I attempted to use “Writer as Cartographer” to drive my visual representation while analyzing the mappings “in terms of the major theories discussed in [our] class: metaphor, mapping, information, ecology, visual rhetoric, color, and classification”.  One of the major roots of many writers’ work is the work’s setting.  So I started this presentation with my map sketching.  Setting is where the story takes place; this information is a visual representation of where my story takes place.  Using the traditional tools of media (pencil, paper, and crayons), it is challenging for me to express this setting in ways that make it easier for all to make some sort of meaning out of the sketch.  Further, the errors labeling each significant building make me conclude that as a writer I need to pay attention to environment more.  The Google representation of my map uses new media to represent some of the same metaphors the sketch represents.  I used new media to structure information differently and allows for a larger audience to make some sort of meaning from that sketch.  For example, using photos and text readers can see I am a part of a class, and they see the building that I have class.  The sketch merely shows how I get to a particular place; it doesn’t show what that place is or what events take place.  Technology and new media gives us more tools at our disposal.  These tools allow us to structure and represent more information about the environment as opposed to the sketch; the tools increase the efficacy of the visual rhetoric.  For my Font and Color Palette, I chose graffiti.  The social metaphors associated with graffiti dictate the structure of the image of graffiti that I chose.  These metaphors include: hip-hop, counter-culture, minority, and fighting against oppression.  Curvy, wavy lines, thick and thin lines, and each letter doesn’t have a set format that falls between two horizontal lines, these are all characteristics that visually represent the social metaphors associated with graffiti.  The characteristics don’t work well on a grid, and they go against the status quo, similar to the counter-culture of hip-hop and graffiti.  I attempted to mimic these characteristics in my font, but found it challenging because the application used was structured on a grid.  We learned from Gage that colors from the 19th century represented social class.  Nobles were gold, freemen were red, and slaves were blue.  This fits well with the color scheme used by the graffiti artist.  Given the social metaphors associated with hip-hop, this makes sense that those who identify with that culture would use the metaphor of slavery to classify their emotions toward society.  I enjoyed the contrast of purple outlining the work.  The mood of blue suggests melancholy, while the purple suggests a potential for happiness outlining the overall mood.  The color palette comes in handy with the Twitter Tag Wordle and the Blog Wordle.  The tags used less are much less noticeable due to the lack of contrast between the black background and the purple color of the font.  The opposite is true with the tags more frequently used.  Twitter and blogging are brand new ways of sharing information with a mass audience.  This new media puts the power to share information in the hands of the individual instead of more concentrated, traditional media outlets.  The tags of the Blog Wordle show that most of the information I shared related to the theories discussed in our class.  This information also shows how I represent myself to my audience on Twitter and on the Blog, because our audience draws conclusions about us based on the information we share.  This relates to Bowker’s discussion about classification and why humans must classify our environment.  I added my work schedule because as Americans, we define whom we are by using the metaphors associated with what we do to make a living.  Work also structures how we format our lives.  When comparing my work schedule to my Twitter charts, one can see I spend most of my time Twittering at work.  My Nexus of friends shows a heavy concentration of people within one community, which is the Stockton community.  What I have learned the past few months is that I don’t have to use just traditional media to communicate information.  There are countless ways to communicate to an audience.  I also learned how to structure that information relative to the media in which I choose to write.  Readers can find my presentation here.