Jake Pavlica
Composing the Self
2/14/19
Open Letter 1st Draft
WHAT is your story topic (not the title–this may not come until the end), but rather tell, as concisely as possible, what is your letter about?)
My open letter will be directed towards people pursue a creative field. I’m going to tackle it through the lens of music, as that is the one I’m familiar with. I will give my amateur advice on multi-tasking and different ways to achieve goals.
WHY are you compelled (exigence) to write this letter?
Finding the time to start creative projects and juggling them with “real” work has been a significant struggle in my life. I want to assure people that it is possible to maintain healthy creativity as well as being traditionally productive. I want people to understand that there is always a way to meet and collaborate with like minded individuals to build an artistic community.
WHAT is the situation you address in the letter?
I will be addressing the shortage of bands and fresh voices in the music industry and the constant need for growth and differ perspectives in art.
DOES an opportune and/or critical moment (kairos) exist in this situation?
The opportune moment will exist within the mind of the reader. Whether or not the material resonates with them will be the critical moment. If, after reading, they feel compelled to begin work on a project they have dreamed about but never gotten around to seeing it through, then that will be the critical moment. The moment is right now and there will never be a better time.
WHO is your specific, target audience? What other audiences might you engage with this story?
My target audience is artists and musicians alike. Most examples and situations will be directed towards musicians but I feel hat the material can span over the entire artistic scape. I will be tying music into the concept of “scenes”; places in which all art forms are represented and work in unison
WHAT are the constraints of your rhetorical strategy? Note what factors (persons, events, objects, relations) have the power to constrain decision and action needed to affect change. Consider how, where or why these “inartistic proofs” (which can include values, assumptions, knowledge level, socio-political ideologies) might come into play.
I guess the constraints that I will be addressing are both mental and atmospheric. For everyone trying to embark on a creative project there is always in intangible grip of expectations and self doubt as well as the idea of competition and inadequacy. I will assure my audience that these factors only serve to further your own process and will eventually refine you into making something that is pure.
WHAT are the appeals of your rhetorical strategy? Here, cite as many possibilities that you can of the following appeals: pathos—ethos—logos (“artistic proofs” that originate with you). Explain in each case why the appeals that you cite are appropriate to your persuasion – how do they address the noted constraints, for example?
I will employ ethos; seeing as how I have been through this kind of experience and have insight to share about it both in hindsight and in my own goals. I will also use pathos; I will try to appeal to the people who feels stifled in their environment or that there is no one who they can relate to (either in music or around them). Other than those two I will use my own brand of call-to-action.
WHAT overall purpose do you (the author) intend to express?
I intend to express my desire to see more people coming forward to speak their truth and to be themselves. It is an extremely vulnerable position to want to put you art out into the world for all those who are willing to see it and I want to assure the reader that people are willing to see. I want to explore the idea that feelings of isolation and stifling can be remedy by getting out of your comfort zone, meeting people who you can express yourself with, and creating something as a team for people to look at or listen to. Basically I will be talking about how to network in a creative setting and how you never need to do things alone if you don’t want to.
DOES your strategy construct persuasion toward an argument, an idea, an opinion, a redesign—or perhaps a combination of these persuasions?
My persuasion leans toward that of wanting to see more young people coming out into the artistic community. It will be a persuasive call-to-action that attempts to lure artists out of hiding and present themselves before idle ears and eyes.
WHAT multimodal sources can you bring into your composition that would support or strengthen your persuasion?
As of now I will be using my own experience to talk about this topic. In a way this letter is being written to myself when I was timid about putting myself out there in a creative way. I can also find quoted from musicians and artists to bolster my points, but for the most part I want this to be a reflection of my experience at this time in my life.
Jake Pavlica's Blog 
I really like the topic of your letter. You have clearly thought about your topic very thoroughly so I look forward to reading the finished product. The way you were able to outline the entire thing in such detail shows that you are very passionate about your topic. You have pinpointed every writing concept we discussed in class which is sure to help you write the rest of it. Your target audience seems to be other aspiring musicians and artists, yet I feel like the most important target is yourself. You will be writing a piece to spark the creative flame in others while being able to do the same for your own aspirations. My favorite line is “the moment is right now and there will never be a better time.” You clearly have struggled with this in some way or another because you have a clear insight on this topic! Great job.
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I first want to say this is a fantastic idea for an open letter! I totally relate to this myself, being a theatre major, and think that there is so much focus on how “impossible it is” to be a successful artist and something like this is I think so important for any artistic person to read. Your utter love for music is obvious, but maybe you could explain somewhere in your letter what started this? When did you first realize you wanted to be a musician? What was your first experience playing an instrument? Something like this could assist in making your letter more personal. Your draft is very in depth and your target audience is very clear. It seems as if you will be addressing them throughout the entire piece, which is great! Something that stood out to me a lot in your draft was when you discussed your want to cover both the “mental” and “atmospheric” restraints that many artists struggle with. If you wanted to, you could even go on to say that these are things that not just artists have to deal with, but anyone in society! This could be a way so that anyone, not just your targeted audience, can relate to your letter in their own personal way. I personally am very excited to read your letter being a hopeful artist myself, great work so far!
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Jake, I agree with your peer’s interest in how did you become connected to music. While this isn’t the gist of the letter it does elevate your agency (authority) to speak on this topic. Your identified situation here is a shortage of bands in today’s music landscape, combined with the constant need for growth and diversity in any and all creative, artistic fields. Anchoring your own persona as a musician along with the specific situation could be very helpful as you go forward with the letter.
But then you do mention toward the end that you are also addressing yourself and the timidity you once experienced with “putting yourself out there.” This “timidity” could be explained in the letter as a way to offer your target audience some opportunity to relate, recognize, realize what might be in their way.
You also note that your target audience is other musicians (would this be all other musicians, or would this be young musicians – the musicians of your generation… or the musicians of the future.) Whoever you choose to address directly as your target audience will definitely serve as an audience that becomes mediated and broadened by the purpose of your message (to include all musicians, indeed to include all artists, or anyone in a creative field).
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