Writer/Designer
Second Edition ©2018New Edition Available
Grounded in multimodal theory and supported by practice in the classroom, Writer/Designer streamlines the process of composing multimodally by helping students make decisions about content across a range of modes, genres, and media from words to images to movement. Students learn by doing
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Essential support for multimodal composing
Grounded in multimodal theory and supported by practice in the classroom, Writer/Designer streamlines the process of composing multimodally by helping students make decisions about content across a range of modes, genres, and media from words to images to movement. Students learn by doing as they write for authentic audiences and purposes. The second edition of Writer/Designer is reimagined to clarify the multimodal process and give students the tools they need to make conscious rhetorical choices in new modes and media. Key concepts in design, rhetoric, and multimodality are illustrated with vivid, timely examples, and new Touchpoint activities for each section give students opportunities to put new skills into practice.
Based on feedback from instructors and administrators who incorporate multimodality into their classroom—or want to—this brief, accessible text is designed to be flexible, supporting core writing assignments and aligning with course goals in introductory composition or any course where multimodality matters.
"This is the rhetoric text you need for teaching 21st century literacies."
– Lanette Cadle, Missouri State University
"A warmly welcoming resource for teaching that may encourage and assist even the most fearful, reluctant, or tech-wary instructors to embrace multimodality in their classrooms."
– Kristin Ravel, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
"If you are interested in incorporating multimodal projects in your class assignments, Writer/Designer will provide the framework and key concepts needed to keep the class engaged and productive."
– Shawn Apostel, Bellarmine University
"Writer/Designer brings together rhetorical concepts and multimodal writing in a practical, classroom-based way."
– Jason Kahler, Saginaw Valley State University
Digital Options
LaunchPad
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Achieve
Achieve is a comprehensive set of interconnected teaching and assessment tools that incorporate the most effective elements from Macmillan Learning's market leading solutions in a single, easy-to-use platform.
Writer's Help
Search for help with your writing, quiz yourself to improve your grammar, and check out sample papers to help you learn more and improve your writing.
E-book
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Table of Contents
PART ONE: THE MULTIMODAL PROCESS
Chapter 1 What Are Multimodal Projects?
What Is Multimodal Composing?
Why Should Multimodal Composing Matter to You?
Writing/Designing as a Process
The Typical Writing Process
The Multimodal Composing Process
Touchpoints
TOUCHPOINT: Understanding Multimodal Processes
How Does Multimodality Work?
Linguistic Mode
Visual Mode
Aural Mode
Spatial Mode
Gestural Mode
TOUCHPOINT: Examining a Simple Multimodal Text
Modes, Media, and Affordances
CASE STUDY: Mapping Federal Spending
TOUCHPOINT: Understanding Mode, Media, and Affordance in Everyday Texts
WRITE/DESIGN! Mapping Your Multimodal Process
Write/Design! Option: Multimodal Literacy Narratives
Chapter 2 How Does Rhetoric Work in Multimodal Projects?
Rhetoric and Multimodality
Analyzing a Rhetorical Situation
Audience
TOUCHPOINT: Analyzing Audience
Purpose
TOUCHPOINT: Analyzing Purpose
Context
TOUCHPOINT: Analyzing Context
Analyzing Design Choices
Emphasis
Contrast
Color
Organization
Alignment
Proximity
TOUCHPOINT: Analyzing a Website’s Rhetorical Design Choices
Writing and Designing Rhetorically
CASE STUDY: Analyzing the WSU Website
WRITE/DESIGN! Designing a Rhetorical Analysis
Write/Design! Option: Writing a Rhetorical Analysis
Chapter 3 Why Is Genre Important in Multimodal Projects?
Genre and Multimodality
Author
Genre
Understanding Genre Conventions
Multimodal Genres: Defining the What and the How
Static and Dynamic Genres
Non/Linearity, Representation, and Association in Genres
TOUCHPOINT: Finding Your Genre
Genre Analysis: Analyzing the What and the How
Analyzing Genre Conventions
Questions for Genre Analysis
TOUCHPOINT: Analyzing Musical Genres
CASE STUDY: Analyzing Multimodal Genres in Game Studies
What if the Genre Is Unclear?
WRITE/DESIGN! Analyzing Genre Conventions for Your Project
Write/Design! Option: Infographics as Visual-Argument Genres
Chapter 4 How Do You Start a Multimodal Project?
What Are You Supposed to Produce?
Brainstorming Your Project Ideas
TOUCHPOINT: Multimodal Brainstorming
Pitching Your Project
Designing Your Pitch
TOUCHPOINT: Putting a Project Pitch into Action
Drafting to Stakeholder Expectations
TOUCHPOINT: Choosing a Draft Genre
Using the Feedback Loop
TOUCHPOINT: Tracking Your Feedback
Designing for Your Primary Audience
CASE STUDY: Pitching an App for the National Gallery
WRITE/DESIGN! Proposing to Get It All Done
Write/Design! Option: Project Timeline
Chapter 5 How Do You Design and Revise with Multiple Audiences?
Designing with Your Collaborators
Strategies for Successful Collaboration
Collaborative Workflow Options
TOUCHPOINT: Planning with a Team
Working Alone
TOUCHPOINT: Working Alone Isn’t Really Working Alone
Finalizing Drafts for Your Audience
A Checklist for Final Drafts
Delivering Drafts for Peer Review
TOUCHPOINT: Preparing Audiences for Feedback with a Delivery Plan
Peer Reviewing Multimodal Projects
Read the Text
Evaluate the Text
Provide Constructive Feedback
TOUCHPOINT: Giving Feedback on a Rough Draft
CASE STUDY: Revising an Advertisement Design with Stakeholder Feedback
Revising Your Multimodal Project
Creating a Revision Plan
Finalizing Your Project
TOUCHPOINT: Revising Your Multimodal Project
Creating Documentation for Your Stakeholders
Collaborative Wiki
In-Line Comments
TOUCHPOINT: Creating a Style Guide
Reporting and Reflecting on Your Project
WRITE/DESIGN! Assignment: Reporting on Your Project
Write/Design! Option: Reflecting on Your Project
Part Two: The Write/Design Toolkit
Chapter 6 Working with Multimodal Assets and Sources
Collecting Assets
TOUCHPOINT: Building an Asset List
Working with Multimodal Sources
Find Credible Sources
Evaluate Sources
TOUCHPOINT: Annotating Credible Sources in an Asset List
Copyright Issues and Ethics
Copyright
Fair Use
Permissions
Creative Commons
TOUCHPOINT: Tracking Copyright and CC-Licensed Work
Citing Assets and Sources
Provide Enough Information for Readers
Use a Credible Citation Style for Your Genre
TOUCHPOINT: Finding and Citing Sources
Organizing and Sharing Assets
Categorize Your Files Appropriately
Use Good Naming Conventions
Use Version Control
TOUCHPOINT: Getting Your Assets in Order
Chapter 7 Working with Technologies
Choosing How to Work with Technologies
TOUCHPOINT: Learning How to Learn
Deciding Between Analog and Digital
What Does Your Audience Need?
TOUCHPOINT: Choosing an Analog or Digital Project
Assessing Technological Affordances
TOUCHPOINT: Conducting a Technology Review
Drafting Your Project: Static, Dynamic, and Timeline-Based Texts
Rapid Prototyping for Static Texts
Outlines
Sketches
Models
TOUCHPOINT: Sketching a Draft
Designing Drafts of Dynamic Texts
Wireframes
Mock-Ups
TOUCHPOINT: Drafting Your Wireframe and Mock-Up
Composing Timeline-Based Drafts
Storyboards
Scripts
Rough Cuts
TOUCHPOINT: Drafting Your Storyboard
Getting Feedback on Your Rough Drafts
Preserving Your Assets with Metadata
Preparing for the Multimodal Afterlife
Where Are Your Project Files Located?
How Long Are You Responsible for the Project?
TOUCHPOINT: Creating a Sustainability Plan
Authors
Kristin L. Arola
Kristin L. Arola is an Associate Professor in the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures at Michigan State University. Her work brings together composition theory, digital rhetoric, and American Indian rhetorics so as to understand digital composing practices within larger social and cultural contexts. Her most recent book, Composing (Media) = Composing (Embodiment) [with Anne Frances Wysocki, Utah State UP, 2012] is an edited collection that explores how the media we produce and consume embody us in a two-way process. She is also the co-editor of the third edition of CrossTalk in Comp Theory: A Reader [with Victor Villanueva, NCTE, 2011]. Her work has appeared in Computers and Composition, Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion, and the Journal of Literacy and Technology. She resides in Pullman, WA, with her amazing husband and charming dog.
Jennifer Sheppard
Jennifer Sheppard is a faculty member in the Rhetoric and Writing Studies Department at San Diego State University, where she serves as the Associate Director of Lower Division Writing. She regularly teaches courses in visual communication, digital and popular culture rhetorics, and professional communication. Her research and publication projects have focused on the intersection of theory and practice in digital writing, new media composing, professional communication, and pedagogy for face-to-face and online instruction. Her work has appeared in the Journal of Literacy and Technology, Hybrid Pedagogy, Computers and Composition, and several edited collections, including Designing Texts: Teaching Visual Communication and RAW: Reading and Writing New Media. She lives in San Diego, CA, with her partner, Kathryn, and their son, Eli.
Cheryl E. Ball
Cheryl E. Ball
Cheryl E. Ball is a queer, cis, white woman residing in metro Detroit--the ancestral and contemporary lands of the Anishinaabe peoples, which she honors daily by caring for the land and all of its spirits. Dr. Ball (pronoun flexible) is director of the Digital Publishing Collaborative in the libraries at Wayne State University, where she collaborates with and mentors faculty, staff, and students on digital publishing projects including digital research websites, open educational resources, open-access publications, digital humanities project management, digital pedagogy, and other digitally based scholarly communications needs. Her favorite work time is spent training interns in publishing pedagogy. Dr. Ball also edits the longest running scholarly multimedia journal, Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy, and is Editor-in-Chief for the Library Publishing Curriculum. Publications include a scholarly multimedia collection The New Work of Composing (co-edited with Debra Journet and Ryan Trauman, C&C Digital Press) and the print-based RAW: Reading and Writing New Media (co-edited with Jim Kalmbach, Hampton Press).Through these and other efforts, she strives to teach folks how to publish their multimodal work in inclusive, anti-racist, and accessible ways
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