LIBRARY
English 121: Guide: What do you know?
What is "Multimodal"?
Multimodal Texts
DEFINITION
A multimodal text conveys a message through a combination of different modes of communication. Most of texts are considered multimodal since they rely on meaning being conveyed through a combination of the following modes: written and spoken words, visual images (both still and moving), audio/sounds, spatial design, and even choices of body movement.
Effective multimodal texts integrate various configurations of modes, mutually complementing one another to coherently convey required meaning and are usually more effective in conveying messages than text employing single modes of communicating.
Each mode comes with a plethora of features, even the mode of written words alone can reinforce a message by the way the words appear on the document. For example, the words can vary in size, in font type, in color, can be fine or bolded. Manipulating written words in this way is something you already have been doing almost every time you write, choosing all caps, for instance, when you wish to express a specific attitude you have towards the topic or your audience.
EXAMPLES OF MULTIMODAL TEXTS
Graphic novels, textbooks, posters, academic papers, PowerPoint presentations, movies, webpages, dance, oral storytelling, recipes, food packaging, TV commercials, all of which you are familiar with and some of which you have composed before.