Reflection Ashleigh McCoy Ingram English 1102 1 April 2014 Charitable Non-affiliates: Reflection From the beginning of my project

to now my purpose has changed drastically until it became a meaningful argument that I wanted to convey. I started thinking about something along the lines of kindness and the benefits kindness has on a persons life. I realized this was a very bland topic that I could not go far with because it should be obvious that being kind makes you and others around you happier. I started to lean towards charity and why people feel the need to help others in that way. As I researched I found many articles relating to religion and charity. After sifting through many sites about religious charities and comparing them to nonreligious givers I finally found my argument. Religious individuals have been noted as some of the most charitable among people. Though most charity organizations in the US are religionbased, non affiliates can still find fulfillment in giving back. For this purpose, I have chosen two genres to help convey my message. I created a flyer and a news article geared toward young Americans who are non-religious who are looking to do charitable work. Im speaking to this audience because I can relate to not being affiliated with a church or even a certain religion but still being passionate about helping those in need. The first genre I created was a flyer. The flyer is titled Beyond Belief which is an organization that I created to model a charity that is non-religious. I decided to make one of my

genres a non-affiliated group because that is an option for non-religious people. Though nearly a quarter of Americans top 100 charities are Christian-based organizations (Riley), not to mention charities tied to other religions, there are some non-religious charities out there to find. I personally feel that if more charities like this were advertised it would make those who do not wish to work with a religious organization more likely to participate in giving back. According to Robert Putnam, roughly 30- 40 percent of young Americans are non-affiliated (Harris). Considering the previous statistic, this flyer would most likely be accessible on a bulletin board in an academic building such as a high-school or college campus. The lettering and pictures are all centered and originated in a way that all the information is right where youre looking on the page. Spatially, I feel the stacked approach was successful regarding organization and ease of access; the title is at the top, then the information, then a row of two pictures, and finally a line under the pictured dedicated to contact information. The pictures chosen were primarily used to appeal to pathos and emotionally interest the viewer. A picture such as the one from the Newsletter with Jordan and the kids smiling gives you a sense of joy. Smiles are contagious, especially when there are kids involved; not to mention the fact that the viewer of this newsletter could be the next reason they smile if they chose to get involved (which is the purpose of the newsletter). Linguistically, I used alliteration in the title Beyond Belief to make it sound clever and enticing. Next, the second genre I created was a news article titled Giving Back: Non -affiliated Teen Achieves Fulfillment Despite Conflicting Views. I chose this title to capture the attention of my audience, which again are young, non-religious Americans looking to do charity. In this newsletter I reference an interview done with Jordan Chiott, my good friend who went to Haiti

this spring break. Jordan does not consider herself affiliated with Christianity yet she had an amazing experience volunteering with Samaritans feet, a Christian charity organization. Seeing as most charities that are well-known are Christian-based (Riley), I wanted to express to my audience that they can still enjoy volunteering with one of them. I believe ethos is achieved in this article due to the fact that she is a walking example of my exact audience who actually volunteered with a Christian organization. The pictures support this credibility, along with conveying pathos through the picture of Chiott and the smiling children. I heavily relied on the visual part of this piece seeing as I included two large pictures, and without them the reader may not be as interested. Linguistically, in the article I tried to keep the wording to a middleschool level read. I did this because this article would most likely be in a local newspaper which means someone any age could come across it. In conclusion, the flyer and the news article properly help me argue that though most charitable organizations are religion-based non-affiliates can still achieve fulfillment in giving back. I feel that these genres would be very successful considering their simplistic nature that is targeted toward my young audience. This topic is generally emotional and those emotions such as empathy or happiness at the thought of bettering another persons situation can be easily harnessed for my purpose using the pictures and stories how I did. Beginning in the 1990s, the percentage of young Americans who are non-religious have skyrocketed (Harris); this makes this message relevant at this particular time to my young audience. I hope that in the future more non-affiliated, young Americans will feel like there is a place in the charitable community for them.