In the Pokemon world, Pokemons are classified by an element type (fire, water, earth, electric). During a Pokemon battle, a Pokemon trainer must be aware of the different strategies other trainers use depending on the element type of their Pokemon. A trainer must be able to understand strategies such as, water beats fire, electric beats water and implement these into battles. 

Similarly, Outcome 1 is about understanding effective strategies writers use depending on their medium and then also incorporating strategies of our own in our writing. 

Writer's Memo: 

I had a blast writing Major Paper 1 because I had such a strong personal connection with the topic. I recall being so amazed and fascinated with Coca-Cola commercials after visiting the World of Coke. So when I heard the prompt for Major Paper 1, I knew immediately that I wanted to further analyze Coca-Cola commercials and uncover the clever marketing strategies the producers used. I had difficultly analyzing the strategies the producers used critically and converting the emotions I felt into words. In the first drafts of the paper I felt myself wanting to say, “Just watch watching these commercials and you’ll understand the feelings I’m talking about”. But I quickly realized that I would need to do much more analysis. In the later drafts, I was able to pin point specific strategies the commercial producers used, such as the dramatic sip trope, the setting of the commercials, and the age of the actors. And through defining these specific strategies I was able to articulate the individual feelings felt as a result of each commercial element, and how those elements all combine together to make the viewers feel the way they feel. To fulfill Outcome 1 more completely, I found myself, as a writer, incorporating different writing strategies to voice my claim alongside analyzing the strategies used in the commercial.

Outcome 1 asks us to effectively identify strategies writers incorporate into their medium to help emphasize their claim. Major paper 1, not only helped me analyze strategies commercial producers use by identifying a medium and trope, but it also allowed me to demonstrate the usage of different writing strategies as writer. Within the genre of Coca-Cola commercials, I identified and clearly defined a trope, the dramatic Coca-Cola sip. I defined characteristics of this scene being, “shot with one person” whose eyes “are always gently closed”, while the background of the scene is “slightly faded out and brightly lit, by the sunset or sunrise”. I went on further to describe that the producer’s strategically substituted Coca-Cola products whenever possible in order to “make Coca-Cola a must have, affordable accessory to any middle class family”. As a writer, I used a personal anecdotes as a strategy in my paper. I recalled that when I visited the World of Coca-Cola, “I felt a surge of emotions roll through every nerve in my body”. I also used descriptively described by experience in Atlanta by comparing the temperature to the “Sahara Desert” and using a hyperbole of the melting of “our shoes”. By employing these strategies I was able to hook my reader’s attention, and establish a personal connection with my readers through sharing a personal experience.

Throughout the revision process of the paper, I made changes to organizational structure and paragraph placement in order to make my points flow effectively and smoothly. For example, I decided to introduce the occurrence of the theme song, Taste the Feeling, in my introduction paragraph in order to help strengthen the credibility of my paper earlier, instead of having it go directly after my analysis of the trope. Additionally, I found myself elaborating and clarifying more on my final draft compared to my rough draft. For instance, before, I listed out all the times Coca-Cola was present in the commercial but I didn’t take it a step further as to elaborate on what this means. In my final draft I point out that the constant presence of Coke works to make Coke a “must have, affordable accessory”. I also clarified my personal anecdote in the hook of my paper. I removed sentences that talked about my experience at the museum that didn’t exactly related to the viewing of the short film, because it detracted readers from my claim.

All in all, Outcome 1 not only improved my skills in analysis of other writer’s works in their medium, but it also helped me think about specific strategies to use in my own work as a writer. By deepening my analysis of the trope, the dramatic sip, and also adding a published source that arguing for my claim, I helped further and bring deeper understanding to my paper. I definitely know a lot more about Coca-Cola commercials, and how to articulate my thoughts about them compared to that day in Atlanta. These skills of identifying different writing strategies, and applying them will definitely aid my endeavors in future research papers for numerous classes at the University.