18 Melanie Gagich’s “An Introduction to and Strategies for Multimodal Composing”
Writing Spaces Volume 3
Students are often shocked or confused when confronted with the task of creating a multimodal composition in a First-Year writing class. The reason for this hesitancy often stems from how the multimodal composition deviates from the typical expectations of the page so often associated with the word composition. Gagich pushes back on the traditional concept of text and defines it as “a piece of communication that can take many forms.” With this in mind, Gagich lays out in detail what considerations make up multimodal compositions, from the Five Modes of Communication to the benefits to students’ literacy both in and out of the classroom. Gagich also breaks down for students how to begin a multimodal project and lays out several considerations for students to remember as they begin creating texts. This chapter aims to demystify the multimodal composition and provide students with a framework for rethinking composition as just merely words on a page.
“While some students are thrilled to compose something other than an academic essay, others struggle to understand why they are required to create a multimodal text in a writing class. I assure my students that although they may not be familiar with the concept of multimodality, it has a long history in composition (e.g. writing studies).”
MLA Citation Examples
Works Cited
Gagich, Melanie. “An Introduction to and Strategies for Multimodal Composing.” Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing Volume 3, edited by Dana Driscoll, Mary Stewart, and Matthew Vetter, Parlor Press, 2020, pp. 65-85.
In-text citation
“While some students are thrilled to compose something other than an academic essay, others struggle to understand why they are required to create a multimodal text in a writing class. I assure my students that although they may not be familiar with the concept of multimodality, it has a long history in composition (e.g. writing studies)” (66).
References
Gagich, M. (2020). An introduction to strategies for multimodal composing. In Dana Driscoll, Mary Stewart and Matthew Vetter (Eds.), Writing spaces: readings on writing, vol. 3 (pp. 65-85). New York: Parlor Press.
In-text citation
“While some students are thrilled to compose something other than an academic essay, others struggle to understand why they are required to create a multimodal text in a writing class. I assure my students that although they may not be familiar with the concept of multimodality, it has a long history in composition (e.g. writing studies).” (Gagich, 2020, p. 66).
Chicago Citation Examples
Bibliography
Gagich, Melanie. “An Introduction to and Strategies for Multimodal Composing,” in Writing Spaces: Reading on Writing Volume 3, ed. Dana Driscoll, Mary Stewart, and Matthew Vetter (New York: Parlor Press, 2020), 65-85.
In-text citation
“While some students are thrilled to compose something other than an academic essay, others struggle to understand why they are required to create a multimodal text in a writing class. I assure my students that although they may not be familiar with the concept of multimodality, it has a long history in composition (e.g. writing studies).” (Gagich, 2020, 66).
About the author
name: Writing Spaces Volume 3
institution: Parlor Press and WAC Clearinghouse
website: https://writingspaces.org/
Released in 2020, the third issue of Writing Spaces was edited by Dana Driscoll, Mary Stewart, and Matthew Vetter. In addition to the Writing Spaces Website, volume 3 can be accessed through WAC Clearinghouse, as well as Parlor Press.
From Parlor Press
Volume 3 continues the tradition of previous volumes with topics such as voice and style in writing, rhetorical appeals, discourse communities, multimodal composing, visual rhetoric, credibility, exigency, working with personal experience in academic writing, globalized writing and rhetoric, constructing scholarly ethos, imitation and style, and rhetorical punctuation.
From WAC Clearinghouse
Dana Driscoll is Professor of English at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where she teaches in the Composition and Applied Linguistics graduate program and directs the Jones White Writing Center. Her scholarly interests include composition pedagogy, writing centers, writing transfer and writerly development, research methodologies, writing across the curriculum, and assessment.
Mary Stewart is Assistant Professor and the Assessment Coordinator for the English Department at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Her research, which is primarily qualitative, focuses on collaborative and interactive learning, blended and online writing instruction, composition pedagogy, and teaching with technology.
Matthew Vetter is Assistant Professor of English at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and affiliate faculty in the Composition and Applied Linguistics Doctoral Program. A scholar in writing, rhetoric, and digital humanities, his research explores how technologies shape writing and writing pedagogy.
