quickly as possible. To make the infographic I used Canva and based the design off of the color scheme of the CTU. I wanted to make it clean and focus on the major changes that they advocated for throughout the process. Due to their being too many changes to include on a concise graphic I decided to put a link to their website and socials in order to encourage readers to learn more on their own time. By not supplying all the information in one place I am giving my audience a path to directly interact with the cause on their own rather than a third party. I think it is important when advocating for a cause on another platform then their actual brand websites you lead the audience directly to that brand or give them a reason to want to continue learning. If you don’t you are not helping the cause gain any more followers or potential advocators.
Finally, my last two transmodal examples go together. For this portion of the project I wanted to give students ways they can get involved with CTU and support them all the way from Champaign. To do this I created a sticker and t-shirt design that will be sold giving a portion of the money raised to the Chicago Teachers' Union to be put towards improving schools. I chose on doing a sticker and t-shirt because I feel they are common fundraising tactics on college campuses and an easy way to advocate for a cause. Students are always buying stickers to put on their water bottles and laptop cases to showcase their interest. The sticker I designed is simple and does not verbally say anything as to what it stands for. I did this on purpose so that it can spark conversation. When I see stickers I think are cool or don’t recognize I will ask what it means. I hope that this sticker being a basic design will cause students to ask about it to learn more. By initiating conversation I am giving students the chance to explain the issue and have open and honest conversations about the goals for the CTU with those who want to learn. The t-shirt I designed uses this same design on the front pocket but the back says in bold letters “Support Chicago Teachers”. I again chose to keep the design simple as when you are walking to class or on the street you don’t have time to read a complex shirt design. Also something that is simple and to the point can grab more students attention as to what the cause is that you are advocating.
Why did you end up pursuing this plan as opposed to the others you came up with? How did the various choices listed above allow you to accomplish things that other sets or combinations of choices would not have?
Originally, I wanted to focus on a topic of body positivity. I looked at a hashtag called #EffYourBeautyStandards. The basis of this cause is redefining what beautiful is by showcasing those of all colors and sizes. I liked the idea behind the cause but it was a very stern side of the argument. I think it intimidated me to be working with that cause as the structure was not very obvious. While their instagram account was regularly active I couldn’t find a ton of concrete evidence or explanation on if they did anything besides post on social media. Also the head of the cause is a member of the beauty industry herself which made the goal of the hashtag also confusing taken that she is a paid model. For this project I wanted to be sure I chose I cause that I understood completely and had a lot of evidence on. I think that #EffYourBeautyStandards had a great message but not enough content for me to feel as though I understood them enough as a group to advocate for them. I liked the message and respect what they are doing but for the project there was not enough to work with.
I decided to move forward with the Chicago Teachers Union because as I mentioned before it really bothered me that I had no idea it was happening when it did. I hated the feeling of not being educated on what was going on around me. Due to that I wanted to learn about the situation and be able to create a project that allowed me not only to teach others but also give them a chance to get involved as well. I think that due to the extensive nonfiction articles and graphs I could look at regarding this cause I was in a better place to accomplish this project then I was with my first idea.
How did you draw on research and course readings when creating your project? Here you should discuss at least 3 sources, at least two of which should be from the course readings. The final source can also be from the course, or it may be research that you sought out on your own for the purpose of this project. In answering this question, consider how you can articulate the theoretical grounding behind your work, connecting that groundwork to your goals and choices.
After reading#GirlsLikeUs: Trans advocacy and community building online I was impressed by the way at which Janet Mock and Laverne Cox were able to remove themselves from the community but still organize it and run it. Much like the Chicago Teachers' Union lead the cause they were only a piece in the puzzle when advocating for it. When you looked up #FairContractsNow it was mostly teachers, community members, or students who were advocating for the cause on their socials. CTU mostly only posted news and resources to learn more about the protest. Based on what was said about #GirtlsLikeUs it appears this group focused a lot of their energy on educating and calling to action. To do this many members would tweet about local trans awareness groups that were happening or post about articles regarding acts of trans violence or awareness. The platform was very much used to inform in order to cause change. I think this benefited the community as they were not attacking anyone with their power but rather trying to help and encourage those listening. I feel when any community attacks haters, it causes their purpose and goals to be lost. I think that #GirlsLikeUS did a great job at focusing on celebrating trans women and sharing with their community resources and information in order to call encourage change. Based on what they did within their community I wanted to reflect their morals in my transmodal media. I wanted to focus on educating and advocating rather than tearing down the Chicago Public Schools for not listening to the requests of the teachers.
Other sources I used during this project included news articles explaining the situation from outside sources. While I could learn a lot about the protests from the Chicago Teachers' Union itself I knew if I was to advocate for their cause in the best light I had to fully understand what was happening. I truly believe in being educated on both sides before I choose my position in the argument. In any scenario when there are conflicting opinions I never want to be the one that does not have the full story, so to be sure I understood what happened during the protests I read news articles that strictly reported the incidents. This helped me have a basic understanding of what the protests were regarding and how each side handled the situation. I then looked to the Chicago Teachers’ Union to understand more about their cause so I could best explain their community. Reading these articles was crucial to one of my transmodal pieces being my video. If I wanted to create something that was going to be used in place of reading a ton of news articles I had to be sure that it included correct information. I based everything I said within my shortened video off of articles to be certain that I was explaining the situation fully and accurately.
Finally, I also reflected back to the article “Transmodality in Action” by Artz, Hashem, and Moody. In this article the authors discussed transmodality and its importance in allowing creators to interpret, adapt, and retell stories. In a way I was retelling the story of the Chicago Teachers Union protests to a new audience who may have not been educated on them before. When retelling a story you want it to be recognizable but not just regurgitating the same information in the same way. To avoid this I focused on the simplification and efficiency that I was delivering the information. I wanted it to be student friendly inorder to have the best chance of drawing my audience in. Through this article I learned the importance of using modes to accomplish different goals, hence why half of my work is to educate while the other half is to advocate. Each offers a different experience to the user causing them to want to pay attention and learn about the community.
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