Task 7: Mode Bending
What’s in my bag?: Audio Version
Reflection
For this task, I decided to transform my original “What’s in My Bag” activity from a written and visual mode into an audio recording. Instead of showing an image or typing a description, I recorded myself talking about the contents of my bag. That is, the massage roller, muscle ointment, notebook, and the $100 bill I keep tucked away for emergencies.
The purpose of this redesign wasn’t just to describe the bag but to see how sound alone could convey meaning. I wanted listeners to imagine the items and their purpose through my voice and pacing, not through sight. I included small sounds like the zipper opening or my notebook flipping, which helped paint a clearer picture. In a way, the recording felt more personal. It was closer to a conversation than a description.
Shifting from visual to aural mode changed how I communicated. When writing, I tend to organize and edit as I go, focusing on clarity and structure. In audio, tone and rhythm carried that meaning instead. I had to think about how my voice could replace what images once did. The warmth, pauses, and small imperfections gave the message a human element that a photo couldn’t capture.
This shift also reminded me how much the mode shapes both the message and the audience. An image can be scanned in seconds, but audio requires time and attention. The trade-off is that sound can feel more authentic, but that it captures mood and emotion directly.
Following the ideas of the New London Group, this exercise showed how literacy today is about designing meaning across modes. Each form, whether being visual, written, or aural, has its own strengths and limitations. The audio version made me think less about appearance and more about atmosphere, connection, and story.
Overall, turning my bag project into an audio format deepened my understanding of multimodality. It reminded me that communication isn’t just about what we say, it’s how we say it, and through which mode we choose to express it.
Reference
New London Group. (1996). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures. Harvard Educational Review, 66(1), 60–92.