Communication, we use all the time. With words, colors, tones, fonts, expressions, and I can keep going. All these ways of communicating are different resources that can help to convey the message to the audience. But what do you want to say? Do you want to convince people or call to action? It all depends on the context, audience, and purpose. The correct rhetoric choice in a specific context will be the difference between a compelling and an insipid deliver of the message. I learned that in my composition class with Professor Caitlin Geoghan, every assignment made me apply all this knowledge inside and outside the class. An example can be my LinkedIn profile; It is a digital platform with a professional-formal context. Also, I knew this media was for networking with different people in different fields (Corporations, research, activism, etc.), and the ones seeing my profile would be those potential connections. So, I considered my status as a student, what I wanted to show and what was relevant. The first communication resource was an Image, one that could show professionality and seriousness; I took a picture of myself in a suit. My audience needed to know what I was doing, so I included my academic experience and the current stage of my college career. And to humanize my profile, I wrote a brief description of my interests, vision, and future. All this all together, was a perfect way of communicating in a professional context, with the purpose of networking and reaching out to other professionals and companies.

It is curious how genres can be interchangeable. After finishing the LinkedIn profile, I had to create an elevator pitch; This format of writing is designed to communicate the most important aspects of yourself in a short amount of time with nothing more than your voice. So, I was putting the same information as in the profile, but in another genre. This time, I had to imagine I was in an elevator with someone with whom I wanted to share important information, and the effectiveness of my brief message was going to determine whether the outcome was positive or negative. After exploring how to convey a relatively simple message, then I had to talk to a different audience and in a completely different genre.

The news feature story assignment was my next challenge. I decided to write about CCNY students’ finances and campus financial literacy resources. In this case, the context was less formal and a little intimate. Because I exposed information regarding everyday problems of a place that most of my targeted audience, CCNY students, knew. I wanted to bring awareness to a topic that I think is often disregarded. So, to convey my message I used simple language, and a friendly tone such as “From cryptocurrency to trendy sneakers.” (Rodriguez, 2022) in the genre of news feature; it contained a title and several subtitles to make clear the division of information. I think it was an effective way of exposing that kind of information because the character of a news feature is serious and detailed. Going back to a point already mentioned, this time I had an actual assignment on genre interchangeability: Composition in two genres. I had to transform the news feature story into another genre of my preference. So, I choose to create a poster. Why? Well, I think the best way to bring attention to something, is to be scandalous, starting with the title “FINANCIAL EDUCATION IS IMPORTANT!” (Rodriguez,2022) followed by bright colors, big fonts, exclamation marks, and thought-provoking pictures. I took the most important parts of the news feature and illustrated them on a rectangular piece of paper that was going to be on hallways and social media. It was an effective genre transition, with the same purpose and audience.

I can call these activities valuable experiences because they have helped me to practice the use of rhetoric analysis in every way of communication. This has enhanced my critical thinking skills regarding the effectiveness of communication, which has become a great tool whenever I’m on the journey of writing with intention. Now I take the texts that I read as puzzles, trying to find the hidden purposes or if the language is appropriate for the expected audience. I have never had a day without communicating, making this approach extremely useful. I have understood the importance of rhetoric and its implications in terms of conveying a message. life makes more sense when I have in mind the important values taught in this class.