These are the 5 basic modes of communication. I would say that linguistic, visual, and aural are all pretty common, but I have never thought about spatial and gestural as being that common. I think it's pretty interesting that the New London Group decided to put those on the list.

Modes can be used in a persuasive manner. The way that the announcer says things or the music can all affect us in different ways, even if we do not think that they will. When you choose what to use for each mode it is important to choose things that will affect people in a way that you want them too be affected. For example lets look at 2 different pieces of audio.

Audio 1

When you listen to this piece of audio, most people will generally feel afraid or scared since the audio gives off a spooky vibe. Someone might use this audio in a scary movie or an ad designed to frighten people.

Audio 2

When you listen to this audio, you become happier since the music has a bright and cheerful mood. This affects us in a different way than Audio 1 does.

I think that if you are trying to persuade someone via a commercial or video advertisement, than it is important to make sure your audio matches with what you are trying to advertise. If you are advertising a stuffed dog toy for kids, then it is not appropriate to use scary music or else you might deter people from buying your product. And the aural mode is just one mode out of 5, so it is key to make sure that the other modes are also in tune with what you are trying to communicate.

Source 1:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrPEoqp4sjg

Source2:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pRRFJyqpQ8

When I think about the gestural mode, my first thoughts are about job interviews. When you are at an interview, body language and eye contact can play a huge part in the interview. I think that this comic perfectly supports what I am saying. The way the man is sitting makes people think that he does not care about whatever he is doing. His body language is communicating his laziness and how he is not taking the situation seriously.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/lowres.cartoonstock.com/youth-bad_attitude-body_language-attitude_problems-lawyers-legal_advice-kmhn749_low.jpg

Gestural mode is all about the way you hold your body in real life. This mode is seen in real life, and a lot can be seen from body language. Some examples of this mode are news anchors, speeches, and talk show hosts. All 3 of these things include people that need to have good use of the gestural mode. For example, when a news anchor has to speak on live television, they have to carry themselves in a way that makes watchers believe that the news anchors are taking what they are talking about seriously. If the news anchor is sitting lazily, the watchers may not respect them as much.

Although most of the other modes are seen throughout the supplemental reading, the gestural mode is not included since there are no live interactions between people in the reading. However, I think that ballet puts emphasis on the gestural mode. Ballet dancers carry themselves in an elegant manner and show delicate body language.

When I first read this, I immediately thought of our wordpress site and what we talked about in class during the first week of school. We talked about how our site will be seen in the public, and instead of our site being a big mess, we should organize it so that our readers can effectively look at what they want and not have to search for it. To prove my point, look at this site. When you look at this site, you automatically get a headache due to how messy it is. I imagine that it would be really hard to find what you are looking for. Hopefully my site will look completely different than this.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l5M1_46EE60/VO91Qv-Y4TI/AAAAAAAAAD0/bAi072ZajXw/s1600/havenworks.jpg

Spatial mode relates to how things are organized and arranged. This mode can refer to the organization of an essay or project and can range all the way to the organization of stores or classrooms. This mode is heavily used throughout both the supplemental reading and this reading. Both readings organize their writings in paragraphs with headings in order to display what they are going to be talking about.

When I saw this mode, I immediately thought of when I was writing my primary source description for the AIDS quilt. In class, we discussed the importance of headings in our essays so that our readers can get a sense of progress when they are reading, since the wordpress site that we use is just one long page.

The aural mode is all about sound whether that be music or sound effects or even the absence of sound. While this mode is not used too heavily in the supplemental reading, it can still be seen in the video at the beginning. The creators of the video use the aural mode to convey the emotions of what the ballet dancers are feeling. All throughout the video, ballet music can be heard. The creators specifically chose this type music, since it very much relates to the subject of the video, which is the Terminus group. And I think that the aural mode actually, plays a big role in ballet dancing, or any dancing as a matter of fact. A big part of dancing has to do with the music/audio. Dancers dance to the beat of the music or the mood of the music.

I think that the aural mode is one of the most important modes because of how easily I get affected by it. Whenever I watch movies and an especially powerful piece of music starts to play, paired with an emotional scene in the movie, it is easy for me to get moved by that. Whether I want to or not, I get affected by the aural mode as it so effectively communicates emotions and feelings more so than visual or lingual.

I think that the visual mode is a very powerful mode and can affect us heavily.

When I see this picture it is easy for me to feel sad for this person. The aspects of the image all allude to a sad mood and tone. The empty room suggests her loneliness, her position shows how sad he is, the colors give the picture a dreary tone. I think that a major reason why visuals are so powerful is because there is a lot of depth behind every aspect of the visual. Every color, every setting, every object is chosen for a specific and unique reason and gives off a unique emotion. I think that this picture perfectly exemplifies this idea and the visual mode.

https://images.pexels.com/photos/236147/pexels-photo-236147.jpeg?h=350&auto=compress&cs=tinysrgb

The visual mode is found in the form of pictures, videos, flyers, etc. The supplemental reading implements a lot of visuals in it in places where words cannot effectively describe the subject at hand. Throughout the reading, there are many pictures of the members of the dance crew. Rather than Freeman having to meticulously describe every feature of every member, he saves a lot of time and effort by just putting in pictures of each member. I think that an advantage of the visual mode is that when you are trying to describe an object or image, a visual can accurately portray that object/image where as it is much harder to portray that in words.

This statement is saying that the our words and the way we write have a lot of power, and we should be diligent in our writing so as to communicate our ideas in a way that will help others understand our ideas better. This makes me think of our quilt project and how the words we use to describe our panel have such a big impact on how readers will picture the panel. We use certain words to portray specific meanings. If we do not use our words in a way that exemplifies our ideas and thoughts, than what we write or talk about will differ from what we are trying to communicate.

Linguistic mode, as it sounds, is related to the use of language typically in the form of writing or speaking. Much of the supplemental reading: "The inside story of Terminus, the new dance company by five ex-Atlanta Ballet dancers" uses this mode. In the very beginning of the reading when Freeman is describing the setting and their group, Freeman specifically chooses to use the linguistic mode since this is the most effective way to portray the scene. If it were to be in picture form, or video form, I think that many of the emotions Freeman was trying to portray would be lost.

The supplemental reading I chose is "The inside story of Terminus, the new dance company by five ex-Atlanta Ballet dancers" by Scott Freeman. The article basically follows the creation of the Atlanta ballet company: Terminus. Essentially, Terminus, was already a 5 person dance group, however they were in the process of becoming an actual dance company for a couple years. The reading follows the beginning of Terminus, finding a place for Terminus to call home, getting enough funds to start it, and eventually the creation of Terminus dance company.

When I first read this supplemental reading, I was confused as to how ballet dancing relates to multi modality. However I begun to see multimodality in the article itself. So for most of my annotations I decided to focus in on how each mode is used throughout the supplemental reading. I think that the reading utilizes the 5 modes of communication quite well despite not including the gestural mode. The article is well formatted and includes a video and also many images where it is appropriate. And the writing of the article is also well done too, as many parts communicate Freeman's ideas clearly. I think it's pretty interesting to see all the different modes being used and how they are all working together to create a well done piece.

http://artsatl.com/story-terminus-dance-company-founded-ex-atlanta-ballet-dancers/

The supplementary reading that I chose is "The Secret to Good Writing: It's About Objects, Not Ideas" by John Maguire. In the reading Maguire argues that many students today struggle with writing. He claims that students have trouble with being clearly and he says the way to solve this is through giving specific concrete examples. And the way to do this is through writing about physical objects.

Throughout the reading, Maguire states that students are too caught up in trying to write about abstract ideas that they have in their heads. He says that abstract writing leads to vague and unclear writing and this is why students struggle with writing. He tells his students that instead of writing abstractly, they should just write using "things they can drop on their feet" in order to write more clearly. Maguire uses this method since it is easy for students to write about concrete objects and that every student can do it. I agree with what he says in the article since I also had struggles with writing. I think that his tips would help me to portray what I am trying to write more clearly.

However, while looking at this passage I disagree with some of it, because I think that some of our writing should contain our abstract ideas and feelings. If we are able to write out these things in a concise manner, I believe that it adds emotion and power to our writing. If we only are describing objects throughout our whole writing, it can become boring and mundane. However if we are able to have a good balance between using abstract ideas and concrete description, our writing will improve greatly.

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/.

The more we write and learn about the object, the more we become free to connect with the object in a relational way. We get to focus in on how the object makes us feel and how it makes us think. It is important to not just have a narrow mindset but to really think about how the object relates to us. I think that this is an important step in analyzing objects.

In the supplemental reading Maguire talks about using physical objects to help us write and form clearer observations ,I think that relates to this statement. Through writing about the object it forces us to think deeper and from it comes deeper analysis.

While studying of material culture may start in the tangible realm, only through careful studying and interpreting beyond just the physical aspects does the object's true significance appear and open up. I think that this is a clear contrast with what Maguire states. He emphasizes the importance of the physical object while writing, on the other hand, Prownian analysis emphasizes that the physical object is just the basis for deeper and more abstract interpretation.

While it is important to make sure to observe all the little details of the object to gain more knowledge about the object, it is also important to look at the bigger picture to understand the object in its totality. I think that this is an important theme in studying material culture, since such a big part of material culture is understanding the big picture of the object.

This is almost the complete opposite of what Maguire believes. This emphasizes using non-physical and abstract ideas to find meaning, whereas Maguire writes about using concrete ideas. I find it interesting how some parts of this essay totally matches with what Maguire writes, while statements such as this are completely different.

This statement has a sharp parallel with what Maguire is writing about. Maguire strongly emphasizes the point to not use vague writing. I think that the statement "just describe what you see" is a big point that Maguire is trying to make in that you don't always have to come up with these creative and abstract ideas. Sometimes, you can just write about the simple things.

Prownian analysis is a means of identifying, analyzing, and categorizing historical objects. Essentially it has 3 steps:

1. Obsessively describe: Endeavor to analyze every aspect of the object in question. Nothing it considered too obvious. Create a rolling list of said aspects for future reference.
2. Guess at use: While analyzing the object, assume potential uses for it. It’s intended purpose may be easily noticeable, but alternative uses are also worth investigating. Again, make a rolling list for future reference.
3. Treat the object as fiction: Act as though the object in question does not truly exist. Paint as vivid a mental picture as possible of the object and relate it to basic, universal concepts. Catalog these metaphors, similes and likenesses (or contrasts).

(https://mnmalone.wordpress.com/prownian-analysis/)

I think that this comic is a good example of how important having a rich vocabulary is. If all we do is just add in big words without know what they mean, it can make our writing look like a big mess and it will lose clarity. This is supported by Maguire as he tells his students to not just put in words like "market" or "productivity", but to explain those words and describe them with concrete and vivid words.

http://www.magartsblog.net/bad-comics-learning-from-the-worst/

This method works because it is so easy for us to just describe something. This relates with what Maguire writes about as he tells his students to just describe physical objects. I think that he teaches this technique because it's simple for students to use.

When we formalize our observation on the objects, we have to be diligent in writing the description as it can be a key part to opening up new ideas and realizations.

This kind of deduction has happened so much and so quickly that it has become natural to us and we may even see such deductions as common sense. This may cause us to skim over some things but we have to remember to slow down and think deeper.

This statement is saying that our writing should be clear enough, that readers will be able to understand what we felt while writing. I think this relates to Maguire's beliefs. In the reading, Maguire talks about when students write, many times their writings can be unclear since they are focusing on these abstract ideas. I think that it is really important to make sure that our writing is clear in order for readers to understand not just what we were trying to say, but also so that they can understand what feelings we are trying to portray.