Quick Help: Rhetorical contexts for multimodal writing

• Why are you creating this text, document, or project? How do you want viewers to use it? Considering purpose will help you determine what features you want to highlight.
• What potential audience(s) can you identify? Thinking about the audience for your project will help you make strong rhetorical choices about tone, word choice, graphic style and design, level of detail, and many other factors. If your intended audience is limited to people you know (such as a wiki for members of your class), you may be able to make some assumptions about their background, knowledge, and likely responses. If you are covering a particular topic, you may have ideas about the type of audience you think you’ll attract. Plan your project to appeal to readers you expect—but remember that an online text may reach other, unanticipated audiences.
• What is the subject or topic of your project? The topic will certainly affect the content and design of the project. If you want to focus on the latest Hong Kong film releases, for example, you might create a blog that always places your most recent posts at the top; if you want to explore the works of 1940s detective writers, you might produce a Web site with pages devoted to particular writers or themes. If you prefer to show information on your topic, you might consider creating an infographic or a video essay that you can post to an existing site.
• How do you relate to your subject matter? Your rhetorical stance determines how your audience will see you. Will you present yourself as an expert, a fan, a novice seeking input from others? What information will make you seem credible and persuasive to your audience(s)?