For this assignment, I read A Fable for the Living by Kevin Brockmeier. It is a story about people who write letters to old relatives who have passed away and they communicate to them that way. I also read 5 Reasons to Write a Letter to Yourself (and How to Do It) and A Motivational Letter to Myself (Jenna Terek) for this assignment if you would like to check them out
Dear McLovin, You wanna know what I think of writing? I hate it. I hate it more than the Jews hated Hitler, more than the Mongolians hated the Chinese, and more than OJ hated his wife. I am only writing to you because it is a requirement and the only way I am going to possibly get through this class. I would apologize to you for the past but I am not going to. I still do not like you and I hope I can get through this class. I am not here to be the stand out student who has the best writing or rewrite War and Peace. Marshawn Lynch once said in a press conference “Do you know why I’m here? I am only here so I do not get fined.” This is honestly the mentality I have going in this class. But I will not be getting fined if I don’t pass the class. The fine is equivalent to me having to take the class again next year at Alabama, which I guess would kind of be a fine because I would have to pay again to take the class. I just want to be able to focus on the business world and ways of beating the system when I get to college, which is why I am getting all of my core classes done now. Anyway McLovin, I hope that during the semester we can work together to accomplish some good writing so I do not have to retake the class next year. My past experiences with writing are mostly negative. I write when I am forced to, and dread doing it. The thing is, it isn’t that I am a terrible writer. It is just that I think there are many more things that I would rather be doing with my time, and I don’t feel like writing is going to take me anywhere in life. When I sit down to write something, it feels like such a chore. I have to sit down with nothing around me and just think and think, and think some more until I figure out what I want to say and how to say it, and it takes so long. Then I will usually write about a paragraph before getting distracted, and that’s if I get lucky. When I get distracted I don’t want to get back into writing mode because I sincerely just do not like it. After hours and hours of writing, when I finally get done, it feels like I just got hit by an 18 wheeler and bounced down the highway 400 feet. In order to interact withMclovin on a regular basis, I will attend class regularly, pay attention to what the teacher says and how to get the work done, and then go home and write my assignments every week.
4 Comments
The main focus of this post is to explain what a multimodal website is and how it works. The reason for this multimodal website is to focus on my writing process throughout my English Composition I course at Delaware County Community College. I will be referring to the following links in the text:
How to Create a Weebly Website (Video Tutorial) All Writing is Multimodal (Cheryl Ball and Colin Charlton) It's All C.R.A.P: Four Principles of Design (Think Around Corners) Assessing Multimodal Student Work (Kent State University)
This multimodal website will focus on the holistic assessment of my writing. Holistic assessment is an overview of both the writing process and the product. The overlap of process and product is the portfolio which will be posted on this website. Multimodal writing is defined by Cheryl Ball and Colin Charlton as multiple ways of making meaning, or communicating. There are five modes through which ideas can be communicated: Linguistic, Aural, Visual, Gestural, and Spacial. Ball and Charlton argue that all writing is multimodal. It uses multiple modes to make meaning. I agree with this claim because I feel like every interaction whether it is with another human or a text, there are multiple modes in play at all times. Some people use linguistic and visual at the same time, like if a professor is giving a slideshow presentation, or if you are showing your friend a picture. Another multimodal interaction I see often is people who talk and use their hands to act out what they are talking about at the same time. This type of interaction uses both linguistic and gestural. Multimodal writing does not have to be digital, although it is easier to see it that way, posters, brochures, and books can be multimodal as well. In my opinion, the most important mode is visual because everyone can understand visuals. Babies can see things around them and react to them and illiterate people do the same. No teaching is necessary to understand visuals. The second most important mode is gestural. Gestures can be understood through language barriers and even species. There are gestures that you can make to a dog and they will understand what you mean. Third most important is linguistic. Being able to speak and communicate with words is the most efficient way of communication, but can only be understood by people who speak the same language that you do. Next is aural, it is communication through sound which does happen sometimes between humans but when I think of aural, I immediately think of the interaction between humans and animals. Spatial communication, i feel, is the least important of the five modes. It is a subset of visual because you can, for the most part, only tell space by being able to see. T The C.R.A.P acronym stands for the four principles of design. Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, and Proximity. Using these four design elements will help to make good designs that are pleasing to look at and make people want to pay attention to them. Repetition is a 5 on a 1-5 scale of importance in a design because it makes a design look cohesive. I would say that alignment, contrast and proximity are all a 4. They are definitely all very important but not on the same level of importance as repetition. The seven criteria that Borton and Huot suggest writers use when assessing multimodal writing are purpose, organization, tone, organization, transitions, synthesis and detail. These criteria are the same we would use to assess a traditional print essay because they are a good holistic assessment of composition. In this post I respond to The Proust Questionnaire.
__1.__What is your idea of perfect happiness? My idea of perfect happiness is being able to do whatever I want without worrying about school or work. __2.__What is your greatest fear? Being kidnapped and tortured is my worst fear. __3.__What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? I don't like how much I procrastinate and do most of my assignments in the few days before they are due. __4.__What is the trait you most deplore in others? I hate people that are obnoxiously loud. __5.__Which living person do you most admire? I admire Cole Bennett for the way he was able to build a brand the way he has at a young age. __6.__What is your greatest extravagance? My car is my most expensive thing I own, even though it’s 28 years old. I don’t own anything very extravagant. __7.__What is your current state of mind? I’m currently stressed because I have a paper due on Sunday that I haven’t thought about starting yet. __8.__What do you consider the most overrated virtue? Being blindly obedient is the most overrated virtue, look where it got the Jim Jones followers. __9.__On what occasion do you lie? “I lie when the truth doesn’t sound believable” - Kevin Hart __10.__What do you most dislike about your appearance? I dislike how I am only 155 pounds for being 6’4”. __11.__Which living person do you most despise? I hate Joe Buck because he is a rock head. __12.__What is the quality you most like in a man? I like people who are hard working and don’t complain. __13.__What is the quality you most like in a woman? The quality I like most is humor. __14.__Which words or phrases do you most overuse? I say the words “like” and "bro" way to much. __15.__What or who is the greatest love of your life? My greatest love in life is good food. __16.__When and where were you happiest? I am happiest in the summer and when school is on break and I don’t have to worry about doing the pointless work most of my teachers assign. __17.__Which talent would you most like to have? If I could have any talent in the world it would be a photographic memory. I don't really know if that is considered a talent but I wish I had that. __18.__If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? I would give myself 30 pounds if it was possible. __19.__What do you consider your greatest achievement? My greatest achievement is being accepted to my dream school. __20.__If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be? I would be some type of bird because being able to fly around would be cool. __21.__Where would you most like to live? I want to live in the Hollywood Hills after college, which most likely won’t happen but I am going to work as hard as I can to get there. __22.__What is your most treasured possession? My stock portfolio is my most treasured possession. __23.__What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? People who go to a job that they hate every day and live for Saturday. __24.__What is your favorite occupation? My favorite occupation is people who are entrepreneurs and self-employed. __25.__What is your most marked characteristic? Im 6’4 which is always the thing that people mention when they talk to me for the first time. __26.__What do you most value in your friends? People who like to test boundaries and limits without getting in trouble. __27.__Who are your favorite writers? I don’t read a lot of books but my favorite comedy writers are Howard Stern and Danny Mullen. __28.__Who is your hero of fiction? Alan from the Hangover. __29.__Which historical figure do you most identify with? Robert O'neill. __30.__Who are your heroes in real life? My real life heros are Jordan Belfort, Bruce Buffer, and Dan Bilzerian. __31.__What are your favorite names? I like my name which is Shawn. My parents were going to name me Ashley if I was a girl and I like that name. __32.__What is it that you most dislike? I hate attention seeking people. __33.__What is your greatest regret? Not trying harder in highschool. If I studied and did all my work, I probably would have been given more scholarship money to go to college. __34.__How would you like to die? I would like to die in my sleep when I am no longer able to live and have fun. __35.__What is your motto? Success doesn’t just find you. |
Shawn AtkinsI use this blog to complete my assignments for my English Composition I class. ArchivesCategories |