University of North Carolina Charlotte

Rhetorical Reflection Digital Studio Major Assignment

Evan Fiore

Professor Justin Cary

UWRT 1103 012

March 13, 2017

 I began the digital studio major assignment by browsing through various websites that I

believed I could remix my print essay on. The websites I visited were Yahoo.com, The Charlotte

Observer website, The New York Times website, and The Washington Post website. I spent a

couple of days messing around on each website. This meant I tried embedding videos, changing

and adding pictures, and altering text and links. By using Mozilla X-Ray Goggles, I found that

some of the websites made it more difficult to modify and remix aspects of the website. The New

York Times and The Washington Post websites gave me the most flexibility. I was going to use

the website for The New York Times, however, I inferred that most of my classmates would be

using that website since it was recommended. I wanted to be different, in the sense that I wanted

to create a unique remix of my essay on a website that nobody would think of using. Because of

this, I chose The Washington Post as the starting platform for my remixed essay.

I used the starting page of The Washington Post as the base of my remix. I planned and

brainstormed ideas of what I would alter or change on the website. I wanted to make my remix

the best it could possibly be. There were enough articles on the home page to where I could make

each paragraph a separate article. First, I changed the headings of the individual articles near the

middle of the page. Each heading I created represented the information in one of my paragraphs

that the article would pertain to. I changed the headings of the main articles by altering the text

between the paragraph html code. By deleting the text already inserted in the code and changing

it to my liking, I could change the headings of the main articles. I repeated this step to change the

paragraph text underneath each article heading. I changed the headings of the main articles so

readers would be able to decide which topics they would want to read in the order that they

choose. Additionally, by making each paragraph from my essay a separate article, it helped to

increase the efficiency and organization of the web page. Things would be easier to find and to
navigate. The intended audience of a news website wouldnt want the website to be difficult to

find information. I organized the information in the website to help readers find information

more easily.

I then swapped out pictures on the website with pictures that would reflect topics that

deal with abortions. For example, I changed out a picture that had President Trump to a picture

of a crowd protesting to keep abortion legal. I added a cartoon that described when life began. I

changed the pictures on the website to pictures of my choosing by removing the html image

source link and replacing the original link with the image address of a picture found on Google

images. I repeated this step to change any of the pictures that I didnt want on my remixed essay.

I decided to alter the pictures on the original website to pictures that represented topics that dealt

with abortions. I did this because it would allow the reader to visualize the controversy that

follows this topic. Pictures allow people to imagine and see things with their own eyes. Pictures

are sometimes more interesting than words. I wanted the pictures to be interesting on the remixed

website so that people would continue to read and explore the websites contents. Some

audiences dont like to read. The pictures on my website are there for everyone, but most

importantly, for those that are visual learners.

After familiarizing myself with html code and working on the remix, I decided to modify

different aspects of the website to make the website feel whole. I didnt want just a couple of

things to be changed. What I mean by this is that I wanted to do more than just change basic text

and pictures. For example, I swapped out the quotes in the opinion section of the website with

famous quotes from people expressing their thoughts on abortions. Additionally, I added an

italicized phrase to the top of the website, and I changed the date of the newspaper to the date I

would turn in the assignment. I also changed the newspaper edition so that people would
understand that my newspaper was about abortion topics. These changes were done by repeating

the same steps as before. I changed the text under the paragraph html code and switched the

image source links to pictures I found on the internet. I decided to change these things because I

wanted the person reading my remix to see how I completely restructured the website to be all

about the controversy of abortions. I wanted readers to understand how much time and effort I

put into remixing almost the entire website. It makes readers feel like they are reading an actual

news website. Moreover, I embedded a video about abortions in the United States onto the

website. I accomplished this by researching how to embed a video using html code. I copied the

code and inserted the video link into the code. The video plays normally when you click on it in

my remixed website. I added a video to enhance the overall website. The video is extra

information that was not in my original essay. Extra information is not always a bad thing. I

embedded the video just in case readers would rather watch a video about the topic I discussed in

my essay. There are some audiences that would like a variety of things to learn from on a

website. To provide for this type of audience, I decided to embed a video, include pictures, and

incorporate text based on my topic into my website.

Finally, I made it to where each heading on the website that contained information about

my topic would take you to another website. For example, the heading talking about what an

abortion is takes you to a page that includes the paragraph I wrote describing what abortions are.

Each of the main headings will bring you to another page that includes part of my essay. Every

paragraph in my essay is in one of the linked pages on the remixed website. I could do this by

changing the href html code of the link residing in the heading. I created multiple remixed

websites and linked them to the headings on the primary website I was using. Additionally, I

linked the print exhibition graded rubric, my complete essay on Google Docs, this reflection and
the comments I received about the rough draft of this assignment to my remixed website. By

adding these changes, I could make my remix feel like an actual website where you could go

from page to page and find information. It helps to make my website more interactive and

entertaining to navigate. This allowed me, in my opinion, to nail the feel of one of the popular

news websites. I understood that readers would want to play around with the remixed website.

Therefore, I added links and pages that people could navigate on the website.

The structure of the website I used remained intact. I didnt move things around to where

the website would become unrecognizable to those that visit The Washington Post periodically. I

wanted to customize the content of the website and still have the same look and feel as the

original website. For example, I placed pictures where the original pictures were and text where

the original text was located. The items included in my remix are all located near the top and

middle of the website. Additionally, the website decided to blur out some of the original content

towards the bottom of the screen while I was working through X-Ray Goggles. This didnt have

a huge impact on what I could customize. Furthermore, I had to make sacrifices as to where a

link would take you. For example, some of the headings do not take the user to another page on

The Washington Post. This is because I am not a subscriber to the website. It only allowed me to

view a couple news articles before it wouldnt let me navigate some of its pages. I decided to use

pages from The Charlotte Observer to make up for the annoyance. In addition, I reconstructed

my ideas for digital spaces by gathering feedback from fellow students and friends about what

makes a website interesting. I incorporated tools and content that you could only find digitally.

This means that I added links to pictures, embedded a video, and changed the address of several

pages to take the reader to more information about my topic. All these things are tools that could

only be found on the internet and cant be found on something physical. I used this feedback and
my own knowledge to determine the target audience of my remix. My intended audience is

anyone trying to learn more about abortions. Everything I did was done because of my

knowledge of my target audience.

In conclusion, I chose The Washington Post as my starting point for my remix. I thought

about ideas that would create an organized, website-friendly, and realistic digital experience. I

developed the remixed website by using various technological tools and content. I added a video,

altered links, and I modified the original websites text and pictures. This allowed the remix to

stand apart from the physical copy of my essay.