EVALUATING MESSAGES

AND IMAGES
MODULE 4
Learning Objectives
At the end of the lesson, students will be able to:
1. evaluate multimodal texts critically to enhance receptive (listening,
reading and viewing) skills;
2. convey ideas through oral, audio-visual, and/or web-based presentations
for different target audiences in local and global settings using
appropriate registers; and
3. adopt awareness of audience and context in presenting ideas.
 What is Message?
In communication cycle, message is one of the elements
that give information and ideas to its intended receiver or
audience. In rhetorical studies and communication
studies, the message is the information conveyed by (a)
words (in speech or writing, and/or (b) other signs and
symbols (Nordquist, R., 2017).
Examples and Observation
1. Verbal and Nonverbal Content

"A message may include verbal content (i.e., written or spoken words, sign
language, e-mail, text messages, phone calls, snail-mail, sky-writing, etc.) and
will include nonverbal content (meaningful behavior beyond words: e.g., body
movement and gestures, eye contact, artifacts and clothing, vocal variety,
touch, timing, etc.). Intentionally or not, both verbal and nonverbal content is
part of the information that is transferred in a message.
2. Communicating Messages

"Communication is the process of sending and receiving

messages. However, communication is effective only when
the message is understood and when it stimulates action or
encourages the receiver to think in new ways
 3. The Message in a Rhetorical Act
Rhetoric is the study of all the processes by which people influence each other
through symbols, regardless of the intent of the source.
Rhetoric is the study and practice of effective communication.
"The Rhetorical Act: Thinking, Speaking and Writing Critically," "is an
intentional, created, polished attempt to overcome the challenges in a given
situation with a specific audience on a given issue to achieve a particular end."​
4. Messages in Classical Rhetoric

"Both Cicero and Quintilian accepted the Aristotelian notion that a

rhetorical message invention) consists of the effective use of
logical, ethical, and pathetic proof. The rhetor who has command
of these three persuasive strategies, they held, is in a good position
to motivate an audience."
5. Messages in the Media
"A well-defined message has two key components. direct, and
concise. Second, it defines the issues on your own terms and in your
own words. "People who are highly media literate are able to see
much more in a given message. They are more aware of the levels
of meaning; this enhances understanding. They are more in charge
of programming their own mental codes. This enhances control.
They are much more likely to get what they want from the
messages.
 What is the purpose of the message?
According to Jennifer Lombardo, MUD school instructor, and
freelance artist, “Determining the purpose of your message is the
first step in deciding what you want to say and how you want to say
it. Once you have the goal selected, it is then easy to tailor the
message in order to reach your audience. It is essential to choose
whether to inform, persuade or offer goodwill via a message in the
workplace.
1. Informative Messages
These can be used to share or convey information,
usual. repetitive, everyday tasks, directions, codes,
processes, and procedures in the workplace. The
message should be very clear, straight to the point,
and easy to understand.
2. Persuasive Messages
These occur when a person tries to convince another
person or group to take certain specific actions. It
should be as specific as possible and the purpose
should be observable and measurable. A persuasive
message follows the persuasive strategy AIDA
(attention, interest, desire, action.
3. Goodwill Messages
There are used to show a sense of kindness,
friendliness, gratitude, regret, sympathy,
appreciation, congratulations, and invitations.
According to Mary Ellen Guffey (1998), goodwill
messages carry good wishes warm feelings, and
sincere thoughts to friends, customers, and
employees.
The Reader and the Audience
 What do we do as readers?

The reader of any text plays a vital role of

providing interpretations concerning what has
been read. By definition, a reader is someone
who reads a particular newspaper, book, or
magazine with a particular skill
 What do we do with messages?
Messages come from the texts being read. These could be
evaluated by the readers in different ways; hence, they begin
to have different levels of reading comprehension. Messages
may also come from different materials such as printed texts
(i.e., magazine articles, newspapers, journals, research, books,
and the like) and online texts.
 Ways Used to Convey Messages from Various
Texts Read
 There are different ways by which we
can interpret messages from various
texts and these ways may also vary
based on our level of understanding.
For example, kids would interpret the
meaning of a story based on the
images in text.
In this time that everybody has been facing
globalization, kids would normally look for
pictures, graphs, charts, or symbols since most
of them are considered visual/global learners.
END