Cole Fox

Julia Crisler

WRIT 2

2 November 2020

Know Your Propositions!

The 59th quadrennial Presidential Election on November 3, 2020, wasill be a

monumental day in the history of the United States. Each election year the American people can

use their vote to take part in the future course of our country by making important national and

local decisions. This year was my first time voting and admittedly as a new voter, I felt

inexperienced and unprepared when it came to filling out my ballot. The Presidential aspect of

elections has been highlighted throughout my life, yet when I opened my ballot and was faced

with 13 propositions I had only ever seen on yard signs, I was overwhelmed. Many citizens share

this feeling and choose to skip over the Propositions due to confusion; I once wondered why

some people choose not to vote, and although there are multitudes of reasons, I have witnessed

and personally experienced people skipping over the Propositions due to confusion on what they

staconfusion thatnd for. comes from the original texts being incredibly long and containing

formal language unfamiliar to them. The neglect of voting for PropositionsThis is a fundamental

issue in our our country, is facing, and more available and easily understandable resources for

each Proposition should be created to help solve this problem. Therefore, I decided to take

action on this issue by reformatting the original text of one Proposition, that being Proposition

22, into an unbiased informational infographic. To complete this translation I used genre

conventions such as including only key information, altering the formal diction to become more

comprehensible, changing the format, and incorporating visual cues.New voters have no
experience with ballots, and busy voters may not have the time or proper resources to understand

their ballot, which is exactly why I decided to translate the original text of Proposition 22 into an

unbiased “Easy Voters Guide” in the form of an informational infographic. 

The first step in forming my translation was electing which proposition I would translate.

After learning basic information about each Proposition, I decided to appoint Prop. 22, or the

“Protect App-Based Drivers and Services Act.” In order to create a successful infographic on this

Proposition, I had to analyze its original rhetorical context and recognize the rhetoric necessary

for my translation. I then referred to the writing of Laura Bolin Carroll, for she analyzes the steps

towards rhetorical analysis;, one being establishing an audience. She explains, “Another part of

the rhetorical context is audience, those who are the (intended or unintended) recipients of the

rhetorical message. The audience should be able to respond to the exigence. In other words, the

audience should be able to help address the problem.” (Carroll 49). TI examined the original text

of Prop. 22 , which is a 10-page document filled with a multitude of paragraphs and complex

phrases, which makes evident that the intended audience is one of and quickly realized that it

applies to an audience of advanced readers or people previously knowledgeable on the subject.

This is problematic because average voters like myselfme cannot understand and therefore

cannot “help address the problem” of providing an educated and well-opinionated vote.

Therefore, the audience of my translation must be I established my audience as all voters, no

matter what level of education or political standing, to ensure that every person has the

opportunity to form an educated opinion and cast their vote. 

I decided that the best way to n brainstorming ways in which I could shorten and simplify

the original document was to create an , my mind went towards creating an informational

infographic. , which would provide a more visual way of understanding. Infographics are the
perfect tool for effectively reaching an audience, as they catch people’s attention and

compellingly use visual and informational data to allow people to better digest materials. CI

decided that creating this infographic was would be the perfect way to present understand Prop.

22, yet in order to best express its message, effective genre conventions had to be used. Genre

conventions are what define a genre, or what is used to express its meaning, and but as the author

of “Murder-Rhetorically Speaking,” Janet Boyd, made clear, “choosing how to express your

meaning is every bit as important as the message itself,” (Boyd 87). which meant to me that I

needed to establish effective genre conventions to best convey my infographic. 

The first convention I used that I worked on was shortening the analyzing the original

text of the Proposition and and including shortening it to include only key information. The

original text of Prop. 22 is 10 pages long, which oftentimes intimidates potential voters.

Reading 10 pages of text is not only time-consuming, but when there are pages upon pages

of writingtext it is easy for people to become bored, sidetracked, or confused distracted. By

taking only key information and altering the diction to become less formal , the reader’s

attention can better be kept, and the material presented becomes more coherent. I can both keep

the reader’s attention and make what they are reading coherent. I began by opening the exact text

of Prop. 22 and reading through it carefullyOnce the key information was established, I

decreased the formality of the language to allow my intended audience to better understand it. . I

established what information I would include, and converted that information into bullet points

to better fit my genre. A direct example comes from a quote For example, in the “Statement of

Purpose” section in Article 1 of Prop. 22, whichit states the Proposition would work, “tTo

protect the individual right of every app-based rideshare and delivery driver to have the
flexibility to set their own hours for when, where, and how they work.” (“Proposition” 30).

This quote was rewritten on the infographic I rewrote this text to say, “Drivers could decide

when, where, and how much to work.” The text was shortened to I translated the text from a

longer, more formal statement, to a shorter version that concisely demonstrates the message.

Another example from the original text is the quote, “Notwithstanding any other provision of

law, including, but not limited to, the Labor Code, the Unemployment Insurance Code, and any

orders, regulations, or opinions of the Department of Industrial Relations or any board, division,

or commission within the Department of Industrial Relations, an app-based driver is an

independent contractor and not an employee or agent with respect to the app-based driver’s

relationship with a network company if the following conditions are met:”(“Proposition” 31 ).

The length and complex jargon used makes it difficult to understand the message, which is why

it was translated on the infographic to say, “Prop. 22 classifies “app-based” drivers as

independent workers, not employees.” The shorter, Although the translation is not dramatically

different, the informal diction I constructed can better keep the attention of the reader and

matches the succinct aspect of my infographic.  

A convention that greatly makes up the genre of an informational infographic is how it is

formatted. This leads to the next aspect of this translation, which is visually constructing an

accurate representation of an infographic. First Once I had the information I was going to use, I

had to decide how to format it. This leads to my next genre convention, which is formatting my

translation like an infographic. I chose began by choosing a template that mirroredgave the

correct proportions of an infographic and began planning the layout. and placing my information

onto it Infographics always contain large, colorful titles to . grab My starting point was creating a

title, and to grab the attention of potential readers, therefore the perfect place to start. I needed to
have a large and catchy title at the top of the page. I decided on “KNOW YOUR PROPS:

PROPOSITION 22.” for it summarizes the context of the infographic and does so in bold and

capitalized letters. Infographics are organized by idea thought, so to emulate this I decided to

separate the material was separated into sections. Each section is headed by a bold title and the

simplified text evidence falls was placed beneath them in the corresponding title in bullet-point

form. The I chose to present the evidence was presented in bullet-point form to because I wanted

to differentiatete the format of the original Proposition and that of themy infographic, ,

meaningwhich there could not be meant I could not have multiple paragraphs of writing. Bullet

points are easily identifiable, concise, and organized, which is the best way to present my

information in this specific genre. The seven sections Iof the infographic created are titled,

“What is Prop. 22, Who Created It, What a YES Vote Would Mean, What a NO Vote Would

Mean, Who Supports It (and why), Who Opposes It (and why), and The Fiscal Impact.” At the

end of the infographic, Lastly, I added “Don’t Forget to Vote” followed by the date of the

election was added at the end of my infographic as a way to promote readers to use the

information they readfrom the infographic andto head to the polls.make an informed vote. 

Something that makes infographics such wonderful learning tools are how vibrant and

visually appealing they are. To add that element to my work, I incorporated visual cues such as

bolding and underlining important terms, using different fonts and colors, and adding

graphics/images to each section were incorporated. TI bolded and underlined the title of each

section as well as significant words includingsuch as “independent workers,” “supports,”

“opposes,” “employees,” were bolded and underlined, as well as and the titles of the companies

that started Prop. 22:, “Uber,” Lyft,” and “Doordash.” By underlining and/or bolding these

terms, I am highlighting critical concepts were given greater emphasisthat should be emphasized.
On top of this, I chose to incorporate different fonts and colors were used, which is important

because, “In reality, the visual appearance of words themselves can (and should) have just as

much effect on how a document is received as the content itself” (Purdue). Colors bring

liveliness to any piece of work, andyet can also be used as to represent symbolism, which is why

I strategically chose to featured red, white, and blue. These are the official colors of the United

States flag, andflag, and making them the focal point of the infographic greatly symbolizes our

country.s our country. Other symbols that I used to capture the relevance of Prop. 22 within our

society are presented through graphics and images. TheI added graphics included are such as a

car to represent the app-based driving companies behind Prop. 22, checkmarks to represent

checking off a ballot, and real-life images of people holding signs that either support or oppose

the Proposition. supporting and opposing Prop. 22. Incorporating these images add a visual

means of communication, which helps guide people through and better understand what they are

reading. 

Voting is an important part of democracy, and as a citizen of this country, I believe that

every able voter should be provided with clear information regarding what is on their ballot.

However, current Propositions are Large legal documents are not easily understandable by all,

nor are they constructed in a way that urges voters to read them. This lack of understanding has

led to a lack of votes on these issues, which is why it is critical that . more easily understandable

resources become available. Through genre conventions such as including only key information,

altering the formal diction to become more comprehensible, changing the format, and

incorporating visual cues, I was able to translate the complex original text of Proposition 22 into

a visually appealing and succinct infographic. By translating the original text of Prop. 22 into a

visually appealing and succinct infographic, I created a resource that is much easier to interpret,
people would want to read, and that would hopefully inspire them to vote for what they believe

in. 
 Works Cited

Boyd, Janet. “Murder! (Rhetorically Speaking).” Writing Spaces 2: Readings on Writing,

Volume 2, by Charles Lowe and Pavel Zemliansky, Parlor Press, 2010, pp. 87–101.

Carroll, Laura Bolin. “Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps toward Rhetorical Analysis.” Writing

Spaces: Readings on Writing, by Charles Lowe and Pavel Zemliansky, Parlor Press, 2010,

pp. 45–58.

“Get The Facts.” Save App-Based Jobs & Services, yeson22.com/get-the-facts/?

gclid=CjwKCAiA-f78BRBbEiwATKRRBEJq_v4ltBeL9or-TkfhoiVrKsUnu3-42YO6O7

NBLwB_hZndaaE8sBoCNroQAvD_BwE. 

“Proposition 22: Official Voter Information Guide: California Secretary of State.” Proposition 

22 | Official Voter Information Guide | California Secretary of State, voterguide.sos.ca.

gov/propositions/22/. 

Purdue Writing Lab. “Fonts with Purpose // Purdue Writing Lab.” Purdue Writing Lab, 

owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/visual_rhetoric/using_fonts_with_purpose/index.

html.