Cassie Thomsen

Tonja Vincent

English 2010

5 April, 2017

Look Back Effect: Statement of Goals and Choices

The rhetorical situation that I am entering is, the fact that the US is lacking in education

when it comes to sex its so important, because so many people are unaware of how the lack of

knowledge changes our actions. For example, when a person doesnt know how to be safe in

sexual situations, then they will not be safe, because of their lack of knowledge in the subject.

So, to start with children, we can prevent the harm that not knowing does to a person.

I chose to alter my Information Effect, as well as my Persuasion Effect. I changed my

Information Effect project into a picture that I had drawn. I re-visioned my Persuasion Effect

project into a poem. Rather than re-writing my projects, I decided to change up the genre of

them. I feel that for my political cartoon, there is so much symbolism inside of it that theres at

least something that others can relate to. And if they dont relate to it, they can see what I am

trying to portray, and understand the problem that I am pointing out. This way they can relate it

to the world and make up their own opinion about the subject matter. For the poem, I made it

into a storyline that my audience will be able to understand some of the effects of not having the

proper education. I feel that many people can relate to being in abusive relationships, getting

pregnant, or contracting a Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI). And through the lack of

knowledge that I help the reader visualize, they can see how this womans fate could have
changed with a little information. I want my audience to reconsider hiding this vital information

from their children.

How I rely on the rhetorical devices are completely vital to allowing people to understand

what I am trying to get across. For my political cartoon, I had to use logos to decide what to put

into the picture to create a sense of reality to this. I want my audience to see how scary not

knowing about safe sex truly is. For ethos, its slightly harder to show, but by establishing what

type of education people are receiving about safe sex, I am establishing that I do understand

where people generally look for information. For pathos, I decided to show pregnant women and

show that they are clueless and are all looking towards online sources of information. So, I

wanted to establish that because people arent receiving the safe education they could have

gotten, there are true dangers to where information comes from.

For my poem, rhetorical devices are also vital, but they are used in a different way. For

logos, I discussed the different things that have a greater chance of happening without the proper

knowledge. For example, abusive relationships, the hardships that come with carrying an STI,

becoming pregnant, and also some of the hardships that come along with becoming pregnant. For

ethos, I wanted to establish that I do understand how these effects truly can hurt a person. And

for pathos, I described her pain and sadness that came along with all of these things. I also

described how she could have made better choices if she would have known that she can in the

first place.

I want my audience to know that there is so much symbolism inside of my re-creations of

these projects. I want them to understand that there is symbolism and true meaning behind every

single thing that I put into these. And though it may not be apparent, it makes a lot of sense when

you think about it. I want them to know that yes, bad things can happen, and those things can
suck, but the emotional hardships that come with them are so tolling on a person. That, without

proper information, theres so much distress that can be avoided.

The common ground for my political cartoon, I used the fact that everyone is affected.

Also, that so many people care about the safety of themselves and others, so I went off that to

show a sense of danger to those people we care most about. And for the poem, its also the safety

and emotional well-being of a person, and that it can be disrupted so easily with a lack of

knowledge.

Some goals in my future writing, include being able to connect well with my audience,

and to have a really good common ground. I want to be able to truly move someone with my

words, and allow them to see the whole picture of something before I voice my opinion on that

thing. I want my audience to feel like this article was meant for them, and I want to effectively

choose the correct things to put into an argument that will make the largest effect.

(Word Count: 819)

 Works Cited:

Haring Curtis, Flagged Bill HB 215 Reproductive Health Education and Services

Amendments Rep. Brian King. Utah Political Capitol, 31 January 2017

N.p., Sex and Relationship Education. Educational Journal, no. 292, 31 January 2017,

EBSCOhost
Stein Rob, Teen Birth Rate Rises in U.S., Reversing a 14-year Decline. Washington Post, 6

December 2007
Young Honor, Sexual Health Questions Included in the Health Behviour in School-Aged

Children (HBSC) Study: An International Methodological Pilot Investigation. BMC

Medical Research Methodology, Vol. 16, 05 Dec. 2016, EBSCOhost