I brought my backpack to class today and inside I have a textbook called “Leadership – Enhancing the Lessons of Experience.” This can be classified as both visual and linguistic because it features large sections of text accompanied by visual aids, like political cartoons and diagrams.

I also have a calculator in my backpack, which is a visual mode because it features a screen that displays numbers and symbols, linguistic because the keys are labeled, and spatial because the keys are organized so that similar functions are grouped together.

 

I found a flash drive with the label “GigaWare” on the front, which is both linguistic and visual because it is a logo that is designed around words.

There is also a binder in my backpack that includes notes that I have taken from previous courses. These are linguistic modes because they convey information from the class through text, but are also visual and spatial modes because I have drawn diagrams and arranged my notes in a particular fashion.

My phone would cover nearly all modes because it features a screen for web browsing, games, and apps(visual), speakers for music and alarms(aural), buttons that are arranged for efficiency (spatial), apps and web browsers that display text (linguistic), and you can use these apps and web browsers to find images of information being conveyed through emotion (gestural). The “Maps” app on the phone is an excellent example of a multimodal medium. It uses 3-D maps that are based on images of a location(visual), an instructor that tells you where you drive (aural), and text directions and distances (linguistic).

There was also a granola bar in my backpack, which is a linguistic mode because of the text on the front describing the granola bar and the nutritional facts on the back. It is also a visual mode because of the designed used on the wrapper to make the bar more appealing.

I also have a number of mechanical pencils and pens, which all have logos (visual) and small text that describes the size and type of the graphite used in the mechanical pencils (linguistic).