Going in to the assignments this semester, all I had was a social cause, which I was knowledgeable on, but

a limited knowledge in rhetorical strategies that could assist my writing and supplement my knowledge on my topic. As the semester progressed, I developed more and more tools which helped my writing improve. These tools slowly began appearing in my writing during the revision process. I learned ways to determine a target audience, and how the differences in said audience should warrant the writer to adjust their piece. When dealing with this audience, I learned how to grab their attention and maintain it through the building of ethos, logos, and pathos. All of these things are examples of strategies I learned over the course of this semester, which enhanced my writing. As this final writing progress, I will discuss some specific examples of how my writing has improved over this semester. The purpose of my projects somewhat varied, but they had some common elements. One of the main goals of my projects was for people to notice cyber-bullying because it can have tragic results on a large group of people. My use of a survey was a strategy I learned could help me determine the need to target the need to get people to notice. In addition, I wanted cyber-bullies to stop their actions, and I felt that they may do so if they realize the consequences of their actions. The stories of Tyler Clementi and Megan Meier were my effort to make them aware of the consequences. The main focus and purpose of these projects was to get individuals to notice instances of cyber-bullying, but I also wanted to make a call to the cyber-bullies that they must stop attacking these victims. One of the main things that I learned over the semester was how to format and develop a piece towards a specific audience. Not only that, but how to determine what audience you should be targeting. Going into the photo essay, I had a very broad idea of my audience. It included cyber-bullies, bullying victims, bystanders, educators, parents, and more. Clearly, that target audience is too large for one specific piece. It became clear to me that my audience in the photo essay needed to be addressed. In the PSA, the strategy of using a survey to help identify my audience was ideal as it allowed me to pinpoint reasons why cyber-bullying was not being stopped, which allowed me to narrow my focus to those reasons. While I decided to attack different audiences in each piece, I attempted to make sure that I was focused on one specific group, which allowed each piece to be concise and effective at making my point. A pattern that developed in all of my pieces was my strong use of pathos to connect with the audience. I felt that building pathos would be the most effective way to gain my audiences attention, and connect with them on an emotional level. I learned several ways to help build pathos over the semester, and I believe they showed in my writing. One main way I helped build pathos, which I used in both the photo essay and the digital story, was through the use of real life figures and examples. For example, my discussion on the suicides of Tyler Clementi and Megan Meier, hopefully allowed my audience to realize the serious consequences cyber-bullying can have and helped build pathos. In addition to supplement said discussions, the music used in the digital story was a strategy I learned late in the year that could help build pathos. I chose a slow song, which the piano played effectively building pathos in my opinion as it was played over top the narration of Clementi and Meiers stories. The photos chosen also go along with the attempt to build pathos through the stories of Tyler Clementi and Megan Meier. I attempted to select sadder photos, and perhaps select photos of them with their loved

ones, which would help build pathos to an even larger audience. All of these strategies are ones which I learned over the course of the year, which helped build pathos in my projects. While the main development and growth of my knowledge came in the material and how to improve my writing, I also learned a lot more about my topic. I learned more about the story of Tyler Clementi. I learned an entirely new story about Megan Meier, who took her own life at 13. I learned why people are not attempting to stop cyber-bullying, because they do not notice it frequently enough to do so. I learned a vast range of things about cyber-bullying which supplemented by my increased knowledge in rhetorical strategy and audience development, hopefully allowed me to reach my audience effectively and make them aware of this social cause.