Multimedia Showcase
Multimodal Writing
This course is heavily reliant on course objectives. The goal of weeks 7-10 of this course is to develop and publish a Multimodal memoir essay while Imitating a publication format from the real world, and while following the conventions of multimodal writing.
When it comes to multimodal writing, these objectives rely heavily on an appeal to the senses. Numerous examples of this can be seen throughout the work I have done thus far in the course. Through visuals, audio, and imagery, I have followed the proper conventions of becoming a multimodal writer.
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The following are six artifacts that showcase my multimodal writing, along with their respective learning objectives.
Artifact 1
Me in Six Words
Me in Six Words presentation:
Analytical Reflection/Curation
The “Me in Six Words” presentation was a fun one to put together. It was the first major assignment of the course, where we were to stand in front of the class and present a slideshow of six words that represented us as a person. My six words were athlete, shoes, Christian, outgoing, leader, and chicken, and each word was represented by a visual.
With me having the word “Christian” in my presentation, I was able to connect with a classmate after class, and we talked about our experience with being Christians at UC Irvine. I was happy that I was able to make that connection with a classmate, just by having the courage to put my relationship with God into an assignment.
With the course objectives stating that students must use appropriate language to convey a message, through the use of imagery and visuals, this assignment does just that. Visuals are more than important when it comes to sending a message. Think about how many newspapers have excessive images that you see as soon as you look at them. Once you see the images, the message is already clear. For every slide in my presentation, I talked about how each word represented me, and also how the picture(s) on the slide represents me. The visuals told their own story, and with the words in my presentation, I was able to properly connect the visuals to the purpose of the assignment, which was to introduce ourselves to the class.
Learning objectives: (1) Develop a complex message that engages substantively with other voices and ideas, using genre-appropriate language and at least one other mode of communication (visual, aural, spatial, gestural). (2) Compose texts in specific genres that adhere to rhetorically-appropriate patterns of arrangement and style, including verbal and nonverbal elements
Artifact 2
Two Minute Self-Portraits
Self-Portraits:
Analytical Reflection/Curation
Every Thursday, attendance would be taken with a self-portrait exercise. We would have two minutes, and within those two minutes, it was required to draw a picture of ourselves on a flash card. Every drawing would have to be something different, with different actions and settings, and they could have told a story if we wanted to. For my self-portraits, I chose to tell a story about me trying to find something to eat. I first go to a bakery, but realize that I am craving what my heart needs: fried chicken. I am then faced with the problem of having to decide which place to go to, and ultimately end up satisfied that I chose KFC. I find it funny that my mouth, hair, and eyes change with every flash card, and also that I only have ears in one of the cards. I am not artistically gifted and was only given two minutes to create a proper self-portrait, but still enjoyed putting together something worth showcasing.
The message I was conveying here, although not academic, is seen through the visuals. There isn’t even any dialogue in my story. Everything is interpreted via the image itself. I did not go into this assignment planning on neglecting dialogue, but I can’t be happier that this ended up happening. I was able to portray the message and story without saying a word. This perfectly exemplifies the course learning objectives (listed below) as well as the conventions of multimodal writing.
Going forward, I know how to showcase this skill, and can now convey messages through visuals and imagery alone.
Learning objectives: (1) Develop a complex message that engages substantively with other voices and ideas, using genre-appropriate language and at least one other mode of communication (visual, aural, spatial, gestural). (2) Compose texts in specific genres that adhere to rhetorically-appropriate patterns of arrangement and style, including verbal and nonverbal elements.
Artifact 3
Description of Sal
First Draft Description of Sal:
Fina Draft Description of Sal:
Analytical Reflection/Curation
Although these two pieces seem similar, they have distinct differences between them that were crucial to developing the final draft of my Multimodal Memoir essay.​​ The final version of my description of Sal is much shorter, and this is because I only kept the significant aspects that would develop my memoir essay. In the first draft, I have a lot of hypothetical statements. I talk a lot about what happens when you meet Sal, and the way you feel his presence when he walks into the room. I talk about how the assumptions about Sal “fall through the floor” once you meet him, inferring that he appears to be unfriendly. This is especially seen when I say that he would never lose in a fight. Not only this, but I go a little too in-depth about his facial features as well. The fact that Sal would never lose a fight is not relevant to the story, which is why I took that aspect out.
In the final version of this excerpt, I also added everything that would work with the rest of my memoir. I talked about how he brings Mexican culture to life, and why he wanted to go to my cousin’s quinceñera so badly. Not only this, but I added my perspective of Sal when I said, “I looked at Sal as if he was a quinceñera professional.” I did this to captivate the thoughts that were going on inside my head when Sal was being invited to the quinceñera, which fit perfectly with the paragraphs that surround this.
Artifact 4
Dialogue Exercise
Dialogue Exercise:
Analytical Reflection/Curation
In this exercise, we were to partner up with one of our peers in the classroom and create a dialogue based on the prompt. Our prompt was to create a dialogue between a five year old and a babysitter, where the five year old is stalling. I had a little too much fun writing this dialogue, and pretending to be the baby that does not like vegetables. (Note: I actually did like vegetables as a child!)
We started off by deciding what the problem was between the five year old and the babysitter, to which we then created our prompt. Not only did this go a long way in terms of helping me see how dialogue can develop a story, but it also served a great purpose in developing my internal voice. I was able to see just how important internal dialogue can be, and also how important it is to have dialogue tags.
According to the IP Multimodal Memoir Essay Rubric, it is crucial that a memoir describes what the writer felt when the story is going on. We need to know what the writer was thinking and feeling during the time of the scene, which was practiced in this dialogue exercise. This falls under the rubric category of “Interrelationships of Events and Feelings,” and this initial dialogue exercise helped me convey this aspect in my final memoir essay.
Artifact 5
Character Development
Artifact 6
Peer Review
First Draft Characterization of my dad:
Final Draft Characterization of my dad:
Analytical Reflection/Curation
Per, the IP Multimodal Memoir Essay Rubric, a memoir must “bring the reader into a world by making the world real through specific detail.” This falls into the category of “Message & Purpose.” In my memoir, I did this through character development, imagery, and figurative language (metaphors). Not only this, but also through descriptive language when setting the scene, by appealing to the senses that our body feels (touching, smelling, seeing, hearing, feeling). In this particular instance, I am using character development, by developing my dad into the story. At first I had irrelevant information about him. The fact that all of his siblings have nicknames has nothing to do with the message I was trying to send. Also, the development of my paternal grandfather had nothing to do with the story either. It is possible that these could be brought back into the story, but I decided that I could not link them with anything relevant to my message, so I deleted them from the story.
Not only did I take out all of the irrelevant information from the story, I also added relevant information that would further develop the story. In my second scene, it was taking place in the city of Seaside, California. I know I needed to characterize the setting, which is why I included the quote my dad said to me in an interview with him. I feel as though this served my memoir great purpose, as I was able to develop my dad and the setting at the same time, just from further developing my story.
First & Second Draft Peer Review:
Analytical Reflection/Curation
When it comes to peer review, it is always more beneficial to give peer review than to receive it. In this instance, I am receiving feedback based off of the first and second drafts of my Multimodal Memoir essay. Those two drafts don’t even compare to my final draft, but that is simply because of the great feedback that I received from my peers. I am being praised in certain ways, but am also being criticized in certain ways. I am being told that my message is unclear, and that I should revise my memoir so that it is more clear. I am being told that I do a good job of developing my characters, but am also being told that I am developing a little too much, to the point where I am providing a lot of irrelevant information. Taking all of this into consideration, I have revised my memoir to adjust the criticism I received. I tried to find ways that would avoid me having to do so muc revision, but I could not do so properly. I really did try and ignore the criticism I was given, but it turned out that every revision recommended to me is what went into making my memoir great.
In the future, learning about peer review will definitely help me with my future college courses. Whether it is from classmates or the instructor, I will definitely do my best to avoid searching for loopholes, and not cutting corners when it comes to peer review. The criticism I received helped me see the flaws of my memoir. Not only this, but while giving criticism of my own I was able to see ways that I could improve my own writing, hence why it is typically preferred to give peer review than to receive it.
Reflection
Attempting to form a memoir essay has definitely been a ride. Having put my absolute best into weeks 7-10 of the quarter into my memoir essay, I am highly satisfied with the way that it has turned out. What was once an idea about race, has now formed into a beautiful piece that I like to call “The Worst of Both Worlds.” I had to dig deep to see how my biracial background can be turned into a message that people would want to see, and I am proud of my efforts in accomplishing this. Click here for my multimodal memoir essay!
Every assignment assigned within this course has contributed to my growth as a writer. Reading texts showed me how much potential I had to grow in terms of academics, and showed me examples of how I can form my own writing pieces.
Doing exercises with dialogue helped me develop my creative voice. Not only this, but it also served as a way to see how dialogue can be incorporated into a story. I now know how I can use dialogue to send a message. I also know how to show a story to a reader, as opposed to only being able to tell the story. In my opinion, this served the greatest purpose in forming my multimodal memoir. Providing revision advice to my peers served a great purpose as well, as I was able to use the advice I provided to others to revise and change my own work. I have come to love giving peer reviews because of this.