Page 2 first paragraph: "we know- just as God knows- that every action successfully performed must in the end be good and therefore the right thing to do, otherwise, God would not have allowed it to happen." It doesn't explain why the baby died, it just says there's a reason in the future, but this is dependent on the belief that God is good.

The primary source reading, the first chapter to a book, discusses multimodality in multiple forms of communication and media.

This reading was very easy to read and had information that was mostly already known by the average teenager, so this took a lot to delve into and find where to elaborate on. The reading, however, was easy to connect to the supplemental readings and showed its significance because of this relativity. With that said, I decided to include a text that correlates with the points made in this chapter. I'm using "Talking to the Future -- Hey, There's Nuclear Waste Buried Here!," by James Conca.

In this article, Conco considers the future and the different forms of media that could be used to warn others of radioactive material. He thought about the material, like we do in our primary source descriptions, and the longevity necessary to make it worthwhile. Because of the uncertainty in how the human race will be in terms of language and concern for other humanity, Conco has a hard time deciding on what languages to use and which symbols to include, or if the warning sign is ultimately necessary. What Conco did focus on, though, was the conscious decisions that had to be made for this sign, because it needed to be believable and understandable.

I also recognized the connection between Dr. Wharton's class discussions and rubric instructions with her projects in that multimodality is a great aid.

This is an ongoing theme for this chapter on multimodality. The communication necessary for the message to be conveyed will vary depending on the intended readers and what they need to know, for Conco's case, the fact that there is a lot of radioactive material buried 50 feet under the earth's surface, and how they can possibly receive this information needs to be considered.

In Conco's situation, the material must have multiple forms of language and be certain to last through destruction and possibly millennia.

Options are never limited even when the text is physical. We can consider a number of options and opportunities to switch the form of that communication.

• A live speech or performance can be recorded and altered
• A digitally typed paper can be printed out as a physical copy, like how a digital image can be printed out
• A written paper, artwork, handmade posters, and even pictures of the real world can be taken and uploaded to the digital form

When considering aspects of a speech or performance, we can think about the options involved in:

1. the background/backdrop
2. the tone of the speaker
3. the pace of the speaker
4. the clothing of the speaker
5. the gestures of the speaker (gestural mode)

When considering a paper, either handmade or digital, can have a multitude of options like those listed:

1. choice of words
2. syntax
3. images
4. colors
5. design
6. style of fonts
7. size of each aspect

This continuing theme of conscious decisions and options that are available in multimodal communication is shown in this excerpt and in the rest of the reading.

It's interesting to read that the spatial mode used in informational brochures, posters, and websites follow the same strategic techniques for classrooms and grocery stores. James Conca, in his article , talks about the techniques that should be considered for messages in the long term. He considers the organizational structure that would have to be taken into account and how multiple languages and symbols would have to be placed on this type of communication.

Here again the authors make the point, and give definition to, the strengths of certain modes with respect to their intended goals.

The authors mention that the visual mode allows us to convey emotion, which connects to the previous page about a picture expressing a thousand words. Visual images give non-verbal expression the chance to be exposed and felt, along with videos, because many times we do not have the words to describe a situation like we have the empathy to feel it.

It is important to note that these modes are all of equal importance until you come across the full situation and consider all aspects: the purpose, the media, the combined modes, etc.

This seems like an obvious thing to say, that different media uses different combinations of modes, but it is sometimes necessary to say something like that to tie in all this information together.

We know that it's best if we don't use printed essays with no pictures to appeal to children, or controversial posters to media-driven liberal teenagers. Pictures tend to be visually appealing and grab the attention of others faster than written words. Pictures also tend to describe the things that we can't so easily put into word. Humans tend to lose their imagination as they age, and they become more reliant on visual aids.

The authors again mention that there are certain modes for projected purposes. Everything is done with a conscious effort of the intended goal. What works for one thing, however, will not necessarily work for the next.

Here again we see a point that we can't depend on what is said alone to be considered 'successful' with our communication. Linguistics aren't necessarily the best for every situation, such as training for a sport, how to put something together.

In consideration with learning styles, we know that auditory learners are less prominent, but most college classes are built on lecture. Majority of students are visual learners, which is where powerpoints aid the students, but many professors use the powerpoint to either have vague bulleted points or philosophical questions. The linguistics of the lecture will help a few that are more auditory learners, but those that are visual learners and only have limited information from the powerpoint may not benefit as much from the linguistic mode. A chart that breaks down the different learning styles is below. If the authors of this textbook recognize that communication modes are situational and are largely based on audience, why don't teachers have activities that will benefit each style of learning?

Aural mode is much like auditory learning. We tend to only subconsciously recognize the background noise and small, seemingly insignificant sounds in movies, tv shows, or even video games, but these sounds, as everything else in other modes, are done with conscious effort and specific intention.

It's important to note that texts aren't limited to the paper that we read. Everything around us, especially in this digital age, are forms of text and are multimodal. The research papers we learn from tend to include graphs and charts along with their written text, billboards have straightforward information or a catchphrase and an address or phone number, advertisements tend to have catchy jingles and happy people to convey a convincing feeling of happiness for the product, etc. We are surrounded by texts and will always be so long as we can preserve it, much like the illuminated manuscripts (shown below) that James Conca mentions in his article Talking to the Future -- Hey, There's Nuclear Waste Buried Here! In this article he tells readers how the material of the manuscripts, animal skin, was not only the cause for its longevity and durability, but an artistic feature, or 'treasure' in that creation's date. These manuscripts were not just written texts, but had intricate artwork with bright colors to depict the stories. The manuscripts are another example of a text with a different material and purpose that can be 'successful'.

The authors here connect their topic of multimodality to a modern day meme that their targeted readers can understand and make a connection.

One thing that I didn't realize before reading this primary source was that a single digital image can utilize multiple modes. Other sites agree with the phenomena of memes and lolcat, and explore the creation of these memes and explains quite similarly to this chapter how they're created. (https://www.mnn.com/family/pets/stories/lolcats-where-they-came-from-and-why-we-love-them) https://media.mnn.com/assets/images/2012/11/pw_1.jpg

The author(s) of this chapter make a very clear emphasis on the intentional choices that are made to make a commercial. The author(s) take consideration to every form of multimodality that can be included in a commercial and the meaning behind it. This purposeful decision making is talked about in the entirety of the article.

I thought this was interesting to see because she brings the focus back onto the purpose of the hat and the issues it represents and standpoint it communicates, not the hat itself.

The 'paper' the text was put on was of a specific quality to last through times.

This is where we can draw a very obvious connection, multiple languages and multimodality are hoped to be used.

Even in a case where nearly all civilization is dead and gone, there are still necessary requirements for this text to be read and useful.

John Maguire's "The Secret to Good Writing: It's About Objects, Not Ideas" goes along very well with this primary source reading.

Maguire talks passionately about writing, with much knowledge on it that Prown also has. In this supplemental reading, Maguire takes a different approach to the issue of poor writing skills. Rather than dismissing the lack of good writing due to less intelligence or no interest, Maguire examines what students are lacking. With self reflection, Maguire demonstrates that even he, an experienced english professor, lacks in certain skills. He admits that he needs to give concrete examples, and so do other students. Maguire discusses the simplest way to achieve good writing: concrete nouns.

Maguire notices and speaks on the fact that too many students create essays of 'abstractitis', or when a writer uses abstract ideas instead of concrete examples. He basically says that students don't know the exact words they want or what their ideas truly are, but that this can be avoided if every word is put to questioning before being used.

I cannot say that Maguire fully supports this excerpt. Though in many cases, Maguire approves of the same topics as Jules Prown in the Prownian analysis, Maguire has a very distinctions. Perchance, Maguire feels the same way as Prown and didn't want to get ahead of his point and his students. Could Maguire have also wanted his students to give interpretations after physical descriptions? It is possible, however, Maguire made no note of interpretational writing because abstract ideas make for a paper of 'mush' with no solidity. This is the only contrasting point between the two readings, but nevertheless, Maguire does support the first part of the Prownian analysis. Maguire, John. “The Secret to Good Writing: It's About Objects, Not Ideas.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 2 Oct. 2012, www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/10/the-secret-to-good-writing-its-about-objects-not-ideas/263113/.

Instead of blatantly saying what an image represents, we use descriptions to show what the image may be interpreted as. The purpose of the description is to show an object's functionality for the describer and allows for others to experience it the same way. John Maguire emphasizes on the importance on physical description as well by stating that students are to use concrete words which are "something you can drop on your foot." Both teachers want 'wordless' descriptions to initiate the process of object examination so that the descriptions describe objects vividly on their physical realm.

Being more aware of one's way of thinking, interests, pet peeves, previous experiences, and beliefs will give the writer the ability to express, intellectually and sensationally, subjective and objective descriptions in multiple dimensions. Again we see that the deeper we examine and more personal we become when describing an object, the greater description we can create- reaching beyond the physical world and our vision. This is a contrasting point compared to John Maguire's "The Secret to Good Writing: It's About Objects, Not Ideas" because Maguire focuses solely on students' concrete and physical writing- nothing further.

When we delve into the bibliography for the object, we need not have a plethora of references, but an amount that will cover some range of research. When doing this bibliography, it's understandable to wonder what other interpreters and historians saw within the object so long as we remember that we are to give our own interpretation as the final conclusion and the most supported claim. Of course, as Maguire and Prown insist, objects are not described entirely as an interpretation, but also as a physical object itself. It is important to also note here that John Maguire does not go as far about physical descriptions of objects to say the final outcome will be a persuasive argument on your interpretation after the description. Prown states that our claim should be stated in a persuasive argument manner, asserting the strongest points we can make about this object.

Its's funny that Amy Webel said this, as it coincides with what John Maguire said in "The Secret to Good Writing: It's About Objects, Not Ideas". Maguire discusses how students that are taught to think abstractly have difficulty in writing concretely. Many times, their writing is so abstract that it seems like a cloud of redundancy with no definite meaning. Maguire mentions George Orwell, who advises thinking of physical objects from the start, as opposed to starting off with abstract terms. It is quite interesting that these different teachers in different time periods still feel about concrete descriptions. By visualizing an object, we can describe objects during Prownian analysis and stick to the meaning we intended on.

This approval of a selection is very similar to how Dr. Wharton would use her authority as our professor to approve or reject a supplemental reading that is off the list. Prown is, deductively, a teacher of material culture, at the least. We can see that there are similarities between our modern day English professor and Prown, who seemed very knowledgable about english, writing, abstract and physical descriptions, and material culture- much like Dr. Wharton. Their judgment is through experience and is used to determine what resources are credible and useful over the assigned topics.

Haltman states that the collected essays include more than 150 years of American history through material culture and its descriptions. He asserts that there is no specific order or purpose for these essays other than the sheer fact that they follow the methodology that was described in his introduction. Initially, I could only envision American baskets, due to the second reading in this unit. However, I found a short video that may help others, as it helped me, to get a broader understanding with the various visuals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNPXRoOCa98

Michael Baxandall explains a common point involving a writer's description: we can only describe as far as we examine the object. If one doesn't look at a subject closely enough, the explanation will be minimal and immature. This point also corresponds with the idea that our descriptions are solely from our individual interpretation, thus we will only be able to describe something as far as we can personally empathize with it.

This part of the reading confused me a little by Prown's meaning of "persistent object metaphors expressive of belief." What I do see, however, is the list seems to include expressional opposites, many of which evoke passionate feelings that relate to the root of human's psychological drives and motives. These descriptives go beyond a physical explanation to connect deeper feelings. It goes without saying that an object requires an immense amount of significance to withhold any of the listed feelings. The polarities listed seem to mimic a lot of the feelings that the root chakra controls, which can be read more on http://www.chopra.com/articles/the-root-chakra-muladhara#sm.0001qs4r4vcibergxco1camay0spl.

Haltman implements this rhetorical question into the introduction with the purpose of instilling the thought into the readers' minds for the following essays: what are the most fruitful things to ask about an object? These essays share the process that is discussed within this excerpt and focus on an object's "historical significance and its production." Haltman encourages his readers to create significant questions for observing and interpreting objects. It is also worthy to note that, in a way, by asking this question, Haltman is initiating the open-minded and thoughtful process involved in Prownian analyses.

The primary source reading says something very similar to this, to really consider every word you consider writing.

Sophie Woodward in "Material Culture" expresses this point as well, stating "objects can produce particular effects." It seems to be a universal belief through authors that are knowledgeable about material culture that objects have emotional significance and meaning.

I can personally attest to this belief, as heritage and history in my family is expressed through memorable artifacts. Even though these objects may be too worn down to still function in its original expected use, it remains as an heirloom that carries with it the emotions through generations.

The Prownian analysis is used to examine things with detail descriptions, logical hypotheses on the functionality of the object, and get a broader vision on the relativity to other concepts. Ultimately, this analysis should leave the writer with a detailed description that entails the uses and persons the object was for.

Source: https://gregcotter.wordpress.com/prownian-analysis-2/