Photo Essay Design Plan

 Statement of Purpose:

I chose stem cells as my research topic. My audience will be my classmates and my teacher. It will take place in a classroom setting and we will be displaying it on the board for the class to see and evaluate. In my photo essay I want to argue that it is not scary to donate stem cells.  I want to clarify to my classmates about how to donate stem cells (the process) and what they are. I want them to know that it is up to the individual to put in the effort to donate because if done then a life can truly be saved. I learned from my teacher that stem cells can really make a difference and it really isn’t that scary to donate them and that is why I want to share this information and produce this argument. These issues will also aid me later on in my research paper.  I want my classmates to think differently about donating stem cells. I also want to explain why they help, what they are and what they can do summed up in this photo essay. This will lead to the answers on why we need stem cells and what we can do to help. I just hope that I can use the correct self-taken photos to encapsulate the importance and process of donating stem cells. Stem cells are the future in medicine and are very small, so my pictures cannot show them. However, I can just show that they are found throughout the body and go from there.

I will most likely use a power point format with my photographs. I need to show that harvesting stem cells are harmless and is just like getting a shot or IV. I will have to do my research on it because I do not know much about the process, but if done effectively then my argument will be meaningful. For my introduction I think I will introduce what stem cells are and what they can do. I will also talk about what influenced me to choose this particular topic. I will then address why they are important and then what can people do to help the cause (stem cell donation process). My last slide will be of one of my friends that had cancer.  I will conclude on a happy note and stress the importance of stem cells (life is precious). I will add captions to each photo clarifying what is happening and to display factual information. All of my photos were taken in the science lab here at Lewis and I will do my best portraying this topic. I will mainly be using facts in my photo essay. I believe I will be using all of my 8-10 pages.

Logos: I really want my audience to learn a little bit about stem cells based on the facts I give and the importance of them. I want my audience to see how amazing stem cells are. By understanding this process people can truly make a difference and they will become more knowledgeable about stem cells.

Pathos: I want my photo essay to be a bit serious, but then it will be joyous and gratifying at the end with my concluding slides. Donating stem cells can save lives and it can save lives.

Ethos: I am not an expert on stem cells. I simply just want to be an informative person. People can disagree with me or agree, but I just want them to be open to donating stem cells and how it works. I want my audience to be understanding and knowledgeable about this topic.

Testing: My classmates will be reviewing my photo essay on March 20.

The Future of Medicine

I chose this topic because recently in the past some of my friends have experienced serious illness and tragedy. My friend, classmate and teammate Danny Hyde was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma last year. My other friend and classmate Jimmy Kohl; his sister was diagnosed with Leukemia last year also. I have also just met a close friend at Lewis University who was diagnosed with cancer. They have all thought about using stem cells as a treatment for their illness. All of these occurrences and talk about this topic motivated me to do research on this topic. With this photo-essay I want people to realize how important stem cells are and how donating them is possible. People can truly save the lives of loved ones and friends. This photo essay will illustrate just how people can do so!

         Imagine the world without much illness. A world where illnesses such as cancer, Parkinson's, Alzheimer’s, Leukemia and others could be cured. Recent research has suggested that stem cells are the answers in curing these illnesses. This ability to use stem cells has been recently discovered late in the twentieth and beginning of the twenty-first centuries. This recent discovery has the potential of being an extreme advantage in the health sciences. Stem cells are the future in medicine and must fully be utilized and understood through comprehensive research and careful experimentation.

            To understand the full extent of what stem cells are capable of doing an individual must first know what stem cells are. A stem cell is “an undifferentiated cell of a multicellular organism that is capable of giving rise to indefinitely more cells of the same type and from which certain other kinds arise by differentiation” (Art, Stem Cell Research 170). Stem cells are parent cells, which have the ability to create all different cells in the body. “The human body is made up of trillions of cells of more than 200 types; all these cells are produced by stem cells” (Art, Stem Cell Research 171).

           

Reference:

"ART, Stem Cell Research." (2007): 170-73. ART, Stem Cell Research. 4 July 2007. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.

I think I fulfilled my design plan pretty well. I wanted to illustrate the process of donating stem cells and possibly getting individuals involved in donating, but I did not illustrate as well how they are less scary. I did inform my audience about the peripheral blood stem cell donation which I believe is less scary than getting extracting stem cells from the bone marrow, but people may still think it is scary. In my narrative I informed my audience on why this topic influenced me, what stem cells are and why they are so useful and sought after. With all this information that I set forth I believe my audience can decide for themselves if they would like to donate or help the cause at all. If someone does donate because of this photo essay that is great, but at the worst I informed others about a process and cell that I believe we will be talking about more in the future.

My experience so far with my photo essay...
When my teacher first announced we would make an essay with photos I thought it would be pretty easy and fun. However, I did not anticipate that I would be doing this with my topic that I picked beforehand. I chose the topic of stem cells and I knew it would be more difficult to find suitable photos for my topic. Luckily I was able to get access to the science lab. I wish I could use some other photos to try to get my argument across, but I think I am working well with what I have. I chose to focus this photo essay on the process of donating stem cells because I want more people to be aware of it. As I was doing my rough draft last night I learned how to reshape pictures from my downloads in powerpoint which is a plus. I also learned that by using the dropbox app on my phone and computer that I could take any photo on my phone and put it on my computer and manipulate it pretty much any way I want. It is a bit of a time consuming task, but I liked the idea of taking my own pictures and telling a story or illustrating a point by doing so. This is something I know how to do and I believe it will help me when I need to make other presentations in the future. I also enjoyed that this project was different then a paper because I would rather do a project like this that consists of 8-10 pages compared to writing a paper that is 8-10 pages.