We’ll use Perusall to annotate and read together. My Totally Rad Project that Didn’t Suck
Pictured is the disassembled essay I prepared for class.
Fantastic! You’ve Used all the Bits, but Your Multimodal Project is in Another Box
Some of you may not have heard, but my original idea for this project was to create a Reassembler-type vlog where I assemble a Lego Technic Race Kart (#freeplugparty) whilst talking you through it. The idea was to show what it is really like to build something of moderate complexity, and possibly impart some interest unto you. When I watch James May put random shit together (I have attached an episode for your viewing pleasure), I find myself getting unusually excited when he is putting on the finishing touches. As someone who builds models, I can totally relate to him because I feel the same sensation when I put that last piece on a Gundam. The satisfaction is biblical. Naturally, I would hope that you would feel the same. You waste 30 minutes of your life watching some sweaty fat guy put together a children’s toy, so naturally you would want to see it through to the end. Alas, while the idea sounded good on paper (to me anyway), execution was impossible. I did not have the requisite equipment nor did I have any editing know-how. It took me about six hours to assemble the 345 pieces of the go kart, and frankly I do not see how I could edit that down to 30 minutes. So, in lieu of a vlog, I will decide to play to my strengths and create a visual presentation of some sort. The jury is still out on whether this will be a PowerPoint or a Prezi, but I am leaning towards the latter. By the way, the video I have included is one of my favorite episodes of The Reassembler. The entire run time is devoted to the reconstruction of an old-as-shit telephone. I STRONGLY dema…encourage you to watch it. Watch it for entertainment or, you know, an insomnia cure.
I Am Really Starting to Dislike Multimodality
It’s not just the word that I hate; I hate the complicated nature surrounding it. I cannot describe how much I despise this multimodality bullshit. Not helping me right now is my very sour mood, but that only allows me to say straight up what I feel about something. As I stated last week, I struggle with change (or maybe I didn’t). I do not like change. Change makes me anxious and neurotic. I have an ironclad way of doing things, and if anybody or anything challenges this system, I resist. Multimodality forces me to move away from this, and I cannot stand it. I am comfortable with assembling a PowerPoint presentation, but do not tell me to do that on something that I would rather write. I will never do a vlog when I can easily write a response from the privacy of my keyboard, away from the prying eyes of a judgemental audience. The word “multimodality” itself sounds ear-gratingly pretentious. I am not trying to argue against the advantages of multimodality; visual learners such as myself benefit most from it. However, I will not break my back over it
Multimodality Sucks… When I Try It
Reader, witness and observe my most humiliating moment. Behold, myself in drag.
Done vomiting? Great. This is me in the year of 2009, where myself and several of my friends were tasked with performing in our own film adaptation of some stupid Shakespeare play. This was the first and last time I ever attempted a career in acting; this was likely for the betterment of every soul on this planet. My point, is that I am neither comfortable with my appearance nor confident in my thespian proclivities enough to portray anything related to classical theater. As Jeremy Clarkson would say, “ambitious, but rubbish”. Thus, I am much more suited to more boring types of multimodality. I took an architectural history course two years ago where I submitted a lengthy analysis of the building philosophy of the World Trade Center complex in Manhattan. I described both the original and new complexes, so I made certain to include many pictures, graphs, and drawings, complete with captions. I did the same with a paper about a cathedral in Germany. My biggest multimodal experience comes from PowerPoint. I have made A LOT of PowerPoint slideshows over the years since middle school. I have included music, videos, memes, graphs, infographics, charts, you name it. My title is misleading. I do not believe all multimodal applications suck, but some of them do suck for me.
A Lesson in Reflection
It has occurred to me that a number of people in this forum agree on the same thing: that Kate’s essay was unfairly graded. She was following her instructor’s instructions to a T but still received a poor grade along with some rude comments. Thus, we have a problem. Do teachers want essays, or facsimiles? I have mentioned before the importance of a student writing against the standard norms. I have also voiced my opposition to the outline, a practice which I feel can stifle rather than assist. I have also written at length about the flaws of the 5 paragraph essay model. These concepts look good on paper, but they have rarely produced anything above mediocre. Good intentions are sometimes behind the most heinous of acts. The poor grade Kate received from her incompetent teacher is far from heinous, but it is still a perfect example of the biggest flaw in primary school writing practices: form and function trumping content. What the teacher should have realized is that their “guidelines”, or rather rules, were counter-intuitive to the student and the assignment. Instead of criticizing the student, the teacher should have criticized themselves. If the student follows your rules perfectly, and those rules cause a substantial decrease in quality, then it is on you to reevaluate both your assignment and yourself. The teacher should ponder why the student failed to meet their expectations while also meeting them. Thus the counter-intuition. You cannot have a student both meet and fall short of guidelines. But this still raises a problem: how can an instructor fix this problem? I do not have an answer to this problem that is universal; I only have my answer, and that answer is to completely abolish the assignment and create a new one. In my classroom, I would give students my preferences for certain aspects of the paper (format, citations etc.), but otherwise they would have complete control over the assignment. I do not want a facsimile. I want something completely unique and distinguishable. Just as my own writing has a “Pantaleonian” feel to it, I want my students to inject some of their personality into their writings as well.