I chose to write a poem from the point of view of the wallet that I carry in my bag. I chose to write a poem because this is the one style of text that has always daunted me.
Changing the mode from informational text to a poem required a shift in writing and thinking as facts were changed into flowing verse. I went from giving the facts of my bag and moved towards expressive language that showed the journey of my wallet on a Saturday morning. I shifted from expository to expressive.
One of the benefits of mode-changing is how it bridges different literacy practices. Poetry gives the invitation to feel and interpret rather than just receive information. The use of poetry allowed for reflection of daily life and gives the opportunity to look at cultural values such as consumerism, mobility and comfort. Poetry allowed for flexibility and invited the reader along with me as I went about my morning and allowed a more narrative style that informational text.
The challenges that I faced we how to take an informational idea and condense it into a piece of text that had rhythm, flow but not rhyme. That was just a bridge to far! Writing a poem from the point of view of my wallet required decisions on what to include and delete to make the poem flow. The need for coherence while using work to invoke images that may be obscure from the original mode.
My redesign process included deciding on using a narrative – my wallet’s journey with me on a Saturday morning. I then selected key moments that stood out to me and decided on stanzas that broke up my acitivities. I played around with wording and phrasing and tempo. Finally, I edited my words to take out any extra syllables that added bulk to my poem.
This mode-changing exercise showed how redesigning across modes engages the audience and adds meaning to texts. It allows for a deeper thinking that we often don’t do once we have written a text in its first mode. This assignment allowed me to look deeper at my own ideas and move from my comfort zone of informational to the scary world of art. It made me translate my ideas for one representation to another and cross boundaries. I went from a functional text to a text that asks the reader to feel with me.
After I wrote the poem I realized that I could use Suno AI to put my poem to music. After several attempts and realizing that I needed a chorus, a song was born. (link below)
This was a second way that I bent the mode of the original assignment. I took a factual piece of writing that included personal narratives and transformed them to a new genre of musical composition. this was possible with the use of AI. I am not a musically creative person in the slightest. Using SunoAI allowed me to explore a genre that was very foreign to me. I was able to take my poem from a linguistic mode to an auditory mode. This alters how the audience interprets and experiences the same words but with allows the message to be heard and not just felt. This shows how digital tools can enable multimodial forms of expression that can lead to deeper engagement.
Poem:
Zip, Tap, Zip
Tucked in a bag, hung on a hook,
Quiet, waiting, a hum of a house waking,
Toaster popping, List written,
Where to? work? shopping?
Anticipating.
Open door, car engine, passenger seat,
Garage door, blinker,
Adventure awaits, hum of wheels on the road,
Journey started.
Quick stop, drive-thru, Chai,
Onwards we go, almost there,
Between the lines we stop,
Fresh air, freedom, hugged close,
Wander, tap, carry, shop,
Cards are safe in my grasp,
I’ll take it! Another tap, another zip,
Bags carried, treasures secure,
Door closed, engine started,
Groceries next, long walk,
Cart full, fruit for lunches,
Zip, tap, zip, car loaded.
Phone out, rolls ordered,
Online, stay tucked,
Take-out, no stop,
Lunch on the way.
Final stretch, engine purrs,
Garage door, back safe,
Family sounds, hung up
Safe and sound, home.
Check the song version of this poem created on Suno AI: