Issue 3: Writing Identities

While reading Issue 3 of our graphic guide, I learned many different and interesting approaches to writing. Looking at this issue from one perspective, I was first drawn in to the images and illustrations. The superhero approach not only helped me understand the writing ideas that I was reading, but also entertained me and kept me involved. The changing of costumes, or in this case, super suits, is symbolic of changing how you present yourself to different audiences depending of the community they come from and what you wish to say. This is the first approach to writing identities-- choosing how to present your writing to the audience. 

Presenting yourself to specific audiences in certain ways can make your writing and yourself look much more credible. This is an example of Ethos. The illustrators of the graphic guide use the example of two t-shirts. One depicts a woman wearing a shirt that says "Live Long & Prosper" (Losh et al. 125). This shows the audience that she is a huge fan of Star Trek. Similarly, the woman wears another shirt from a video game conference where she gave a professional presentation over educational software. By wearing this shirt, the woman seems much more credible and she expresses herself as an "established expert" (Losh et al. 125). This visual imagery shows the readers how presenting yourself in different ways can give information to readers over what kind of author you are. 

An important thing to remember when presenting yourself in different ways to audiences is that you cannot assume the identity of someone else. Fabricating your life will only put you in a bad spot and cause you to lose your credibility as a writer!

According to Issue 3, the second approach to writing identities is trying out choices for different audiences. This means that the writer may need to change their tone, data, evidence, voice, or identity when targeting different audiences. I think that this approach is vital because it changes how the audience perceives you and your work. If the audience consisted of adults, using a more professional and stern tone would give you a sense of credibility. On the other hand, when talking to a group of children, you may wish to change your tone and make things easier for them to understand and relate to.

This is a meme of an older man who presents himself differently to appeal to the children.

This is a meme of an older man who presents himself differently to appeal to the children.

By changing the choices you make while presenting yourself to an audience, you will create an entirely different rhetorical effect!

Finally, the third and final step to writing identities is the performance. This is where every choice made before comes together and is presented to the audience in a certain way. The performance is the most important part and it is vital to your success as a writer. 

While reading Issue 3, I really enjoyed the "Reframe with Luis and Cindy". This section thoroughly explained how to conduct an ethnography in a way I could relate to. Cindy is an engineer, and upon searching the internet for images of engineers, she saw no one that looked anything like her. Similarly, I have come across this same issue. This helped me connect to what I was reading. Cindy's issue ties in with the writing identities and how people are presented. Ultimately, Cindy decided to conduct an ethnography over the "I look like an engineer" movement. I thought that this reframe was very interesting and gave me a lot of information over how to conduct my own ethnography.

Overall, Issue 3 of Understanding Rhetoric: A Graphic Guide to Writing, deeply explained certain approaches to making yourself appear credible to different audiences. This issue used many creative examples of visual images to keep young readers involved which is an example of writing identities in itself.

“Fake Stamp | Stock Photo.” Colourbox, 4 Oct. 2013, www.colourbox.com/image/fake-stamp-image-7815532.

Losh, Elizabeth M., et al. Understanding Rhetoric: a Graphic Guide to Writing. Bedford/St. Martin's, 2017.

Tiffany, Kaitlyn. “'How Do You Do, Fellow Kids' Has Become the 'How Do You Do, Fellow Kids' of Memes.” The Verge, The Verge, 13 July 2017, www.theverge.com/2017/7/13/15966094/30-rock-buscemi-how-do-you-do-fellow-kids-meme-kill-it-please.