Multimodal composition is the strategic integration of various communication modes (text, visuals, audio, etc.) beyond just written words to enhance meaning, engagement, and understanding for a specific audience in contemporary communication contexts.
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what is multi-modality and how does it
apply to first-year composition what is
multimodal composition what we first may
think is multi modality helps documents
look nice but what is a mode it is a way
or a manner in which something occurs or
is experienced expressed or done think
of mode of transportation for example
documents such as this one in this
example contain information that may be
presented in a beautiful way through
images font types colors and other
design elements that are relevant to the
topic how do you think the design
choices here help the target audience to
better understand the content we can
also think of other words to describe
this media for example multimodal
composing can sometimes be called
multimedia composing why do we respond
to multiple modes in one piece this is a
more complex question but in general our
audience may consist of people who will
respond differently to varying modes of
composition or communication we want to
reach them all as effectively as
possible when designing our documents we
tend to use the four main design
principles contrast repetition alignment
and proximity which you'll learn about
in this course
while this acronym may seem silly it is
actually a design industry standard
multi-modality also serves many more
functions beyond just making composition
look nice it addresses changes in
contemporary 21st century society and
adapts to new media and technologies it
explores different approaches depending
on factors such as genre context content
and audience multimodal composition
helps to further enhance meaning and
understanding for an audience through
different delivery methods such as
written text visuals and graphics links
and URLs audio or video clips and many
more how might all of this information
work together to help enhance meaning
and understanding again we return to how
we share information with the world or space
space
EPIK audiences if we were writing a
newspaper article we would organize
format and approach the content to suit
the needs of the publication expected
audience and our own goals and desires
if we were to share important
information at a meeting with classmates
co-workers or another community we might
be mindful of how we present that
information to them body language and
tone of voice are important but so is
keeping the audience's attention and
ensuring they fully absorb the key
takeaways newspapers have long been
multimodal combining images graphics and
so much more now in the digital press
there are videos animations sound clips
and even hyperlinks all of this serves
to provide supporting and complimentary
information it not only enhances the
readers experience but also lends
credibility and provides a fuller
picture of the information being conveyed
conveyed
why use multimodal composition it is
interdisciplinary transdisciplinary and
multidisciplinary multimodal composition
can assist in any field of study or any
profession it helps in making rhetorical
and strategic decisions in design to
help deliver information more
effectively to an audience it keeps in
mind that the entire design of a
document can impact the readers
understanding and tolerance of a piece
of writing and it helps us prepare to
write for the digital world or digital
composition practicing multimodal
techniques and methods assists us in
reaching modern audiences in the real
world while multimodal composition is
useful well outside academia we are
driven by the counsel of writing program
administrators and the outcomes they've
identified as the most important results
of the first year composition course as
you will learn throughout this course
these outcomes require multimodal
composition strategies and approaches
rhetorical knowledge works with
multi-modality directly as you will
determine which elements to include or
exclude based on the context of your
writing situation and chose an audience
what information are you trying to
deliver for what purpose who are you
trying to communicate that information
to what is the most effective way to
deliver that information to them for
those of us who are just learning about
rhetoric a nice simple way to think of it
it
is understanding and meeting the
expectations of a specific audience with
a composition or communicating
information in a way that meets the
needs of an audience you will then
utilize critical thinking reading and
composing as you navigate all the
information you've gathered for a
project identifying connections and
patterns and putting it all together in
the most logical way possible what
questions should you be asking as you
gather information what kinds of
modalities do you notice as you read
what modalities do you think will most
help you communicate your message to
your audience you will also practice
processes by continuously adapting and
changing drafts and stages of your
project throughout your journey in this
course adding altering or removing
multimodal components whenever necessary
in creating a rough draft you will work
to compose and organize your ideas and
make preliminary decisions about the
modes you think will most suit your
audience through peer review instructor
and writing mentor feedback you will
find out how well your initial ideas
matched your audience's needs what
questions they had and how you how they
think you might best bring your ideas to
life in the revision process you will
judge what feedback to include based off
a new understanding of audience
perception which will result in a final
draft that has a better chance of
meeting the audience's expectations
finally you will also implement your
knowledge of conventions this is where
you will decide how to properly format
your documents images and any other multimodal
multimodal
elements you're including each venue and
each genre will have its own unique
expectations and guidelines so you must
do a bit of research before putting a
document together and submitting it to
your audience
we see these multimodal elements and WPA
outcomes all around us in the real world
we've seen or created PowerPoint
presentations which may offer a
different more engaging way to absorb
information infographics which deliver a
lot of content data and purpose in a
compact efficient space videos which
serve to entertain to inform to change
and so much more on blogs rewrite for a
more personal audience choosing
different words and tones accordingly on
social media we make use of images videos
videos
gifts surveys stories memes hashtags and
so on all while keeping in mind our
friends and family have short attention
spans or perhaps there's a character
limit on that tweet we're sending
advocacy ads and public service
announcements are intent on making
positive differences on the communities
by using persuasive rhetorical
strategies and visuals these concepts
are similar to many topics we will
explore in this course particularly when
considering persuasive language and
imagery and how these can affect an audience
audience
what composing genres utilize multi
modality while many of the traditional
genres of writing may not be known from
much multi modality at all times are
changing many different genres companies
and entire fields are switching to more
multimodal digital composition styles
reports memos and proposals are composed
for many different venues and audiences
but they can generally be enhanced by
strategic placement of tables lists
headers clever formatting of text and so
on to make the information as easy and
quick to read and navigate through as
possible while essays and letters don't
seem to be traditionally multimodal
there are many occasions when it may be
effective to use hyperlinks images
charts graphs figures photographs
headers and so on in these genres
product reviews posters and wikis each
utilize different methods to draw the
audience's eyes to certain parts guide
them through the document in a specific
way and learn relevant information at
strategic times how do all these
multimodal elements come together across
the world what fields disciplines use
multi-modality all fields and
disciplines tend to use multimodal
methods at least some of the time can
you think of any right now when
engineers scientists technicians and so
on are all working on massive projects
or research endeavors it is useful to
provide information multimodal II
sometimes one must go through many
different reports and documents that are
extremely lengthy so delivering
essential information in easy to locate
and easy to understand ways is essential however
however
these are only just two of the many
disciplines out there that use
multimodal composition and communication
to great effect
effective communication can be
subjective and it varies according to
the situation
audience context and so on a news
article will look very different from an
engineering report for example each area
will have different standards for what
makes a composition effective effective
communication is rhetorical which makes
it always contextual dependent
unsatisfying the expectations of
specific audiences there are a few
important items to keep in mind when
aiming for effective multimodal
communication do these multimodal
elements serve a purpose within the
composition are these multimodal
elements appropriate for the targeted
audience are these multimodal elements
appropriate for the genre is the purpose
of each multimodal element fully and
sufficiently explained and
contextualized within the composition
and how does this multimodal element
support the text of the composition
remember multimodal composition can be
used in a vast variety of situations
throughout our everyday lives in school
at work on social media and personal
communications and on and on
keep practicing keeping in mind that you
can implement everything you learn in
class or perhaps by noticing multimodal
techniques you already use if you have
any questions please contact your group
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