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English10 Q2 Week 8
English10 Q2 Week 8
WEEKLY LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET
ENGLISH 10 Quarter 2, Week 8
MULTIMODAL ELEMENTS OF A TEXT
Name: ___________________________________________ Section: ____________________
Most Essential Learning Competency (MELC)
Compose text which include multimodal elements. EN10WC-IIb13.2
Learning Objective:
A. Determine the multimodal elements of a text;
B. Compose a text which features multimodal elements; and
C. Justify the importance of multimodal literacy in constructing meaning of a text.
Time Allotment: 300 minutes
Key Concepts
WHAT ARE MULTIMODAL TEXTS?
A text may be defined as multimodal when it combines two or more semiotic systems. There are
five semiotic systems in total:
1. Linguistic: comprising aspects such as vocabulary, generic structure and the grammar of
oral and written language
2. Visual: comprising aspects such as colour, vectors and viewpoint in still and moving
images
3. Audio: comprising aspects such as volume, pitch and rhythm of music and sound effects
4. Gestural: comprising aspects such as movement, speed and stillness in facial expression
and body language
5. Spatial: comprising aspects such as proximity, direction, position of layout and
organisation of objects in space.
Examples of multimodal texts are:
● a picture book, in which the textual and visual elements are arranged on individual pages
that contribute to an overall set of bound pages
● a webpage, in which elements such as sound effects, oral language, written language,
music and still or moving images are combined
● a live ballet performance, in which gesture, music, and space are the main elements.
Multimodal texts can be delivered via different media or technologies. They may be live, paper, or
digital electronic.
Creating multimodal texts is an increasingly common practice in contemporary classrooms. Easy
to produce multimodal texts include posters, storyboards, oral presentations, picture books,
In the town of Oran, thousands of rats, initially unnoticed by the populace, begin to die in
the streets. Hysteria develops soon afterward, causing the local newspapers to report the
incident. Authorities responding to public pressure order the collection and cremation of the
rats, unaware that the collection itself was the catalyst for the spread of the bubonic plague.
The main character, Dr. Bernard Rieux, lives comfortably in an apartment building when
strangely the building's concierge, M. Michel, a confidante, dies from a fever. Dr. Rieux consults
his colleague, Dr. Castel, about the illness until they come to the conclusion that a plague is
sweeping the town. They both approach fellow doctors and town authorities about their theory
but are eventually dismissed on the basis of one death. However, as more deaths quickly ensue,
it becomes apparent that there is an epidemic. Meanwhile, Rieux's wife has been sent to a
sanatorium in another city, to be treated for an unrelated chronic illness.
Authorities, including the Prefect, are slow to accept that the situation is serious and
quibble over the appropriate action to take. Official notices enacting control measures are
posted, but the language used is optimistic and downplays the seriousness of the situation. A
"special ward" is opened at the hospital, but its 80 beds are filled within three days. As the death
toll begins to rise, more desperate measures are taken. Homes are quarantined; corpses and
burials are strictly supervised. A supply of plague serum finally arrives, but there is enough to
treat only existing cases, and the country's emergency reserves are depleted. When the daily
number of deaths jumps to 30, the town is sealed, and an outbreak of plague is officially
declared.
The town is sealed off. The town gates are shut, rail travel is prohibited, and all mail
service is suspended. The use of telephone lines is restricted only to "urgent" calls, leaving short
telegrams as the only means of communicating with friends or family outside the town. The
separation affects daily activity and depresses the spirit of the townspeople, who begin to feel
isolated and introverted, and the plague begins to affect various characters.
One character, Raymond Rambert, devises a plan to escape the city to join his wife in
Paris after city officials refused his request to leave. He befriends some underground criminals so
that they may smuggle him out of the city. Another character, Father Paneloux, uses the plague
as an opportunity to advance his stature in the town by suggesting that the plague was an act of
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Reflection
1. With reference to The Plague, how do pandemics reflect the human condition? Do they
show more than physical illness?
2. What is the role of multimodal literacy in constructing meaning of a text?
References for learners:
Albert Camus, “The Plague”, From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Retrieved on Nov.19, 2020
retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Plague
Michèle Anstey and Geoff Bull, “The Australian Curriculum: English for 2010.” Retrieved on
Nov.19, 2020 retrieved from
www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/Documents/English%20curriculum.pdf
Jewitt, C. (ed.) (2009). The Routledge Handbook of Multimodal Analysis, London: Routledge.
The New London Group. (2000). A pedagogy of Multiliteracies designing social futures. In B.
Cope and M. Kalantzis (Eds.), Multiliteracies: Literacy Learning and the Design of Social
Futures (pp. 9-38). South Yarra: MacMillan.
Zammit, K. (2015). Extending Students’ Semiotic Understandings: Learning About and Creating
Multimodal Texts. In P. P. Trifonas (Ed.), International Handbook of Semiotics (pp.
1291-1308). New York, London: Springer.
Zammit, K. (2014). Creating Multimodal Texts in the Classroom: Shifting Teaching Practices,
Influencing Student Outcomes. In R. E. Ferdig and K. E. Pytash (Eds.), Exploring Multimodal
Composition and Digital Writing (pp. 20-35). Hershey PA: IGI Global.