Upon entering my WTNG321 Multimodal Writing in Public Spheres course, I had little knowledge on what “multimodal” writing consists of. The term “multimodal” reminded me of the term “multimedia” and from the course description I was able to make an inference that the course would involve using a range of communication platforms. As explained in the syllabus, “Through using a variety of media for rhetorical expression—including text, image, and sound—the course aims to teach students how to teach themselves the multimodal tools to more effectively communicate to a broad spectrum of public audiences (WTNG321 Syllabus, 2016).”

 

On my first day of the course, the class was informed we would be working on a special project called the “Quest for Refuge” which would be the focus of our semester. The project would involve us being put into groups where we would interview a community member of Rhode Island who has personally been involved, or has family involved, in the refugee process. This project was not only essential to the course itself, but as an important social issue that is in need of awareness and understanding. 

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On October 11th, 2016 my group had the privilege to interview with Cecelia on her experience of the refugee process. Cecelia is from Liberia, where she experienced the nationwide violence due to the Liberian Civil Wars that claimed the lives of over 250,000 individuals (BBC News, 2016). When I asked Cecelia “Is there anything you would like to focus on today?” her response to me was, “The war. I have so many stories but one is very important to me and that is the one I think I want to talk about.” 

 

After the completion of our hour long discussion, my group and I had the challenge of creating a video to tell Cecelia’s story centralized on the message she chose to focus on. The story Cecelia wanted to focus on was a very traumatic moment she experienced in Liberia, which caused her to question the presence of God in her life. Cecelia’s strong faith throughout her experiences held a very strong presence throughout our interview, and became the centralized theme of our video.

 

Throughout the course of this semester, the development of various composition skills on multimodal platforms resulted in the conclusion of a 7 minute and 12 second final video. The development of these skills, as well as the process of making the Quest for Refuge video, was a difficult but rewarding process that resulted in the completion of attaining the learning objective outcomes of the course. 

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