Tell me about the purpose of your website. What would you like visitors to take away from your photo essay?
In envisioning the purpose of my website, I aimed to achieve an aesthetic that was both captivating yet highly personal. Considering I chose the topic of identity, I wanted to truly reveal myself to the viewer through comprehensive writing and images; I feel as though my website has captured my vision, transcending my purpose. My hope for my viewers is to take away a better understanding of who I am. I feel as though in college we tend to turn into a number or just another face, but with this assignment I have been given the opportunity to share a piece of myself.
What was this process like for you? Was it more or less difficult composing in a non traditional format?
This process was extremely exciting for me as I was given the opportunity to create a website for the first time. One of my closest friends is a graphic design major, and this project has given me a glimpse into her highly intricate world. This assignment led me to WIX, where I now feel as though I have gained an extremely useful tool that I will most definitely be using in the future. In regard to my own process, I found building a website both tedious and rewarding. Time stood still as I constructed my website, where I had not realized how many hours had passed by the time I finished. Building my website felt as though I was involved in an art project of sorts which was pleasurable for me; I consider myself an extremely creative and artistic person. Furthermore, I found this process as time consuming as writing an essay would have been, but instead I was able to be more creative with its end result. I believe these two formats are too different to compare; I enjoy them both.
Explain your decision making process as it relates to the visual representation of your website. Why did you select these particular images or videos to include in your project?
My visual representation goals were to captivate the viewer immediately. By adding a plethora of images on each page, and even a video of me singing, I felt as though I met my goal sufficiently. In selecting my images, I made sure that they truly gave the viewer a better understanding of the person I am; I tried to include more natural and relaxed photos in order to achieve this. Additionally, I aimed for an aesthetic that integrated the images I selected on each page by matching them with a fitting background provided by WIX.
Explain your decision making process as it relates to the layout of your website. How did you customize your page so that it fit your rhetorical purpose?
After looking through several past students websites, I chose a format that was the easiest for the viewer to navigate. Although the more complicated ones that I saw were very compelling, I was unsure if I had the tools to construct one myself; this was my first time making a website. After choosing my template, I made sure that each page encompassed a sense of pathos. Throughout my website I decided to pose myself with questions in order to captivate the reader’s attention; I feel as though writing with no introduction or initial questions can be daunting towards the viewer, so I strayed away from this. In answering these questions, my responses turned out to be rather personal, which ended up achieving my rhetorical purpose altogether. I believe that my original pictures especially assisted in my rhetorical purpose; I wish I could’ve been able to include only original photos throughout my entire website, but life happens!
Explain your decision making process as it relates to the written portions on your website. Describe the voice/persona you were trying to achieve in this project.
Using pathos, I aimed to achieve an honest voice. By disclosing more personal information, I felt my writing become more effective in its reach. The more I shared about myself and my identity, the more empowered and proud I felt about the outcome of my website. As I constructed potential questions about each aspect of my identity, I felt my writing taken on a natural flow. This repeated process I engaged in on each page achieved the honest voice I was looking to capture.
You can find my website link below:
Composing The Self 
Hi Hannah! I looked through your website and really like it! I can tell you put a lot of work into it. I especially like the layout- it is really fun and creative. Reading your reflection, I totally agree with you. When working on this project, time just flew by and it did not feel like homework. Great website!
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