Multimodal Composing: Strategies for Twenty-First-Century Writing Consultations
238
Multimodal Composing: Strategies for Twenty-First-Century Writing Consultations
238Overview
Multimodal Composing explores the relationship between rhetorical choices, design thinking, accessibility, and technological awareness in the writing center. Each chapter deepens consultants’ understanding of multimodal composing by introducing them to important features and practices in a variety of multimodal texts. The chapters’ activities provide consultants with an experience that familiarizes them with design thinking and multimodal projects, and a companion website (www.multimodalwritingcenter.org) offers access to additional resources that are difficult to reproduce in print (and includes updated links to resources and tools).
Multimodal projects are becoming the norm across disciplines, and writers expect consultants to have a working knowledge of how to answer their questions. Multimodal Composing introduces consultants to key elements in design, technology, audio, and visual media and explains how these elements relate to the rhetorical and expressive nature of written, visual, and spoken communication. Peer, graduate student, professional tutors and writing center directors will benefit from the activities and strategies presented in this guide.
Contributors:
Patrick Anderson, Shawn Apostel, Jarrod Barben, Brandy Ball Blake, Sarah Blazer, Brenta Blevins, Russell Carpenter, Florence Davies, Kate Flom Derrick, Lauri Dietz, Clint Gardner, Karen J. Head, Alyse Knorr, Jarret Krone, Sohui Lee, Joe McCormick, Courtnie Morin, Alice Johnston Myatt, Molly Schoen, James C. W. Truman
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781607328469 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Utah State University Press |
| Publication date: | 04/15/2019 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 238 |
| File size: | 3 MB |
About the Author
Brian Fallon is associate professor and founding director of the Writing Studio at the Fashion Institute of Technology.
Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
Introduction
Design Theory and Multimodal Consulting
Lindsay A. Sabatino Wagner College
As Brian and I sat down to discuss this book, we explored the different theoretical underpinnings that inform our concepts about multiliteracies, multimodality, and digital composing. We recognized that writing centers are increasingly becoming sites for feedback on multimodal projects, especially as educators are expanding their concepts of literacy to encompass "the burgeoning variety of text forms associated with information and multimedia technologies" (Cazden et al. 1996, 61). More specifically, instructors are including assignments that ask students to negotiate multiple modes (words, images, colors, gestures, movement) in order to communicate effectively to their audiences. An interdisciplinary group of scholars called the New London Group encourages more comprehensive understandings of literacy, especially in light of all the means of communication available to us in today's culturally and linguistically diverse world. Simply put, they explain that "new communication media are reshaping the way we use language" (64). Given that consultants are in the writing business, as Jackie Grutsch McKinney (2014) reminds us, and that the business of writing is evolving, we must prepare to work with students being asked to explore new ways of communicating and thinking about language use. Moreover, we believe multimodal composing provides consultants with an opportunity to expand the ways writers think about language and connecting to audiences. The multiliteracy center John Trimbur (2000) imagined as a place where consultants will begin seeing assignments that move beyond the printed text is upon us. This collection is designed to prepare consultants to offer feedback on those projects by providing them with an overview of visual and audio design principles, the rhetorical nature of multimodal composing, and a variety of multimodal genres.
Given this starting point, we specifically found ourselves drawn to concepts put forth by the New London Group, Claire Wyatt-Smith and Kay Kimber, the Gestalt principles of design, and Theo van Leeuwen's sound theory. Through this book, we aim to pull from the New London Group's emphasis on six design elements in the meaning-making process: "Linguistic Meaning, Visual Meaning, Audio Meaning, Gestural Meaning, Spatial Meaning, and the Multimodal patterns of meaning that relate the first five modes of meaning to each other" (Cazden et al. 1996, 65). By critically examining these six meaning-making elements, consultants can assist writers as they learn how to effectively compose projects that explore the use of multiple modes:
• linguistic meaning — "emphasi[s on] the productive and innovative potential of language as a meaning-making system" (79) that has linguistic features including delivery, vocabulary, positioning, word choice, information structures, and the overall organizational properties of the text
• visual meaning — colors, images, font, page layout, perspective, and screen formats
• audio meaning — noise, music, and sound effects
• gestural meaning — body language, behavior, and sensuality
• spatial meaning — the arrangement of elements on a physical plane, environmental spaces and architectural spaces
• multimodal — the dynamic relationship among all these modes
Meaning is shaped by the interaction among the different modes (linguistic, visual, audio, gestural, spatial, and multimodal) and how they are combined to create a message. How these modes are used or implemented to shape meaning depends on the modal affordances (Wyatt-Smith and Kimber 2009). These affordances refer to the potentials and limitations for a particular mode. According to Carey Jewitt (2013), affordance "is a complex concept connected to both the material and cultural, social and historical use of a mode. Modal affordance is shaped by how a mode has been used, what it has been repeatedly used to mean and do and the social conventions that inform its use in context" (254). Understanding modal affordances provides consultants with opportunities to discuss the social conventions surrounding modes and how the possibilities of the mode impact the ways writers communicate. For example, as Wyatt-Smith and Kimber (2009) explain, "The affordance of still images are governed by the logic of space and simultaneity, while the affordance of speech is governed by temporal logic" (76). It is difficult to avoid the logic of time sequence when dealing with speech because "one sound is uttered after another, one word after another, one syntactic and textual element after another" (Jewitt 2013, 254). Images, on the other hand, have an impact based on the time, setting, and context in which they are taken and viewed. Images can also be influenced by the material in which they are presented, such as through a screen or on a poster. Therefore, the use of particular modes shapes the meaning of the message in ways other modes might not.
In order to create unity within a text, cohesion must occur. Cohesion "refers to the ways in which the selected visual, verbal and even aural elements are displayed and combined to achieve unity. Headings, sub-headings, lexical choices and cohesive ties directly affect cognitive structuring and meaning-making" (Wyatt-Smith and Kimber 2009, 78). Writers can create greater cohesion by taking into account the individual modal affordances, as well as the meaning created through the combination of those modes. Effective communication involves the meaning-making process that occurs across multiple modes. We use these concepts of multimodality and the meaning-making process from the New London Group and Wyatt-Smith and Kimber to provide consultants an opportunity to reconceptualize how they interact with writers and texts.
As you make your way through this book, looking at specific areas of design, remember the basis of meaning making that occurs through multiple modes. All these areas of design are closely associated with the essential rhetorical choices of design.
Rhetorical Choices and Narrative
Rhetorical situations are applicable to all projects a student designs. As Pamela Takayoshi and Cynthia Selfe (2007) argue, "Conventional rhetorical principles such as audience awareness, exigence, organization, correctness, arrangement, and rhetorical appeals are necessary considerations for authors of successful audio and visual compositions" (5). The three main rhetorical elements essential to communicating effectively involve taking into consideration the writer's purpose, audience, and context:
• purpose — the goal of the writer's communication. Consultants can ask writers what they expect the audience to do with the information they receive. Does the purpose match up with the intended audience? Is the writing aiming to inform or persuade the audience in a certain way? Is there a call to action?
• audience — whom the writer is aiming their communication towards. Consultants and writers can discuss the audience's age range, education, culture, race, class, gender, and familiarity with the topic. Who will be receiving the message? What background knowledge do they have on the topic? What is their previous experience with the type of communication the writer is designing?
• context — where the communication is taking place: "the physical and temporal circumstances in which readers will use your communication" (Kostelnick and Roberts 2011, 5). Consultants can inquire about the surrounding setting of where the writer intends to display their communication. Is the writer interacting with the audience, or is the project standing alone? Will the writer see their audience, or is the audience in cyberspace responding remotely? Is the audience expected to glance at or skim the information, or should they be pondering the concepts?
Effective communication requires the writer to determine the various elements associated with the rhetorical situation. First, writers need to understand their purpose for writing; they need to know what story they are trying to tell and to be able to succinctly summarize that story for their audience. Similar to working with writers on text-based papers, consultants help writers effectively articulate their purpose for multimodal projects. Once they know their storyline or purpose, they are able to tailor the story for their particular audience, taking into account language choices, familiarity with subject matter, and comfort level with the mode of communication. In considering new media and rhetorical situations, Andrea Lunsford and Lisa Ede (2014), who are experts in audience and collaboration, note that "as writers and audience merge and shift places in online environments, participating in both brief and extended collaborations, it is more obvious than ever that writers seldom, if ever, write alone" (196). Writing center consultants know this better than most, and they have the unique opportunity to respond as engaged audience members/collaborators to help writers process these areas. Consultants can "help designers think and learn about rhetorical choices (audience, context, purpose), aesthetic elements and visual design, the designing process, goals and plans for revisions, and design products" (Sabatino 2014, 41). For example, Brian Fallon's chapter in this collection on artist statements calls attention to the ways artists communicate their work to audiences both visually and verbally using these familiar rhetorical principles.
Visual Design Principles
In order to assist writers in areas of design, consultants need a basic understanding of visual-design principles to provide meaningful feedback on projects — specifically applying the Gestalt principles of psychology to discuss visual-design basics. Gestalt means "form" or "wholeness" (Kostelnick and Roberts 1998, 52), and the principles come from a German movement in psychology that refers to the ways we organize information and perceive objects in relation to the whole visual field. Therefore, the "gestalt principles cover a wide range of perceptual experiences" (Kostelnick and Roberts 2011, 52). Susan Hilligoss and Tharon Howard (2002) state that "in visual communication, the principles of Gestalt psychology are flexible, powerful tools for interpreting many kinds of visual information and for creating successful documents, pages, and screens" (9). For a more detailed compilation of Gestalt principles applied to art design, see Rudolf Arnheim's book Art and Visual Perception: A Psychology of the Creative Eye (1960). In other places in this collection, authors draw upon similar practices called the "CRAP" (contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity) principles presented by Robin Williams (2008) — these principles are outlined in detail in Shawn Apostel's chapter on visual aids for presentations. Similar to the Gestalt principles, the CRAP principles help focus the audience's attention to visual details. While there are many different Gestalt principles, this introduction focuses on three that provide practical guidance when working with multimodal writers: figure-ground, grouping, and color.
Figure-Ground
Figure-ground is the distinction between the figure and ground. Figure-ground contrast is "our ability to separate one image from another, to distinguish what stands in the front and what stands in the back" (Kostelnick and Roberts 2011, 52). As shown in figure 1.1, there is clear figure-ground contrast, as the white triangles (figure) stand out on the dark black circle (the ground).
Whenever we view images, we actively engage in making the figure-ground distinction. The level of distinction might vary depending on the contrast created between the images and the overall purpose of the image. Figure-ground contrast is important when designing because it creates a visual distinction between objects and creates the context for the how the image will be viewed. The level of figure-ground contrast depends on the writer's purpose for the visual and how the writer intends the audience to interact with that visual.
Ambiguous figure-ground contrast occurs when we cannot easily determine what is in the front and what is in the back (Hilligoss and Howard 2002). For example, in figure 1.2, image A has a clearer distinction between the triangles and circle than does image B. Ambiguous figure-ground contrast can be effective when designing optical illusions, but if that is not the writer's goal, the lack of distinction between the objects only acts as a hindrance for the audience. With strong figure-ground contrast, the writer is clearly indicating to the audience how to perceive the visual, whereas ambiguous figure-ground contrast puts more responsibility on the audience to determine the elements and goals of the visual. By sharing their perceptions of the writer's figure-ground contrast, consultants can help writers determine their intended meaning.
Grouping
Another important Gestalt principle for consultants to be aware of involves the ways our eyes organize information and group them together. This visual arrangement is the act of our minds grouping information and determining how objects differ from one another. As explained by Kostelnick and Roberts (2011), "Visual arrangement also involves spatial orientation within a field, as in left and right, up and down" (15). In this process, we create a hierarchy, or queuing, of information. We prioritize objects based on how we group them, as well as how they look in relation to one another.
Visual grouping involves sorting through parts and differentiating the objects the eyes are seeing. This important step in design helps the reader understand the organization of the project. Effective grouping practices are significant for visual projects, such as slide presentations, posters, brochures, infographics, and web design. Kostelnick and Roberts (2011) state that "grouping is a powerful tool for structuring the parts of a document — pieces of text, pictures, icons, lines, bullets, and so on. By threading these parts together into manageable units, grouping enables readers to sort through the parts of a document more efficiently" (59). Specifically, in order for our minds to make sense of the information we are receiving, we begin to group objects together in two ways: (1) proximity or (2) similarity. Proximity refers to grouping objects together based on how close the objects are in relation to each other (see fig. 1.3). Objects grouped together based on similarity are organized by their similarity in shape, orientation, color, or texture. Figure 1.4 demonstrates grouping by similarity.
As seen in the example of proximity, based on the distance of the objects from one another, the brain comfortably organizes the circles in three sets of objects: a vertical line and two triangles. By grouping the circles through proximity, the eyes can quickly organize the information on the page in order to make sense of it. Proximity is a grouping method that creates unity based on where the objects are in relation to one another. In the similarity example, the objects are grouped together based on their shapes: triangles and squares. Due to the similarity of the shapes, the eye is more likely to group figure 1.4 into vertical columns instead of horizontal rows. The repetition of these shapes creates an association and grouping for the eye to follow. Similarity can be a powerful grouping method because it is used to create unity among objects.
Effectively grouped items can be used to create meaning for the viewer. Poorly grouped items create confusion and make it difficult to differentiate the message the writer is trying to send. Consultants and writers can discuss the path their eyes follow and which visuals their eyes are drawn to first. The ways a reader groups information are influenced by their cultural background and context. Therefore, as explained by Ray Kristof and Amy Satran (1995), in Western languages readers identify the following conventions:
• text will read from top left to bottom right
• larger items are more significant than smaller items
• items higher on the page have more priority than those lower down
• signals of continuation ("more to come") appear at bottom center or bottom right (quoted in Hilligoss and Howard 2002, 22).
When grouping information, the writer must be aware of their audience's cultural background. Consultants can help writers reach their audience by explaining their knowledge of the visual practices of a culture.
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