The mode of sound in the writing classroom is the big topic for my research project in ENGL 516. A general opinion I’ve run across in a number of articles is that the mode of sound, along with the other modes, should be examined in relationship to other modes. What does this mean? Instead of focusing on a single mode such as the visual, teachers should encourage students to make connections between modes.
I’ve decided to address to address the issue of dealing with truly multimodal texts. My proposal is that through a rhetorical examination of multimodal texts online, students can engage with different modes of meaning-making, including sound. Specifically, I’m going to focus on AdBusters.com which has a number of multimodal video that make pointed arguments against capitalism and globalization. My rhetorical examination of one video will serve as an example analysis. I also hope to include a few specific lesson suggestions at the end of the piece, something like what our class text does.
Sounds pretty cool, Brian. I think the challenge you might have is “growing” your project a little too much, but I can also see the point in why you’d include the adbusters stuff. I like that site too, and I think you had mentioned about teaching some of that in your class this term already, right?
Howdy, Brian! Yay, multimodality! Aurality isn’t focused on enough in our field (I think so, anyway), since it’s often over-shadowed by the whole written word thing. In creative writing, there is a still some emphasis on the way words sound together when read aloud, but even in the UG creative program I did, there seemed to be infinitely more care taken with the words on the page (and their sounds, of course), as opposed to the making of true multimodal poems.
Do you think you’ll draw on any scholarly work in fields outside of English? Perhaps music or linguistics or speech therapy? You definitely don’t want to make this project unwieldy, but it also might be interesting to consider the approaches of other disciplines. I think your impulse to directly connect your topic to teaching and pedagogy is a good one, especially regarding suggestions for creating pedagogically sound multimodal assignments (heehe, a pun!).
Good luck putting it all together!
Hey Brian–
Can you post the ad you are reviewing?
It sounds pretty technical! Glad you are confident enough to tackle something like that and capitalism at the same time.
I guess I am having an issue with the modes you are using. What modes are you thinking about besides advertising? It would be great to hear about this idea expanded on a bit more to really give you feedback. I like the idea but could you be more specific.
Sounds pretty intense Brian:) but interesting. I like the idea of multimodal meaning making. My students have a hard time with just ananlyzing written text but if you include different modes other than written they will probably understand better. I am anxious to hear more about your project. Good luck.