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Andrew Seymour Dr. Erin-Dietel McLaughlin WR 13200 5 December 2011 Visual Essay Explanation America, despite all it problems in the past decade, is still considered to be the most powerful and best country in the world. While this may be true, it is beginning to overshadow the many issues that are present in our country today. Things such as a struggling economy, lack of leadership in our government, a politically divided country, and a failing public education system are the only issues that seem to take front stage. Although all these issues are very important, I believe the most important one issues is continually neglected and ignored by the media and those who hold office is the violence that is present in our country today. Not only does my visual essay, Living in America: Violence in Disguise, bring the issue of violence to light, it is also a revelation of the hypocrisy regarding violence in our country today. The goal of the essay is to show people that the violence we have in our country is not only unacceptable given our tremendous wealth, but also that we involve ourselves in others violent affairs before fixing our own violence. I accomplished these goals through the use of prezi, pictures, and statistics. I elected to use the prezi format because I thought it would be the most viewer friendly format for statistics, charts, and images. Prezi allows the viewer to determine the length in which he or she can view a given slide, making it significantly easier to analyze than a timed PowerPoint or a video. I also like the movement aspect that prezi brings to the slideshow, further entertaining the viewer as well as allowing the user to become creative

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with the size, color, and placement of specific words. Ultimately, I believe prezi allowed me to get my message across. In addition to using prezi in my essay, I also incorporated several photos, many of which are from Robert Yagers Gang collection. The images help to enhance my message because it allows those who have not experienced the dangers of some of the impoverished regions in our country to visually see the violence that is present. Many people do not get the opportunity to see this struggle because it is very infrequently portrayed in the media, in large part to do with the inability to cover some of these things because of safety concerns. The black and white images are from Robert Yagers Gang collection. He took these images in the ghetto of Los Angeles while he followed around several gang members. He has been doing this since January of 1992. I used these images because they capture things that are a common occurrence in the lives of those on the southwest side of LA, also because the use of black and white makes the images very memorable and powerful. These images are ones that I thought would have a large impact on the viewer, convincing them to acknowledge the existence of inexcusable violence in America. As well as carefully selecting the images in my essay, I also used the repetition of my most powerful slides in order to engrave into the minds of my viewers certain images and concepts. In particular I thought real hard about the placement of the phrases why? and where? I decided to place them within the word Violence itself because I wanted to repeat the large, red, bold violence as if to create the phrases Why Violence? and Where [is] Violence?. Moreover, it also keeps violence on the mind of my viewers. I also repeated certain images in some slides in order to make sure that my viewers would remember the images. The two images that repeat are the introduction slide and the image of the streets in Los Angeles. I repeated the opening image after Violence and the two countries in order to give the audience

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a visual image of where the violence is and what the violence, as well as increase the shock factor the audience receives when I reveal the location of the violence. I repeat the image of the streets in order to display to my audience the location of violence in our country and to re-assert that I am still talking about our streets. This repetition adds clarity and power to my essay. In conclusion, the format, images, and statistics allowed me to portray the hypocrisy present in our treatment of violence in the United States today. The only things that prezi could not accomplish was audio and proper MLA citation. I put the proper citation on the next page of the essay. Overall, I enjoyed this project and learning about violence in America.

Works Cited

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aashley_queen7. Afghanistan. Map. Google Images. 2006. Web. 31 November 2011. amzod. Detroit. Photograph. Flickr. 17 October 2010. Web. 1 December 2011. Congress. CQ-Roll Call Inc. , 2011. Web. 27 November 2011. El Rio. More Gang Violence?. Photograph. Flickr. 24 May 2006. Web. 1 December 2011. McCord, Joan. Violence and Childhood in the Inner City. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 1997. Print. ronhay54. Scene of a Death. Photograph. Flickr. 3 March 2008. Web. 1 December 2011. slimshady794. Africa. Map. Google Images. 2007. Web. 31 November 2011. Tick R. United Nations. Photograph. Dipity. 16 August 2010. Web. 3 December 2011. United States, Congress, Senate, Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs. Supporting the front line in the fight against crime : restoring federal funding for state and local law enforcement : hearing before the Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, One Hundred Tenth Congress, second session, February 27, 2008. Washington: U.S. G.P.O, 2008. Web. Unknown. How Congress Spends Your Money. Chart. Federal Budget. 2010. Web. 29 November 2011. US Bureau of Justice. Bureau of Justice Statistics. US Bureau of Justice, 11 November 2011. Web. 27 November 2011.

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Yager, Robert. Coyote, Listo Mexicano Loco. Gang. Photograph. Photoloco. Robert Yager, 1992-2011. Web. 31 November 2011. Yager, Robert. Fiesta Broadway, a Downtown LA street festival turned into a riot. Gang. Photograph. Photoloco. Robert Yager, 1992-2011. Web. 31 November 2011. Yager, Robert. Jumping in (initiation) to Playboys. Gang. Photograph. Photoloco. Robert Yager, 1992-2011. Web. 31 November 2011. Yager, Robert. Lost Boy. Gang. Photograph. Photoloco. Robert Yager, 1992-2011. Web. 31 November 2011. Yager, Robert. PBS Playboys. Gang. Photograph. Photoloco. Robert Yager, 1992-2011. Web. 31 November 2011. Yager, Robert. Untitled. Gang. Photograph. Wordpress. Robert Yager, 2009. Web. 1 December 2011. Visual Essay URL http://prezi.com/jcndsnc81aiz/living-in-america-violence-in-disguise/