Blog Post #6

While reading Wyoski and watching Kress I was having difficulty understanding what they were talking about. What I got from them both was that in order to understand multi modality you must first understand the basics of mode. A mode is a way in which something is expressed, experienced, or done. In other words it’s a form of communication. For example, the Internet is an example of multimodality because it uses multiple modes in order to convey a message. It projects a still image, which is visual. But then in addition to the image, it has movable objects, which are visual but involve time as well. The Internet can also use videos that include audio, which is another use of mode. All of these different modes come together to create a form of multimodality known as the Internet. With this being said, the form of mode should always be in terms of the audience’s perception. For example, if the audience was two year olds you probably should not use the Internet to convey your message, simply because they would not understand it. A cartoon would be a better mode for young children. The difference between Wyoski and Kress was that Wyoski focused more on why something was in a space while Kress focused more on how something was placed in a space. Kress said that placing something in a wrong way would convey a wrong message. Although both pieces of literature explain the importance of multimodality, they explant them in very different ways.