Multimodality and Genre

Multimodality is a concept where you use multiple different modes in order to convey a message to your audience. A mode is a way of communicating that message, whether it be written words, speech, images, spatial cues, etc. A genre is a specific category that a work might be placed in that appeals to a targeted audience. For example, there are lots of music genres such as Hip Hop, Rap, Country, and Rock. To make up a genre, you have to combine together multiple modes to create the message that is associated with that particular genre. The modes that go into a country song will be different than the modes that go into a dubstep song. In a dubstep song, there are not usually many words in the song and the music and beat is all made using technology. However, a country song focuses more on using words to portray their message and they use live instruments. They use these different modes in order to separate the different genres and make them unique. The modes are the little bits and pieces that combine together to make up the pieces of the overall genre that the piece is associated with.