Blog Post #7

In Blog Post #6, I defined the word multimodality as the following: “Multimodality, in more simple words, is choosing the best, most well organized combination and mix of many different modes in order to communicate a single message. When deciding the correct modality, the author must consider the audience he or she is trying to reach.” After reading the article “Genre Theory” by Daniel Chandler, I would choose the following online dictionary definition to describe the word genre: a category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, characterized by similarities in form, style, or subject matter. I liked this definition because it matched a quote in the article that I thought accurately showed the point that the author was trying to make to the readers: “Robert Hodge and Gunther Kress define genres as 'typical forms of texts which link kinds of producer, consumer, topic, medium, manner and occasion', adding that they 'control the behavior of producers of such texts, and the expectations of potential consumers'” After reading the two articles, I saw that there was a similarity between multimodality and genre. When choosing what modes to use and what genre to depict, the author must look at the audience he is trying to reach and what would sway them to see what he/she wants them to see. Without sticking to one genre, writing would be messy, unorganized, and a little confusing to the readers. Without using a certain amount of modes and specific modes, the writing would also be hard to understand. Both the genre and the multimodality of writing are what makes it understandable to readers and what makes it flow. Multimodality and genre are two key elements to consider when writing something.