Kat
ON THE
Map
Why I Write
Would You Ever Ask a Man That Question?
The Role of Women in the US News Media
Writing with a Bull Sh*t Meter
Kat on the Map
As a nineteen-year-old sophomore in the Gateway (introductory) Course for the Minor in Writing, I was asked to write an essay that addressed the question, "Why do you write?" Sounds simple enough, doesn't it? If you're a writer, you know that's a trick question. At the time I boiled it down to three basic reasons: I write because I find it therapeutic; I write because the editing process allows me to feel much more articulate and concise; and I write because I had some teachers (one in particular) who really made me believe that I've got what it takes. Click on the image to check out the essay in the portfolio that I created for the Gateway Course.
American Women's State of Revolution Against the Status Quo
For the Gateway Course of the Minor in Writing, we were also asked to select a piece of writing we had completed for another course and then repurpose it--that is, rewrite our work for a different audience, a different argumentative objective, and make it more specific to our personal interests. Ultimately, I took a literary analysis that discussed gender hegemony in The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and retooled it for a conversation around gender hegemony in modern America, and geared it for a much broader, non-necessarily-academia-based audience. This was not a task I had attempted previously, and I think it was quite successful. Click the image to check it out on my Gateway Portfolio; while you're there, take a look at the orginal essay, "Gender Hegemony in Oscar Wao: Sexualization as a Means of Control from Within" to see how far the end product came.
HRC is not amused by gender hegemony
For this assignment, I had to work with a team of four to decide an area of interest (limited to the scope of some sort of media representation), hypothesize findings, design and conduct a study, and create a report to delineate what we did, the findings we made, and how it stood with regard to past research. The challenge here was writing as a group. To handle it, I asked each group member their academic strengths and preferences so that we could divide the work in a way that would be most efficient and painless for all. I offered to write the entirety of our paper to limit the shifts in voice and make the presentation as cohesive as possible. It was actually quite a nice experience because as I wrote and found that I needed a particular source or bit of research, I could call on my group mates to do that work while I focused on the actual composition. In the end, we received an A because we had all spent our time exerting our energies towards the sections we felt best at. I feel that this is a useful artifact because it is a demonstration of my confidence to write and coherently convey tricky material like an explanation of research methodology, meta analyses, and discussion of our findings. Furthermore, it portrays an evolution in my ability to lead a group and own what I felt most talented at. Click the image to check it out.
A Research Report from Communication Studies 361
To cap off our experience in the Minor in Writing, we were asked to write about how we have evolved as writers. To do that, I looked back on my Why-I-Write essay; I looked back on papers I barely remembered writing and essays that are still fresh in my mind from across my collegiate experience. I even looked back on some really personally important pieces from my high school career...and what I found was pleasantly surprising. Am I done evolving? Absolutely not! But the act of reflecting on where I've come from helps me see just how far I've progressed in the last four years, which is nice on the days I'm struck with how there will never not be room for improvement. Click on the image to check out what I learned both academically and personally.
Kat on the Map is a living research project that is the crowning jewel of this portfolio. In it, I asked three basic questions:
1. Why do people give up secure, comfortable lives in favor of extended travel?
2. What do those people know for their experiences that I don't yet? And
3. How can I make my own goals of independent adenture into a reality?
Getting the opportunity to design my own work for the semester gave me the chance to really dive into what I find really, personally important. A few weekends ago I met a few international students from Inida, and we talked until 4am about how travel and adventurous experiences that force you out of your comfort zone are the best ways to learn whatever it is you need to grow as an individual. I couldn't have agreed with them more. Part of the draw both in adventure and in doing this research is that what I learn isn't always what I set out intending to find; rather, I learned what I needed to--even when I didn't know I needed it at the time. Take a look at my findings, participate in my research by taking my Adventure Survey, look at the original photography some of my respondents submitted, and leave a comment to tell me if there are books, ideas, definitions, or concepts you think I should check out. Part of what I have loved about this research project is that I know it will never be finished: there will always be another perspective, another way of seeing, another experience to be had. I hope that I can approach the rest of my life the way I've approached this project: with an open mind, an open heart, and open ears. Enjoy!
An Essay on My Evolution as a Writer
A Lived Exploration into the Concept of Adventure