Josh Hewitt

Emre Koyuncu

ENG 106

April 30, 2012

“The Perfect Getaway” Rationale

For my photo essay, I chose to cover the Tommy Johnston Park at the corner of Wood St.

and Chauncey because it is a great place for students to get away from their studies and enjoy the

warm weather. I used several strategies to get my point across in my essay. The first strategy I

used was implementing pathos. I explain how nice the park is and how it’s a great place to take a

break from studying hard. I also revealed activities that the park offers that appeal to different

people. Lastly, I designed my pages in a visually pleasing manner. All of these strategies helped

me in getting my story and point across to the reader.

College students spend all winter inside classrooms, libraries, and bedrooms studying

hard to get the best education possible. A key part of studying is to rest and take a break for a

while after hours of hard work. Tommy Johnston Park is a great place to come and enjoy your-

self for a while. I explained that there are many activities that you can do at the park to help re-

lieve the stress of college. Only a few blocks away, the park is the perfect distance away from

campus to come and hang out. On a beautiful day, the park is full of friendly students looking for

a good time. All of these points makes Tommy Johnston Park sound like a fun environment to

visit to get away for a while.

In the essay, I described the many activities that the park offers. For sports fans and ath-

letes, the new basketball court is a great place to come for some friendly competition and exer-

cise. The basketball court was renovated during the summer of 2011 so the court and goals are in

great condition. The park also features a fitness oriented playground. From the road or sidewalk,

the playground almost looks out of place in the area surrounding a college campus. What some

students don’t know is that the playground is designed for exercise and fitness. Each station in-

cluding the arm ladder, chinning bars, and tire obstacle comes with a corresponding diagram that

explain what to do there. The playground attracts students that want to get into shape or stay fit.

Lastly, a lovely shelter area lies beside the court and playground. If a student just wants to sit and

enjoy the weather, this is the place to go. Its also the perfect place to host a picnic or grill out. All

these activities appeal to almost all college students so no matter what your interests, the park

sounds enjoyable.

I used Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, and Proximity while designing the layout of my

photo essay. I chose to use a light blue background to compliment the outdoor pictures of the

park. The text was typed in Times New Roman because it is the most common font and easy to

read. I chose to place a white background behind the picture caption and text so it is easier to

read and contrasts better with the light blue. I also chose to add page numbers to make the essay

look more orderly. The picture, caption, text, and page number are all aligned in the middle of

the page for a symmetric style layout. I chose to make the picture on the page large to really

draw attention to the park and how beautiful it is. The smaller size of the text compliments the

large photograph. When editing my photographs, I greatly adjusted the contrast and brightness

for some pictures to bring out the colors and beauty of the park. The photographs don’t have text

directly on the them because I think it took away from their beauty. Each page is laid out in the

same style and color to be more visually pleasing and demonstrate repetition.

I believe all my strategies came together nicely in a well planned out photo essay. I think

once students read it, they will want to take a break from studying and come visit Tommy John-

ston Park and enjoy the outdoors. No matter what your interest, the park has something for ev-

eryone to do.