Editor's Note
Our magazine “Altruistic” is a collaboration of months of research, rough-drafts, and revisions. The definition of “Altruistic” is “unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others”, and being that our social justice issues include child neglect, criminal justice reform, environment, and human trafficking we can confidently say that we all have an investment in mankind. We feel that ‘Altruistic’ defines the goal of all of our projects.
We decided as a group to present our magazine through Weebly and were quickly surprised how difficult it was to make our schedules match up. We were also pleasantly surprised at how much each person’s individual strengths added to our magazine.
Why the authors chose specific pieces and revisions/adaptations made
One thing we have all learned throughout this semester is that writing takes practice, revision, and time. That knowledge aided in each of our decisions for which pieces to use.
Olivia chose her revision and translation pieces out of the projects that she was proudest of. She revised her Information Effect Project “The dirty truths about oil” because she enjoyed the topic and wished to continue her research on the subject. She felt confident in her work but wanted to shorten some of the written portions to help her message to be more clear. She also revised her Persuasion Effect Project “Wind wonder” because she felt she could improve the message she was trying to portray. She wanted her visuals to be even more clean cut and to add length to her project. Olivia chose to adapt a journal entry into a Prezi presentation to further engage her audience. She was very happy with the piece, and felt it came across clear and simple.
Michelle chose to revise pieces based upon what she felt deserved more of her attention. She revised her Information Effect Project, a Prezi presentation, by adding audio, hoping that emotions in her voice would help the information be more interesting. She also revised her Persuasion Project, which is a podcast, to include some of the costs that would be required for her proposal. She hoped that showing the costs needed to help prevent child neglect would show the magnitude of the issue. She chose to adapt her Flash Memoir because that was her favorite project of the semester and she wanted to improve it even further. She added visuals to her paper hoping to make it more emotional for her audience.
Justin revised his pieces to correct mistakes and to heighten the quality of his presentations. He revised his Profile Project because he was most happy with how this particular piece had turned out. He spent more time researching this project than any of his others and wanted to add more detail in his writing. He also revised his Persuasion Project, a Prezi presentation, to improve how the piece looked and flowed. He wrote it to appeal to those on the other side of the political spectrum from his other work. Justin chose to adapt his Flash Memoir because he felt it was a descriptive piece stuck in a boring black and white document. He added visuals that tied the story together and helped it to feel more alive.
Rachel chose her revision pieces by what she thought would appeal to her audience more. She revised her Information Effect Project by adding more images to her info graph and had the images and text interact. She felt that if this piece was more aesthetically pleasing that her audience would be more inclined to read it. She also revised her Persuasion Project to make it more of a proposal. She re-filmed it, adding in ways to prevent human trafficking. She adapted her Flash Memoir by turning it into a comic, because she wanted to tell her story without having her audience read a long paper, and to make it more entertaining.
Pieces excluded by the Authors
We chose pieces that were about issues we face as a society and issues that we wanted to bring awareness to. For this reason, some pieces were not included in the final project.
Olivia chose to exclude her Flash Memoir, deciding that it did not have a solid foundation. She did not feel that it was strong enough and would require too much time to build it up.
Michelle chose to exclude her Profile Project mostly because she felt it was a strong piece and did not require any more of her attention. She wanted to focus her efforts on pieces that needed to be strengthened.
Justin excluded his Information Project for many reasons. He didn’t feel that it matched his other work, both in size and substance. He felt that the options for revising it were too narrow, and that he had exhausted his resources to improve his presentation.
Rachel chose to exclude her Profile Project because she felt it didn’t appeal to her audience, and she wanted to reach an audience that could bring about change.
What our group learned about research and writing
We discovered that a huge amount of time and effort was required for this project. We’ve all spent a significant amount of time on our projects. We have spent time on rough drafts, given peer reviews, as well as given and received feedback on discussion boards. We have learned that “effective or meaningful writing is achieved through sustained engagement in literate practices.” And we have come to appreciate the massive undertaking it has been to bring all the pieces together. We discovered what writing in different genres and mediums can do for an audience, and how translating a project from one genre to another can be difficult but bring positive changes.
Advice for future groups
· Give your work the time it deserves. If it is full of spelling and grammatical errors, that reflects poorly on you.
· Communicate often and get your work done quickly- timing is everything.
· Be honest and constructive with your peer reviews.
· Look ahead in your work and get ahead if you can.
Finally, even with the difficulties, our magazine is something we are proud of. Our chosen social justice issues have strength on their own, and yet are even stronger when put together. Each one of us had a specific job and brought our own personal additions to this project, and we all can agree that it will make us stronger writers in the future.
We will leave you with a thought by Mattie J.T. Stepanek, “Unity is strength…. When there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved.”
We hope you enjoy “Altruistic.”
Our magazine “Altruistic” is a collaboration of months of research, rough-drafts, and revisions. The definition of “Altruistic” is “unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others”, and being that our social justice issues include child neglect, criminal justice reform, environment, and human trafficking we can confidently say that we all have an investment in mankind. We feel that ‘Altruistic’ defines the goal of all of our projects.
We decided as a group to present our magazine through Weebly and were quickly surprised how difficult it was to make our schedules match up. We were also pleasantly surprised at how much each person’s individual strengths added to our magazine.
Why the authors chose specific pieces and revisions/adaptations made
One thing we have all learned throughout this semester is that writing takes practice, revision, and time. That knowledge aided in each of our decisions for which pieces to use.
Olivia chose her revision and translation pieces out of the projects that she was proudest of. She revised her Information Effect Project “The dirty truths about oil” because she enjoyed the topic and wished to continue her research on the subject. She felt confident in her work but wanted to shorten some of the written portions to help her message to be more clear. She also revised her Persuasion Effect Project “Wind wonder” because she felt she could improve the message she was trying to portray. She wanted her visuals to be even more clean cut and to add length to her project. Olivia chose to adapt a journal entry into a Prezi presentation to further engage her audience. She was very happy with the piece, and felt it came across clear and simple.
Michelle chose to revise pieces based upon what she felt deserved more of her attention. She revised her Information Effect Project, a Prezi presentation, by adding audio, hoping that emotions in her voice would help the information be more interesting. She also revised her Persuasion Project, which is a podcast, to include some of the costs that would be required for her proposal. She hoped that showing the costs needed to help prevent child neglect would show the magnitude of the issue. She chose to adapt her Flash Memoir because that was her favorite project of the semester and she wanted to improve it even further. She added visuals to her paper hoping to make it more emotional for her audience.
Justin revised his pieces to correct mistakes and to heighten the quality of his presentations. He revised his Profile Project because he was most happy with how this particular piece had turned out. He spent more time researching this project than any of his others and wanted to add more detail in his writing. He also revised his Persuasion Project, a Prezi presentation, to improve how the piece looked and flowed. He wrote it to appeal to those on the other side of the political spectrum from his other work. Justin chose to adapt his Flash Memoir because he felt it was a descriptive piece stuck in a boring black and white document. He added visuals that tied the story together and helped it to feel more alive.
Rachel chose her revision pieces by what she thought would appeal to her audience more. She revised her Information Effect Project by adding more images to her info graph and had the images and text interact. She felt that if this piece was more aesthetically pleasing that her audience would be more inclined to read it. She also revised her Persuasion Project to make it more of a proposal. She re-filmed it, adding in ways to prevent human trafficking. She adapted her Flash Memoir by turning it into a comic, because she wanted to tell her story without having her audience read a long paper, and to make it more entertaining.
Pieces excluded by the Authors
We chose pieces that were about issues we face as a society and issues that we wanted to bring awareness to. For this reason, some pieces were not included in the final project.
Olivia chose to exclude her Flash Memoir, deciding that it did not have a solid foundation. She did not feel that it was strong enough and would require too much time to build it up.
Michelle chose to exclude her Profile Project mostly because she felt it was a strong piece and did not require any more of her attention. She wanted to focus her efforts on pieces that needed to be strengthened.
Justin excluded his Information Project for many reasons. He didn’t feel that it matched his other work, both in size and substance. He felt that the options for revising it were too narrow, and that he had exhausted his resources to improve his presentation.
Rachel chose to exclude her Profile Project because she felt it didn’t appeal to her audience, and she wanted to reach an audience that could bring about change.
What our group learned about research and writing
We discovered that a huge amount of time and effort was required for this project. We’ve all spent a significant amount of time on our projects. We have spent time on rough drafts, given peer reviews, as well as given and received feedback on discussion boards. We have learned that “effective or meaningful writing is achieved through sustained engagement in literate practices.” And we have come to appreciate the massive undertaking it has been to bring all the pieces together. We discovered what writing in different genres and mediums can do for an audience, and how translating a project from one genre to another can be difficult but bring positive changes.
Advice for future groups
· Give your work the time it deserves. If it is full of spelling and grammatical errors, that reflects poorly on you.
· Communicate often and get your work done quickly- timing is everything.
· Be honest and constructive with your peer reviews.
· Look ahead in your work and get ahead if you can.
Finally, even with the difficulties, our magazine is something we are proud of. Our chosen social justice issues have strength on their own, and yet are even stronger when put together. Each one of us had a specific job and brought our own personal additions to this project, and we all can agree that it will make us stronger writers in the future.
We will leave you with a thought by Mattie J.T. Stepanek, “Unity is strength…. When there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved.”
We hope you enjoy “Altruistic.”