We’ll use Perusall to annotate and read together. 
Shaking Up this Rhetorical Event
In Jody Shipka’s article “A Multi-Modal Task Based Framework for Composing”, she addresses how to get students to conduct research, write, respond to complex texts, such as their own and of their peers, and work with curriculum that occurs in and out of the classroom. She brings to light the vast imaginations of students through the application of the multi-model task based framework strategy. Students engineer their own complex rhetorical events with limited explicit instruction from the teacher (282). This allows students to properly investigate and inquire into different rhetoric’s on their own accord (283). Overly prescriptive assignments prevent students from applying their imaginations and investigative skills to a text or idea. This is essentially “bypassing the inquiry stage” students need to develop as young, inexperienced writers (283). By giving step-by-step expectations and guidelines to assignments, by detailing exactly what is expected students fail to practice and develop essential intellectual thoughts. Teachers can change this repressive and unstimulating learning practice and implement goal oriented multi-modal task-based framework to their classroom practices (285). This type of classroom practice requires the students to determine the purposes and contexts of the work they produce. This can be done by giving students the access and time to use multiple means of composure to explore texts and ideas. These could include creating a game, a website, a blog, a vine, a play, a dance, a poem, a video game, a comic, a digital soundtrack with photography and subtitles, and much, much more.
Giving students the opportunities to create their own paths to understanding not only through the texts presented to them in class, but through the rhetorical events in and out of the classroom. They engage themselves in the classroom by choosing their own goals, draw from various communication resources (Twitter, Facebook, Google, YouTube, etc.) not typically permitted in most courses, speak outwardly about their various choices that have made their learning process falter, change, or benefit, and they attend to the various ways communicative texts and events shape and change as they encountered them.
I agree with much of Shipka’s strategy, but hold fast to the belief that some students still need some explicit direction in order to discover new knowledge. Simply letting them loose into the vast world of multi-modal possibilities is like throwing a toddler into the deep-end and expecting them to swim. Some instruction should be given, especially when first applying this strategy to students.
2 Replies to “Shaking Up this Rhetorical Event”
Nice summary of Shipka’s ideas. But I also want to push on the thinking of multimodal composing as a “strategy.” If we step back from school environments, we might look at the ways in which texts are composed and interpreted outside of school. What mode is taking on the rhetorical load? An image? A sound? Writing? Some combination? Perhaps the “direction” is in the analysis of how texts function in a community–our role is to curate interesting texts and provide support for the analysis of those texts? Offering many ways for students to work with reading and writing in order to model and support what “writing”–broadly defined–can do in the world. I would also agree that it’s not “anything goes.” Perhaps, as Shipka argues, we agree on the goals and purposes, but how we meet them is negotiable. Little kids get this. And in fact, most of their work starts with image, a drawing that they talk from and eventually write from. “Newcomers” to writing are immersed in texts that almost always include image (learning from picture books, for example). I’ve seen rich discussions with 1st and 2nd graders where they talk through how an image helps them understand the words. Thanks for the thoughtful blog…gave me lots to think about.
Multimodal text does bring a whole new angle to essay creation. I enjoy incorporating my own style to convey more emotion and understanding to my point. It gives authority to the creator to represent themselves in diverse ways. The Standard Essay is not extremely appealing, but I agree, students do need some form of “explicit direction”. In a world that is based on guidelines it can be challenging to place students in unfamiliar grounds. Although, when something becomes to routine it might lose its attraction. What if Multimodal texts become a structured format like the standard? Will students become overwhelmed with the pressure to meet teachers’ expectations in being creative? Also, would their sense of ability drop if they lack in imagination? These are points I never thought about. I believe each method has its pros and cons, but I still think we can learn to avoid creating meticulous outlines which deter students from writing. Thanks for sharing! :)