Abstract
This project is a multimodal, personal narrative surrounding civic identity. By taking a glimpse into my past, I have understood the deeper role I play within my community, both in the present and in the future. I took this particular path to explain the catalyst of my decisions, thought processes, and beliefs. Although this catalyst felt scary and unknown then, it serves as my purpose now, allowing me to realize who I want to be right now, as a growing person and student, and what I am aiming towards later in life, with my long-term goal of going to law school. I’m currently in my second year at UCF, eager and excited for what’s to come with my course of study, which I utilized as the visual introduction to the narrative in the form of a comic. As for the person I want to embody, tangible and intangible, I am putting a genuine effort in becoming active in the social, academic, and professional opportunities surrounding me. Those actions will actualize the content in this narrative, of living intentionally. By unraveling a key point in my life, I illuminate my inspirations and values, address my shortcomings, hopes, and goals, and ultimately, unfold my growth and perspective on citizenship.
Project Description
Living with Intent was the first major project in ENC 3331, Rhetoric and Civic Engagement, taught by Professor Nathan Holic. The course was split into three modules, each of which had its corresponding project. As the introductory module to this course, it was all about getting to deconstruct rhetorics of citizenship and civic engagement. More specifically, we looked into how these ideas play into our daily lives, both knowingly and unknowingly. The importance of a narrative with visual rhetoric and multimodality tied together all those topics in a way that facilitated reflection, introspection, and communication. This is a civic identity project answering the question: “What does civic identity mean to me?” and includes a text-image essay, with a comic, personal narrative, and artist statement.
Multimodal Personal Narrative Page 1
Living with Intent: A Personal Narrative
Before I get into the history of now and why I chose the majors I chose, I want to start at the beginning: the 2020 Pandemic.
Outrage erupted on social media. Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter became news hubs circulating the death of George Floyd, a victim of police violence, and the pain that followed. Despite quarantine being an overall challenging time, lockdown provided time like I never knew before. I spent most of my time experiencing the world through my phone, witnessing the spark in creativity and collectivity Covid-19 gave us, and the rest of it remained in virtual school. My feeds were full of my favorite things: silly trends, memes, anime, T.V. shows, art, and music. Yes, I was in my home 24/7, and yes, I got tired sometimes, but I am blessed to say I was comfortable, happy, and provided for. In the simple fact of my privilege, I felt horrible about what I would learn on social media. I could not believe that systemic injustices, ones that have touched my family, have been right under my nose. How could that be right?
“Fight for what’s right!” “Don’t stay silent!” “Use your voice!” These mantras followed me, seeped into me, and chilled me to my core. I felt like for the first time in my life my eyes were open, truly open, and there was nothing I could do about it, nothing that I can put forth with my 15 years of experience.
Even with my jarring awakening, I was not ignorant. The first time I posted something political on Instagram was in 8th grade and it was about my pro-choice stance on abortion. I would post infographics here and there, but with the less talked about things, I wasn’t truly processing the gravity of it or taking the time to research it fully. I knew of racism, of history, of what is not told when talking about the settlers/colonizers of the United States. Of course I did. I am a Hispanic woman, a Puerto Rican, with a long line of Puerto Ricans behind me. My father, born and raised in Chicago, would tell me of the racism he endured growing up being Hispanic. My mother would tell me of the times she got profiled because of her accent and appearance. My family was never silent. Often, we speak about situations from the past and present, relating to the world and ourselves. But witnessing it all happen in front of me at my fingertips was something I had not yet experienced. All the time at home after just starting out high school in a small, private Catholic school kept me cloistered in a repetitive state. I was in a bubble surrounded by the same type of people for so long to then be sequestered at home doing the same things over and over again. That shift in the media I consumed popped me out of that bubble.
I felt compelled to act from the incessancy of those I saw. I was inspired by the people who protested: the people who remained peaceful but were treated as rioters; the people who spread information on how to stay safe and keep each other safe, but were chastised as overdramatic; the people who consistently fought for advocacy and reform, but still were ignored or challenged. I reposted what I could. I wasn’t equipped to write up my own information or go outside to attend protests, but I did something. I used my voice, somehow.
“Fight for what’s right!” “Don’t stay silent!” and “Use your voice!” were no longer mantras that followed me and made me feel small. They became urges of a collective. I realized I could do something, albeit small. I did not want to feel useless, ignorant, or unwilling to use my privilege for good. I wanted to be knowledgeable, knowing that the information I seek will not only inform me but hopefully inform and impact others. I would rather be labeled a performative activist for spreading information about systemic racism, abortion, education, the environment, and genocide, then to not say anything at all. Silence speaks louder than anything. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself knowing I lived a life turning a blind eye.
My family, Hispanic and proud, wouldn’t let me off being silent and subsequently wasting my potential. It wasn’t only the tragedies of 2020 that pushed me forward, it was my family. More than anything, they continuously inspire me to grow as a person. They supported me when I realized I couldn’t see myself working in the medical field, and they were the first to say that what I was starting to become vocal about was my passion and call to life. I can characterize it with two values: advocacy and communication. Advocacy for my peers, for my community, for my country, and for myself, and communication in any and every way, seen and unseen. I receive communication through what I read, listen, and interpret. I communicate who I am by what I put out into the world. Symbolically through my appearance what I create physically; verbally in what I write and how I write; and orally, through how I wish to engage with people, openly and honestly. This is how I communicate my identity and beliefs, and essentially, how I embody rhetorical citizenship.
Multimodal Personal Narrative Page 2
In advocacy and communication, I believe in education, raising awareness about social injustices, equitable opportunities, art, and freedom. I believe that no matter where you are in life, you can and should be able to play a role in your community and be a citizen. Come 2020, I grew to learn that, and now, as a first year in the bright, public University of Central Florida, I plan on becoming more engaged, mindful, and willing to hear, understand, and be open with other people. This is why I chose Political Science and Writing and Rhetoric. I can truly use what I will come to learn under these areas of study to my utmost potential for seeking out advocacy and communication and for my career goal of becoming a lawyer. At this point of my life, I view citizenship as doing what you can with what is available to you to better yourself and your community. Civic engagement, although including these things, does not simply lend itself to the first thought of voting, campaigning, or even just education about the government, which can be a large portion or the main indicators of civic engagement on a quiz from The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement.
In the third edition of Rhetoric in Civic Life, civic engagement is defined as “people’s participation in individual or collective action to construct identity and develop solutions to social, economic, and political challenges in their communities, states, nations, and world” (185).
While I acknowledge the validity of this definition, civic engagement as a basis for people’s citizenship cannot be wholly recognized by this. Being engaged as a citizen in terms of rhetorical citizenship, is encapsulated by daily actions and choices. My personal definition of citizenship comes from this.
Rhetoric, as defined by the third edition of Rhetoric in Civic Life, is “the use of symbols (words and images) to share ideas, enabling people to work together to make decisions about matters of common concern, create identity, and construct social reality” (5).
Looking back to my key values, advocacy and communication, how I described their presence in my life is “rhetoric” and how I become civically engaged by them is “rhetorical citizenship.” My daily choice to put my best foot forward with my education to be knowledgeable and challenged, is rhetorical citizenship.
UCF has many opportunities and resources I wish to make the most of, like the diverse range of clubs and organizations. I have joined UCF YDSA, Young Democratic Socialists, and plan to officially join and attend meetings for League of Women Voters UCF, Knights Pre-Law Association, and College Democrats at UCF. I intend on being active in these clubs not only because they’re related to politics and law, but because of the like-minded individuals I could potentially meet and the awareness and exposure they give to issues happening locally, in UCF and Florida, and world-wide. With the help of my community, I can fulfill my goal of attending protests and standing up for what is right. This is a change within myself I am willing to work for to hopefully instill a meaningful impact and incite a change within others. This is a change that I hope to see, like I hope to see change in racial and gender inequality, disability awareness, LGBTQ+ inclusion, and healthcare, to name a few. Systemic issues become addressed as soon as the individual is willing to become educated, listen, and speak up. I will work to be that individual, knowing that the lives before me, my family, and those who aren’t spoken for, can be heard and honored.
“Empathy is not simply a matter of trying to imagine what others are going through but having the will to muster enough courage to do something about it.” – Cornel West (perhaps this should go at the beginning?)
Artist Statement
For the multimodal portion of this project, I decided to illustrate a comic. When we were first introduced to the different options to choose from for the visual aspect, I was hesitant to choose something that relied 100% on me: physically drawing out each comic page, each of the panels, typing out the text, formatting the text, playing with colors and size, etc. It had been a long time since I was creative in that aspect. I love art and expression, and for a decent amount of time, I explored through ceramics and I loved it. I had a knack for it, something about genuinely feeling the art. When it came to 2D art, I felt less confident, despite it being the medium I had the most experience with. So, I wanted to challenge myself. I came to college with the mindset that I was going to be working hard and putting in effort that made me satisfied and proud of my work. I wanted to be proud of something I drew, and for a writing and rhetoric class, I had to try.
Last semester I took my first writing and rhetoric class. We had a multimodal project, and I struggled with it. I decided on a photo-essay of some sort with unique formatting, font, and spacing choices. It was a technical beast of its own, and it was that way because I was afraid to embrace multimodality as an art form. I can proudly say that I took that first step forward in meshing two aspects of my life I am passionate about: writing and art. I feel as though this comic is representative of that.
Now, to get into the details of the comic itself. Honestly, when we were working on the modules early on, I had no idea what I would do. A chronological structure made the most sense in my mind. I ended up sticking with my narrative brainstorm and my comic brainstorm. I kept the initial brainstorm because I knew I could find a way to connect it with my narrative. I started off the comic with a big “Why?” regarding my majors. A lot of adults that aren’t in my family didn’t see where I was going with it. I wanted a foundation for law school. I decided to write out “Writing and Rhetoric” fancifully with calligraphy and “Political Science” strict and orderly. I wanted to convey the difference between the two because my choice of pairing them seems to confuse people. I included some humor with the tombstone because I think that’s how I’m made to feel when people doubt my future. In terms of color choices, I was intimidated by the perfect black and white, shading, type of comic, so I instinctively worked based on that fear. I went with a dark background with the panels a white, gray-ish color so that when I added color and flourishes, they would pop out and help to brighten the piece. It was the same thing for the second page, but in comparison to the first, the second page is significantly brighter. I kept the cartoon drawings on the right white and black and made three text panels in the middle to give it a more comic feel. The page feels like I’m in the sky with the sun beaming on me. I wanted a more positive vibe, especially because I’m talking about my future education.