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Top 5 Sources: Why You
Should Teach Multimodal Composition... Starting Now
The following list of academic sources, ranked from helpful
to most helpful, will show you why now is the time to incorporate multimodal composition into your classroom.
5. Kristie S. Fleckenstein's
"Images, Words, and Narrative Epistemology" (1996)
While this article has little if anything to do with multimodality in the composition classroom, it outlines a compelling history of the Enlightenment for how it came to be that linguistic text gained so much popularity and has become THE defining feature of something we consider valuable and/or rational. Fleckenstein shows us that such emphasis on the linguistic mode has not only been oppressive to many discourse communities but prevented us from accessing many features of our imagination and thinking, aka our brains.
4. Jane Mathison-Fife's
"Using Facebook to Teach Rhetorical Analysis" (2010)
Mathison-Fife's article provides innovative ways for teaching the dreaded rhetorical analysis to our students, arguing that because our students are already thinking critically about a social media site like Facebook, it is easier for them to grasp rhetorical analysis if we use Facebook to teach rhetorical moves. Mathison-Fife assumes that most of our students are a tech-savvy generation with their minds on the digital world and helps educators bridge
the world of composition with what our students already know.
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2. Takayoshi and Selfe's "Thinking about Multimodality" (2007)
Especially for those of us teachers who are unsure they can handle teaching multimodality in the composition classroom, this quick read is going to appease just about every one of your anxieties. Think this will take away from writing instruction? Not at all. In fact, it will help it. Think you need to be a tech-savvy guru? Nope. Think again. Think you need all the technological tools in the world to make this happen? Nope. Not necessary. Reading this Q & A styled paper will change how you think about the necessity of multimodality in the composition classroom and how difficult you might imagine it to be.
3. Arola, Sheppard, and Ball's Writer/Designer (2014)
Not only does this book show us a step by step guide to creating successful multimodal projects in the classroom with a teacher's guide available as well, it also highlights the inescapability of multimodality in our everyday world. From showing us the different genres that exist in new media to case studies that break down the rhetorical processes and concepts in composing multimodally, this book is a must for teachers who are both interested in successfully implementing multimodal composition in the classroom and those of us who are still unsure multimodal awareness is an essential in the 21st century.
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1. Melanie Gagich's "An Introduction to and Strategies for Multimodal Composing" (2020)
The reason why this lands at the top of my list for showing you why we need to make multimodal composition a priority is not only because it is an open-access resource available to all of us, it discusses why multimodal composition is a must in our new media world and it is also directed toward helping our students compose their projects. What you basically get here is a ready-to-go mix of why do it and how you do it, written for our students on top of it all!
References
Arola, K.L, Sheppard, J., and Ball, C.E. (2014). Writer/Designer: A guide to making multimodal projects. Boston, MA: Bedford/St.Martin’s.
Fife, J. M. (2010). Using Facebook to teach rhetorical analysis. Pedagogy: Critical Approaches to Teaching Literature, Language, Composition, and Culture, 10(3), 555–562. https://doi-org.proxy.ulib.csuohio.edu/10.1215/15314200-2010-007
Fleckenstein, K. S. (1996). Images, words, and narrative epistemology. College English, 58(8), 914-933. doi:10.2307/378229
Gagich, M. (2020, April 1). An introduction to and strategies for multimodal composing. In D. Driscoll, M. Stewart & M. Vetter (Eds.) Writing spaces: Readings on writing (Vol. 3). https://writingspaces.org/node/1712 ]
"Social media addiction people using the smartphone in barcelona - Credit to https://www.lyncconf.com/" by nodstrum is licensed under CC BY 2.0
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Takayoshi, P. & Selfe, C. (2007). Thinking about multimodality. Multimodal composition:
resources for teachers. Hampton Press, p. 1-12.
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https://www.flickr.com/photos/duncan/41036614951
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"Meh" by obeyken is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
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"Stress" by topgold is licensed under CC BY 2.0
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"Flat World Knowledge: Open College Textbooks" by opensourceway is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
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