ENGL 1001 - Foundations in Rhetoric: Building multimodal projects

Course Guide for "English 1001: Foundations in Rhetoric"

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What does multimodal mean?

Multimodal refers to any communication that contains more than one "mode" of communication. This can be images, sounds, graphic design, text, etc. Other terms that have similar meaning are multimedia and remix.

Easy tools for building multimodal projects

Adobe Creative Cloud Express
Create beautiful graphics, web pages, and video stories – in minutes. Adobe Creative Cloud Express enables you to quickly and easily create standout social graphics, flyers, logos, and more on web and mobile. No design skills needed and it’s free to get started. You can find the user guide at https://helpx.adobe.com/express/user-guide.html.
Spotify for Podcasters
Say it all with Anchor. Create, distribute, and monetize your podcast—all for free.
Canva
Canva has a limited free option, as well as monthly and annual subscriptions at a cost. Many of the functions of Canva are included at the free option.
Piktochart
Piktochart has a limited free option, as well as monthly and annual subscriptions at a cost. Piktochart files are created online and can be downloaded as PNG files. These files are usually lower in resolution and are meant to be viewed on a screen.
StoryMapJS
StoryMapJS is a free tool from Knight Lab to help you tell stories on the web that highlight the locations of a series of events. You can also find other tools from Knight Lab like TimelineJS at https://knightlab.northwestern.edu/.
More tools

Citing sources

Citations for your multimodal project should follow genre conventions. For example:

Podcast
- Introduce important information about your source, like title and year. Share information about the author.
- Example: Saida Grundy is a sociologist at Boston University who researches how Black men think about and make and police masculinity. (View example from Code Switch.)
Infographic
- Include at least title, author, and year.
- If space allows, include a URL if your graphic will be printed, or a live link if your graphic will be shared online.
- Example: Source: National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), National Vital Statistics System (NVSS). (View example from Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.)