Multimodal and Digital Texts

Multimodal and Digital Texts

The Best We Could Do

Language Objective

I will be able to discuss the impact of visual and textual elements in The Best We Could Do using appropriate academic language.

Learning Intention

Students will learn how to analyze and interpret multimodal texts in a graphic novel to understand how visual and textual elements work together to convey meaning.

Success Criteria

Students will be able to identify at least two different modes of communication in a given text.

Do Now

As we watch this video reflect on how you engage with these types of texts in your daily lives.

Define

A text isn’t always just words on a page. A multimodal text is a text that uses two or more modes to present information or create meaning. A mode is a way of communicating ideas or information. For example, written language, spoken language, music, images, and gestures are different kinds of modes. When a text combines written language and images, as a graphic novel does, it’s considered multimodal. However, multimodal texts such as graphic novels can also be digital. A digital text is a text that is presented and accessed using computer technology, such as an electronic text (e-text), video, or podcast. A podcast that you can access on your computer, tablet, or smartphone often combines music and spoken language to create a story, making it both digital and multimodal. Analyzing characteristics of multimodal and digital texts helps readers, viewers, and listeners better understand and more easily access increasingly complex and diverse texts.

mode

a way of communicating ideas, concepts, or information including written language, spoken language, images, music, and gestures

Vocabulary

multimodal text

digital text

a text that uses two or more modes to present information or create meaning

a text that is presented and accessed using computer technology

Model

Directions: Review the Checklist for Multimodal and Digital Texts below. Then read the Skill Model to examine how one student used the checklist to analyze the graphic novel The Best We Could Do. As you read, identify the question from the checklist the student used for each annotation. Checklist for Multimodal and Digital Texts Here is some basic vocabulary to help you identify and analyze characteristics of a graphic novel: a type of multimodal text.

Model

To analyze characteristics of a graphic novel, note your responses to one or more of the following questions:

• What does the layout of the panels show you?
• How do the panels and gutters show the movement of time?
• How do illustrations and voiceovers work together to tell the story?
• What is the difference between what a panel shows and what a splash shows?
• What does the author’s word choice and the use of color and other visuals suggest about the mood?
• Where are characters in the panels? How does their placement contribute to the meaning of the story?
• How do the graphic novel’s images and text work together to convey or enhance the meaning of the text?
• How does synthesizing the details in consecutive panels provide insight into the mood and the point of view of the narrator?

Skill Model

Noticing details like the layout of the panels and considering the connection between text and visuals will help you identify and analyze the characteristics of multimodal and digital texts. Let’s look at how one reader analyzes layout in The Best We Could Do:

I notice big waves and a swaying boat that suggest a dangerous journey from Vietnam to the United States. A gutter and voiceovers work together to show the passage of time and suggest that the story will be told from the adult Bui's point of view.

Skill Model

The reader pays close attention to the text and illustrations and notices how they work together to convey meaning. She notes that the first panel uses a dramatic image to suggest the peril of a migrant family’s journey. A gutter indicates that time has since passed, and voiceovers help to establish that the adult Bui is telling the story. By observing all of these elements, the reader begins to understand the graphic novel’s organization and the development of Bui’s character. She continues reading The Best We Could Do and further analyzes how the graphics and text work together to tell the story.

The harsh sound of the moving truck in the first panel and the worried look on Bui's face in the third panel show her anxiety about moving to be closer to her parents. The physical distance between her and her parents in the fourth panel emphasizes the emotional distance between them.

In this passage, the reader notices how visual details in several panels contribute to her understanding of the mood and the narrator’s point of view. The moving truck makes a harsh “SLAM” as it closes. The capital letters and jarring word choice the author uses to describe the sound create an uneasy mood. This detail, when combined with Bui’s serious and reflective facial expression in the third panel, emphasize that she feels uneasy about her decision to move closer to her parents. Will this move actually help her feel closer to them? The reader than observes how Bui’s parents walk in front of her in the fourth panel. The physical space between Bui and her parents seems to symbolize the emotional distance between them. Synthesizing visual details in the panels helps the reader understand not only what the narrator is saying, but also how she feels.

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