Cano 1

Alan Cano

Dr. Scott

English 1301.184

October 22, 2023

Reflection Essay 2

Throughout the course of this essay, I have come to the realization that a visual analysis

takes a lot more work than I initially thought. I learned that truly grasping the rhetorical situation

behind my poster required me to open my mind and think creatively, I really had to dig deep into

the artwork to try and get some points across that I missed my first time around. Throughout this

essay, I realized that a visual analysis takes more work than I first thought. For example, I am

required to complete two ePortfolios throughout my first semester, and a better understanding of

how to engage potential viewers can help me achieve a better grade in said assignments.

I personally felt as if I did not brainstorm my ideas enough in terms of breaking down the

poster, most of the information I wrote throughout the first draft was all from my own

knowledge. Thankfully that is what first drafts are for, it allowed me to get back on track with

the remainder of my essay. Having that realization to take a step back can assist me in the future

when I must tackle bigger projects. For example, in band, we are in charge of making concert

notes for our upcoming program in November. Being able to properly brainstorm my ideas by

initially prewriting my thought on the piece can ensure that my final notes exemplify the best

attributes of our program.

Without the feedback provided by Dr. Scott, I am afraid I would have completely missed

my fatal error of having too much background information. I initially began my rough draft by

explaining other forms of musical genres and how they differ to jazz. I changed this by simply
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cutting down my main point to just explaining why jazz is different from other genres rather than

the other way around. Another point that I got a bit sidetracked on was the inclusion of

dissonance in jazz. In my initial draft, I explained in detail what dissonance was. It was a little

too much as it took up two thirds of that paragraph. I instead managed to reiterate my point by

explaining the feeling of dissonance and why it connected to the colors.

Due to technical difficulties, I unfortunately was not able to connect with my assigned

peer in order to review each other's essays. In sure that if I had gotten the chance to work

together, I would have been able to find some extra discrepancies between my draft and final

product.

As I had mentioned earlier, a huge issue with my essay was irrelevant information, but

another issue I tackled was trying to connect my ideas between the poster’s design and the

unique elements of jazz. Thankfully, after proofreading my initial draft, I was able to identify the

areas that lacked some pieces of evidence. For example, when I had initially made my

connection between the contrasting colors on the poster and dissonance in jazz, I had only

explained why the contrast between yellow and blue generates a similar emotion. I changed this

by further explaining how the poster uses those colors rather than just stating what the colors do.

Another issue I faced was adding information in a confusing and hard to interpret way. For

example, in my first draft, I stated the specific roles of various sections like “The lower voices

work as foundation to establish the sound. In a jazz environment, this translates to instruments

like the tuba, bass, and double bass. These instruments work together to establish a chord

progression for the entirety of a piece.” Instead of doing this for every voice like I did initially, I

utilized the size of the instruments and expressed the idea that “These instruments, although
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scattered, all share a comparable size to one another. This is done to elevate the fact that every

instrument is equally as important as the rest of the others in a jazz band.”

By far the most challenging part of this essay was trying to talk deeply about the poster.

Throughout my essay, I felt like I really had to stretch my mind to find a new element to discuss.

What I chose to do to assist me in my writings was to go to some friends and ask them to

interpret the poster in their own way. This allowed me to take notes and understand the elements

that various people were noticing versus the ones that very little people did. This is one of the

better ideas I crafted to assist me. If my next essay requires me to have a deep analysis. I can see

this strategy helping me get a better understanding of how other people feel about a genre I have

selected.

Of course, it is no surprise to me that the easiest part of this essay was talking about jazz.

I love jazz, and I will always find an excuse to talk about it. For example, when I explained that

“dissonance is created when two or more notes of uneven frequencies occur simultaneously.” I

felt so excited that I finally got the opportunity to nerd out about jazz and share it with others. I

feel like if I ever had to write a full essay on jazz history, it would be on the easier side.