Gateway: Writing 220
Repurposing Project
The repurposing project prompted us to "repurpose" an existing body of work. I chose a Political Science Paper in which I analyzed the expansion of the Substantive Due Process Clause under Roe v. Wade, and the insufficient protection of the Undue Burden Standard set in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which you can read here. I modeled it after a post I had seen in in the feminist newsletter Lennyletter, written by Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner. I wanted my piece to be both informative and moving, so I included two sections. The first section is written like a more traditional news article which informs the reader of some of the current attacks on reproductive rights. For the second section, I include the transcript of interviews I did with two women. One had an abortion before Roe v. Wade was passed, and the other had one afterwards. I felt that the two contrasting personal narratives were in conversation with each other, detailing the vastly different experiences of two women obtaining the same medical procedure. I believe these personal stories connect the audience more closely with to issue.
Remediation Project
For the remediation project, we were instructed to take our re-purposing project and address the same audience through a different type of media. I created a five-minute video in which I contrast the audio interview footage of Dovey's and Ellen's personal experiences with current news clips that depict congressmen belittling the need for women’s health services and news reports of policy that aims to close abortion clinics across the country. I wanted to show the necessity of voting to protect the personal rights and freedoms that were granted to us by Roe v Wade. Incorporating personal stories was the key component to creating a compelling narrative that has the potential to engage voters of any demographic. Working in a new medium was challenging, yet I learned about maintaining a specific voice, authority, and purpose despite the multimedia setting. For me, that idea revolved around storytelling.