Discuss ways multimodal composing differs from and is
related to your composing practices for alphabetic, print texts. How did this
class affect your previous experience with digital writing both as a
reader/consumer of digital media, and as a creator of digital media?
Multimodal writing is text that includes more than just
written text, words, or letters. This
type of rhetoric uses photographs, videos, drawing, music, and any other form
of compositions that are geared towards informing or persuading the audience or
viewer(s). The form of multimodal
writing that I am familiar with are that of the digital world: blogs, podcasts,
and video/audio essays.
These two methods are similar in production in that they
both require an understanding of the methods of rhetoric. In order to appeal to my audience both the alphabetic and digital texts have to consider the audience/speaker/subject triangle often used as an example
for what rhetoric is. Furthermore they
both require an understanding of ethos, logos, and pathos and which one will
succeed for the specific multimodal or traditional text They both require
knowing what style and structure of the piece is necessary to appeal to the
audience. So when I create either of
these texts (multimodal or alphabetical) I consider what the purpose is and how
to best navigate the outcome, seeking information that successful reaches the
audience with the right intention. This
information just changes its form from text to visual, but isn't necessarily that different regarding composition choices in these terms.
I find that because the multimodal pieces that I create are
“published” in the digital world (online) then my thoughts are filled with
concern of the “whole world” being able to read my words because it is more
easily accessible than alphabetic text.
This makes me more cautious as to what I create. This may be because I considering how all of my alphabetic text, so far, have been for classes. When something is publishes and made public (all of the digital is) then the same would apply.
The actual ways in which I compose these two different
texts differ in how I gather my thoughts or ideas. When I compose an alphabetic
text, I make a list of what I want to accomplish and start making
examples. Everything is done with words
and letters. So when I create multimodal
texts I find that because I can’t just simply write everything out my process
varies a little. With my experience as a
photographer and specifically a photographer that leans towards sending
messages through images only I tend to visualize messages via images, meaning I
tend to “see” an effective method rather than writing through texts. When I want to reach an audience using visual
and textual elements I find that there is a high importance in what words are
left out. Take for example the Rape Culture video essay that I
created that relied heavily on images.
For the Rape Culture blog post, I created a ton of text for people to
read and also linked to multiple online webpages that further explained the
idea of what rape culture is. But for
the video, had I included all of that information it would have been too
bombarding for the viewer. The audience
will get impatient and not finish the video if there is too much information
that is included. For short video
essays, the viewer expects to be hit with the information in a short amount of
time and least amount of effort. I used
mostly images with little text in order to make a point and I feel that the
success of the video comes from the information that I chose to leave out.
In terms of our class
“Digital Rhetorics and Multimodal Writing” the ways in which I
read/consume digital media wasn’t drastically changed. I think this is because of my dual majors in
both very different forms of communication, but when used together is an application of multimodal
writing. I have combined text with images before and had an introduction to what I consider to be the affects of digital media. What it did do was expand my
world of what includes digital rhetoric, like the gaming world and comics. And simply just looking at multimodal
composing in terms of rhetoric.
Having once been apart of owning an internet marketing
company made me aware of the hypertext, html formatting, word usage within a
website, etc. in order to appear first in the search engine. I feel that the knowledge of that business
thoroughly prepped me for digital writing in terms of marketing. And in a way successful marketing is an
expression of successful rhetoric (for that type of text). This class did
however help with how I create digital media.
Having our multimodal project put me in the position of being a
multimodal writer as well as our blog.
Having these experiences and this position of creation made me conscious
of how to best create both. I wouldn’t
say that I succeeded in either, but that I am more aware now of the implication
of a blog and how using images with entries is helpful for the audience in both
breaking up all of the reading (as the viewer hasn’t sat down to read a book)
so that they don’t feel overwhelmed, and visually stimulating and narrowing
down an intended message.
In the future, I think I will definitely be keeping a blog
but now I’ll be considering the rhetorical implications of such an easily
accessible composition of things that I will be responsible for creating. I don't think that this wouldn't have been of consideration, but now I will certainly include more multi-modal forms of blogs, rather than just written alphabetic posts because I found that those blogs that includes imagery seemed to be more effective than those that did not.
How do you now apply rhetorical theory to digital/multimodal
texts? How might this knowledge be important/applicable outside a classroom
setting in terms of issues like power and ethics?
The expansion of rhetorical theory has now expanded from the
alphabetic text to multimodal writings.
When I look at digital/multimodal texts I analyze the information
letters, words, images, and sounds to find the style, tone, and structure along
with the use of ethos, logos, and pathos.
I would say that applying rhetorical theory to the digital would be to
analyze the visual composition along with the word composition.
Take for instance the video that I uploaded in the beginning
of class, the one on Consent. This video
uses sounds and images along with text to get the point across to the
audience. When I think of the theory in
terms of a “language that is comprised of persuasion” then I start to analyze
the images that were used in a specific multimodal piece, the choice of the
combinations made, the use of videos. I
look at these in terms of the above: ethos, logos, and pathos, style, tone, and
structure.
For the Consent video
because it was such a heavy topic, the writer used a softer element “tea” to
make the point of consent. This choice
is easier to digest for the viewer while still maintaining truth towards the
intended message. The use of a simple pencil drawing choice for the visual aspect was a way the reader could maintain a lightness for a heavy topic.
If I am thinking of this question correctly, how would this
apply to outside the classroom setting in terms of issues like power and
ethics? The first thing that comes to
mind is the how rhetorical theory is applied to digital/multimodal texts in the
way that is actually used to persuade the audience.
I guess, it’s more like when we are aware of the digital
release of information like that of the search engine and the reality of net
neutrality then this knowledge can be applied to go around this power struggle
and lack of Internet ethics that exists.
By understanding what is involved in the rhetoric of the digital world
then one can navigate around the power and ethics involved.
Why is it important to gain a multimodal literacy as a
writer in contemporary times?
I find this question quite valid. I believe that due to the direction we are
moving as a society, people that are gathering information are seemingly doing
so on a digital level. Books are being
read on cell phones through a kindle app, Facebook is the platform
(unfortunately) where many people get their “news”, video essays are littered
all over social media to spread awareness.
For these exact reasons, multimodal literacy as a writer is incredibly
important.
With the statement earlier about Facebook “unfortunately” a
large source of news for many people, multimodal literacy is crucial. As a writer, if one wishes to be an honest
writer that spreads the “truth” is it important to understand how to create
successful memes, videos, and images linked with the right text (if needed) to
spread knowledge to the audience.
However, because of the accessibility of creating such information the
validity, honor, truth, accountability tends to fall more lenient, providing a
platform where “news” becomes “entertainment” and therefore not as
reliable.
I feel that being a successful writer means understanding
how to successfully reach the audience and a large part of the audience relies
heavily on the digital world make it crucial to have multimodal literacy. I have witnessed a close friend who refuses
to pick up the newspaper, magazine, book but spends countless hours a week
surfing the “texts” on his phone. I
safely argue that this is the case for many people, so to succeed, as a writer
expanding from the alphabetic text will be crucial.
For those that are more interested in reading a book online,
it could be beneficial as a writer to learn how to design a digital version of
a book so that the audience is expanded.
What I see as the most crucial are the video essays. For a writer to have in-depth multimodal
literacy would mean that one could create a successful video essay, which have
been known to have MILLIONS of viewers.
This amount of people to reach is largely conducive to a successful
writer, and in our time period seemingly the smartest decision one could make.
There is also the blog.
Blogs are a common outlet for readers to be exposed and to have a
platform to expose their work that doesn’t need to be published first. The freedom of accessibility and deliverance
allows for more writers to have more success, which means that understanding
this digital rhetoric will be conducive to surpassing the millions of bloggers
that are already out there. The industry
is saturated and therefore to stick out will be crucial and to stick out means
to have multimodal literacy.
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