Writing Project 1

Author's Note:

In preparing to undertake this writing project, the first, and possibly most important thing to me was choosing an image that I would enjoy looking at every day, that I cared about, and that I understood. Once I found my image, I knew that I was going to be able to write an essay that not only fit the criteria for the assignment, but would also bring awareness to a situation that I feel incredibly passionate about.

When I began the writing process the one major obstacle that I faced was determining the argument that my photo was making. I knew about the social relevance and how important the cause surrounding the photo was to me, but actually deciding what the photo was trying to say and the point it was attempting to get across was a struggle for me to determine at first. And it wasn’t until I went back through my statement of purpose did I realize that the drive I had to tell people about this relatively unknown cause was a possible motivation for the photographer as well and therefore was possibly part of the argument the photo was making. As soon as I became conscious of that idea, the rest of the essay quickly fell into place.

For my first draft of the essay, I focused on getting my basic points across and making sure that I was able to accurately convey the argument the photo is making, which I feel that I was able to do. However, when it came time to read my reviews of the first draft, I was able to reread what I had written and decided that not only were there other, possibly more effective ways to state things, but there was a major point supporting the photo’s argument missing. It was suggested that I reevaluate and potentially add to my point about how the arrangement of the subjects in the photo and how they are developed rhetorically. From this suggestion I added in a point that I feel added quite a bit of weight to my argument. It was like the point that tied everything together and drove home the argument of the photo. Other major revisions that I made to the first draft were rearranging some of the information to create a better more logical flow, and reworking the introduction so that it was more effective at presenting the information.

For the second draft, I felt that I had a solid essay, and indeed my revision suggestions were much more concentrated on smaller more minute details. It was suggested that I tie how the notion of camaraderie is fostered in the photo. I felt that adding in this point would provide another effective example of how pathos helps develop the argument made by the photo. Also, for the final revision, I looked through the essay and reworked some of the wording that I used so that all of my points and arguments were all as clear and concise as possible.

The final draft of my essay is not only the culmination of our pre-writing exercises, various peer reviews, and my two previous drafts, but it is also the product of my desire to convey information about a topic that I feel very passionate about.

Rough Draft 2

Rough Draft 1

Statement Of Purpose

Final Draft:

The above photo was taken in early 2008 in Uganda. Uganda is a landlocked country in Eastern Africa bordered by Kenya, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, and Rwanda. (Wikipedia, Uganda) For the last 23 years Uganda has entrenched in a brutal civil war between the Government of Uganda, currently headed by President Yoweri Museveni, and The Lord’s Resistance Army.

The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) is a rebel guerrilla army formed in 1987 by Joseph Kony, who is a self-proclaimed “spokesperson” of God and a spirit medium. The LRA, recognized as a terrorist organization by the United States, adheres to a blend of Christianity, Mysticism, witchcraft, and claims to be establishing a theocratic state based on the Ten Commandments. The LRA is accused of widespread human rights violations including abduction, murder, mutilation, and the sexual enslavement of women. Kony and the LRA are possibly most known for abducting children and forcing them to fight in his army. “It is estimated that over 90% of the LRA’s troops were abducted as children” (Invisible Children). In an attempt to protect people from the LRA the Ugandan government forcibly evicted thousands from their homes and pushed them into overcrowded communities that have come to be known as displacement camps. Now, over a decade later, over a million people still live in displacement camps and along with the ever-present threat from the LRA “struggle to survive among the effects of abject poverty, rampant disease, and near-certain starvation” (Invisible Children). The displacement camps have offered few opportunities for cash income, almost no credit available, and very few of the people receive support from relatives living outside the camps. The main means of support for the camps is international humanitarian aid, which is never enough.

The knowledge about the conditions under which the people of Uganda must live their daily lives is something foreign and unfathomable to most American citizens. It is true that over “37 million Americans live below the official poverty line and millions more struggle to get by every month,” (AmericanProgress.org) but to be evicted from your home, herded and held in a community with no opportunity for income, and living in constant fear for your life is a way of life that few Americans, and other audiences of this photograph are able assimilate with or fully understand.

Upon first glace, this photo might simply appear to be a simple snapshot of young boys looking at their village in Africa. And indeed this is the case. However, this photo, and many others like it, force us to look beyond what we see in the first glance and begin to understand that the photo was taken purposefully to illustrate an argument about another, distinctly different, way of life, one in which contemporary American audiences may find to be incomprehensible. The photographer is using the photo as a catalyst that allows the audience to experience first hand the struggles of the people portrayed in the photo. The key elements in this photo work together to illustrate the significance of the historical and social context, describe the relevance of ethos, pathos, and logos as rhetorical appeals, as well as demonstrate the importance of vectors of attention and their relation to the argument made by the photo.

It is not only the knowledge of world events and historical contexts that lend themselves to help the audience understand the photo’s argument. The arrangement and vectors of attention play a large role in providing insight into the argument as well. According to Compose, Design, Advocate, vectors of attention are, “lines of direction that our eyes follow,” (CDA, 350). The vectors of attention found in the photograph are focused toward the displacement camp. The subjects are centered in the middle of the photograph, so they are certainly the first things that you notice when looking at the picture as they are the largest and take up the most space. But then, your attention turns to what they are looking at, or what their attention is directed on. It seems that the vectors of attention are such that your attention is drawn to the center of the photo, and then encourage you to work slowly outward. The way that the boys are standing also, with the tallest in the center and the shorter boys on each side, also directs your initial attention to the center of the photo. But there is something else to be explored about the arrangement. The boys are looking away from the camera and we cannot see their faces. This decision could be one made simply to encourage the audience to make the connection between the boys and the displacement camp below them, but it could also be something more; a rhetorical statement about the world that American citizens do not know about, and do not see. The boys see the devastation and horrors happening all around them, but the American audiences viewing the photo do not see them, cannot see them. The three boys represent the over 32 million residents of Uganda, (Wikipedia, Uganda) who remain faceless victims of violence and mere statistics to an unassuming United States population.

The arrangement of the subjects and vectors of attention are also an appeal to pathos and logos as well. There are many strong appeals to pathos in this photo, most of which are created by the vectors of attention and arrangement. By having the three boys centered in the photo and standing right next to each other, not only does it draw your attention to them right away, it eludes that they might be friends or brothers and evokes in the viewer a sense of compassion and empathy, as most of us can think of and relate to the loving feelings that we have for our own friends. With the boys so close together it fosters a notion of camaraderie. Many of us were on sports teams as children where we had to work together to win a game, and many more of us have jobs where we must work closely with our associates and develop a working relationship to accomplish various goals. In each of these cases, you had to rely on your teammates and associates for support because they seemed to be the only other people who understood your situation. Similarly, the boys in the photo depend on each other for support and understanding, as they are the only ones who understand the struggles each of them are facing. While all of the people living outside the borders of Uganda may not be able to understand what is happening there, each if its citizens comprehends the situation and have bonded together to survive.

There is also an appeal to pathos through the vectors of attention. While our initial attention is drawn to the center and the boys, it is where they are looking and what they are looking at that is really applicable to pathos. The displacement camp is where the attention of the photo is directed. Even though an audience member might not know what a displacement camp is, by looking at the photo, it is evident by the sheer number of homes, how close together all of the homes are, how small they are, and how they are all constructed of straw and earth, rather than timber an steel as most modern homes typically are that is a place that most people would not like to live. This would invoke in most people a sense of sympathy, as any person can understand how important shelter and home are.

It is this appeal to pathos that greatly shapes the photo’s argument. While the historical context is very important to understanding the relevance of the photo, and the vectors of attention and arrangement might lend support, it is the appeal to pathos that truly shapes the argument the photo is attempting to make. As mentioned before, there are very few people in the world who can directly relate to the struggles facing the pictured Ugandan boys. And that is precisely the argument that the photo is trying to make, that there exist other ways of life that contemporary American audiences my find unfathomable and incomprehensible. While the photo makes an argument that there are ways of life that a majority of United States citizens may be unable to identify with, it also attempts to illustrate to the audience the struggles of the young boys and allow them to begin to gain both empathy and sympathy for the boys and their way of life.

Works Cited

"History of the War." Invisible Children. Invisible Children, 2009. Web. 1 Oct. 2009. <http://www.invisiblechildren.com/about/history>.

"The Lord's Resistance Army." Global Security. N.p., 2009. Web. 15 Oct. 2009. <http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/lra.html>.

"The Poverty Epidemic In America." Center For American Progress. N.p., 24 Apr. 2007. Web. 13 Oct. 2009. <http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/poverty_numbers.html>.

"Uganda." Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Oct. 2009.<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uganda>.

Wysocki, Anne Frances, and Dennis A. Lynch. Compose, Design, Advocate: a rhetoric for integrating written, visual, and oral communication. New York: Person Longman, 2007. Page 350.

WP 1: Rough Draft 2

The above photo was taken in early 2008 in Uganda. Uganda is a landlocked country in Eastern Africa bordered by Kenya, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, and Rwanda. (Wikipedia, Uganda). For the last 23 years Uganda has entrenched in a brutal civil war between the Government of Uganda, currently headed by President Yoweri Museveni, and The Lord’s Resistance Army. The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) is a rebel guerrilla army formed in 1987 by Joseph Kony, who is a self-proclaimed “spokesperson” of God and a spirit medium. The LRA, recognized as a terrorist organization by the United States, adheres to a blend of Christianity, Mysticism, witchcraft, and claims to be establishing a theocratic state based on the Ten Commandments, (GlobalSecurity.org) The LRA is accused of widespread human rights violations including abduction, murder, mutilation, and the sexual enslavement of women. Kony and the LRA are possibly most known for abducting children and forcing them to fight in his army. “It is estimated that over 90% of the LRA’s troops were abducted as children” (Invisible Children). In an attempt to protect people from the LRA the Ugandan government forcibly evicted thousands from their homes and pushed them into overcrowded communities that have come to be known as displacement camps. Now, over a decade later, over a million people still live in displacement camps and along with the ever-present threat from the LRA “struggle to survive among the effects of abject poverty, rampant disease, and near-certain starvation” (Invisible Children). The displacement camps have offered few opportunities for cash income, almost no credit available, and very few of the people receive support from relatives living outside the camps. The main means of support for the camps is international humanitarian aid, which is never enough.

The knowledge about the conditions under which the people of Uganda must live their daily lives is something foreign and unfathomable to most American citizens. It is true that over “37 million Americans live below the official poverty line and millions more struggle to get by every month,” (AmericanProgress.org) but to be evicted from your home, herded and held in a community with no opportunity for income, and living in constant fear for your life is a way of life that few Americans, and other audiences of this photograph are able assimilate with or fully understand.

Upon first glance, this photo might simply appear to be a simple snapshot of young boys looking at their village in Africa. And indeed this is the case. However, this photo, and many others like it, force us to look beyond what we see in the first glance and begin to understand that the photo was taken purposefully to illustrate an argument about another, distinctly different, way of life, one in which contemporary American audiences may find to be incomprehensible. The photographer is using the photo as a catalyst that allows the audience to experience first hand the struggles of the people portrayed in the photo. The key elements in this photo work together to illustrate the significance of the historical and social context, describe the relevance of ethos, pathos, and logos as rhetorical appeals, as well as demonstrate the importance of vectors of attention and their relation to the argument made by the photo.

It is not only the knowledge of world events and historical contexts that lend themselves to help the audience understand the photo’s argument. The arrangement and vectors of attention play a large role in providing insight into the argument as well. According to Compose, Design, Advocate, vectors of attention are, “lines of direction that our eyes follow,” (CDA, 350). The vectors of attention found in the photograph are focused toward the displacement camp. The subjects are centered in the middle of the photograph, so they are certainly the first things that you notice when looking at the picture as they are the largest and take up the most space. But then, your attention turns to what they are looking at, or what their attention is directed on. It seems that the vectors of attention are such that your attention is drawn to the center of the photo, and then encourage you to work slowly outward. The way that the boys are standing also, with the tallest in the center and the shorter boys on each side, also directs your initial attention to the center of the photo. But there is something else to be explored about the arrangement. The boys are looking away from the camera and we cannot see their faces. This decision could be one made simply to encourage the audience to make the connection between the boys and the displacement camp below them. But it could also be something more, a rhetorical statement about the world that American citizens do not know about, and do not see. The boys see the devastation and horrors happening all around them, but the American audiences viewing the photo do not see them, cannot see them. The three boys represent the over 32 million residents of Uganda, (Wikipedia, Uganda) who remain faceless victims of violence and mere statistics to an unassuming United States population.

The arrangement of the subjects and vectors of attention are also an appeal to pathos and logos as well. There are many strong appeals to pathos in this photo, most of which are created by the vectors of attention and arrangement. By having the three boys centered in the photo and standing right next to each other, not only does it draw your attention to them right away, it eludes that they might be friends or brothers and evokes in the viewer a sense of compassion and empathy, as most of us can think of the loving feelings that we have for our own friends.

There is also an appeal to pathos through the vectors of attention. While our initial attention is drawn to the center and the boys, it is where they are looking and what they are looking at that is really applicable to pathos. The displacement camp is where the attention of the photo is directed. Even though an audience member might not know what a displacement camp is, by looking at the photo, it is evident by the sheer number of homes, how close together all of the homes are, how small they are, and how they are all constructed of straw and earth, rather than timber an steel as most modern homes typically are that is a place that most people would not like to live. This would invoke in most people a sense of sympathy, as any person can understand how important shelter and home are.

It is this appeal to pathos that greatly shapes the photo’s argument. While the historical context is very important to understanding the relevance of the photo, and the vectors of attention and arrangement might lend support, it is the appeal to pathos that truly shapes the argument the photo is attempting to make. As mentioned before, there are very few who can directly relate to the struggles facing the pictured Ugandan boys. And that is precisely the argument that the photo is trying to make, that there exist other ways of life that contemporary American audiences my find unfathomable and incomprehensible. While the photo makes an argument that there are ways of life that a majority of United States citizens may be unable to identify with, it also attempts to illustrate to the audience the struggles of the young boys and allow them to begin to gain both empathy and sympathy for the boys and their way of life.

Works Cited

"History of the War." Invisible Children. Invisible Children, 2009. Web. 1 Oct. 2009. <http://www.invisiblechildren.com/about/history/>.

"The Lord's Resistance Army." Global Security. N.p., 2009. Web. 15 Oct. 2009. <http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/lra.htm>.

"The Poverty Epidemic In America." Center For American Progress. N.p., 24 Apr. 2007. Web. 13 Oct. 2009. <http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/poverty_numbers.html>.

"Uganda." Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Oct. 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uganda>.

Wysocki, Anne Frances, and Dennis A. Lynch. Compose, Design, Advocate: a rhetoric for integrating written, visual, and oral communication. New York: Person Longman, 2007. Page 350.

WP 1: Rough Draft 1

Upon first glace, this photo of three Ugandan children might simply appear to be a simple snapshot of young boys looking at their village in Africa. And indeed this is the case. However, this photo, and many others like it, force us to look beyond what we see in the first glance and begin to understand that the photo was taken purposefully to illustrate an argument about another, distinctly different, way of life, one in which contemporary American audiences may be find incomprehensible. The photographer is using the photo as a catalyst that allows the audience to experience first hand the struggles of the people portrayed in the photo. The key elements in this photo work together to illustrate the significance of the historical and social context, describe the relevance of ethos, pathos, and logos as rhetorical appeals, as well as demonstrate the importance of vectors of attention and their relation to the argument made by the photo.

To begin to unravel the photo’s argument, it is imperative to first become acquainted with the historical anand social importance

from which it is derived. The photo was taken in early 2008 inUganda. Uganda is a landlocked country in Eastern Africa bordered by Kenya, Sudan, theDemocratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, and Rwanda. (Wikipedia, Uganda) For the last 23 years Uganda has entrenched in a brutal civil war between the Government of Uganda, currently headed by President Yoweri Museveni, and The Lord’s Resistance Army. The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) is a rebel guerrilla army formed in 1987 by Joseph Kony, who is a self-proclaimed “spokesperson” of God anda spirit medium. The LRA, recognized as a terrorist organization by the United States, adheres to a blend of Christianity, Mysticism, witchcraft, and claims to be establishing a theocratic state based on the Ten Commandments. “It is estimated that over 90% of the LRA's troops were abducted as children," (Invisible Children). In an attempt to protect people from the LRA the Ugandan government forcibly evicted thousands from their homes and pushed them into overcrowded communities that have come to be known as displacement camps. Now, over a decade later, over a million people still live in displacement camps and along with the ever-present threat from the LRA “struggle to survive among the effects of abject poverty, rampant disease, and near-certain starvation” (Invisible Children). The displacement camps have offered few opportunities for cash income, almost no credit available, and very few of the people receive support from relatives living outside the camps. The main means of support for the camps is international humanitarian aid, which is never enough.

This knowledge about the conditions under which the people of Uganda must live their daily lives is something foreign and incomprehensible to most American citizens. It is true that over “37 million Americans live below the official poverty line and millions more struggle to get by every month,” (AmericanProgress.org) but to be evicted from your home, herded and held in a community with no opportunity for income, and living in constant fear for your life is a way of life that few Americans, and other audiences of this photograph are able assimilate with.

But it is not only this knowledge of world events that lends itself to help the audience understand the photo’s argument. The arrangement and vectors of attention play a large role in providing insight into the argument as well. According toCompose, Design, Advocate, vectors of attention are, “lines of direction that our eyes follow,” (CDA, 350). The vectors of attention found in the photograph are focused toward the displacement camp. The subjects are centered in the middle of the photograph, so they are certainly the first things that you notice when looking at the picture as they are the largest and take up the most space. But then, your attention turns to what they are looking at, or what their attention is directed on. It seems that the vectors of attention are such that your attention is drawn to the center of the photo, and then encourage you to work slowly outward. The way that the boys are standing also, with the tallest in the center and the shorter boys on each side, also directs your initial attention to the center of the photo. The way that they boys are arranged also lends an appeal to ethos. The decision to arrange the subjects the way that they did lends credibility to the photographer. Their arrangement and the vectors of attention are very effective at directing our attention to all of the various elements present in the picture, and making it obvious how they relate to each other and why they are important to our understanding of the argument the photo is attempting to make.

The arrangement of the subjects and vectors of attention are also an appeal to pathos and logos as well. There are many strong appeals to pathos in this photo, most of which are created by the vectors of attention and arrangement. By having the three boys centered in the photo and standing right next to each other, not only does it draw your attention to them right away, it eludes that they might be friends or brothers and evokes in the viewer a sense of compassion and empathy, as most of us can think of the loving feelings that we have for our own friends. There is also an appeal to pathos through the vectors of attention. While our initial attention is drawn to the center and the boys, it is where they are looking and what they are looking at that is really applicable to pathos. The displacement camp is where the attention of the photo is directed. Even though an audience member might not know what a displacement camp is, by looking at the photo, it is evident by the sheer number of homes, how close together all of the homes are, how small they are, and how they are all constructed of straw and earth, rather than timber an steel as most modern homes typically are that is a place that most people would not like to live. This would invoke in most people a sense of sympathy, as any person can understand how important shelter and home are.

It is this appeal to pathos that greatly shapes the photo’s argument. While the historical context is very important to understanding the relevance of the photo, and the vectors of attention and arrangement might lend support, it is the appeal to pathos that truly shapes the argument the photo is attempting to make. As mentioned before, there are very few who can directly relate to the struggles facing the pictured Ugandan boys. And that is precisely the argument that the photo is trying to make, that there exist other ways of life that contemporary American audiences my find unfathomable and incomprehensible. While the photo makes an argument that there are ways of life that a majority of United States citizens may be unable to identify with, it also attempts to illustrate to the audience the struggles of the young boys and allow them to begin to gain both empathy and sympathy for the boys and their way of life.