Multimodality: An Analysis of Brother's for Life Pamphlet
Multimodality was established to draw attention to the importance of semiotics other than language. Individuals are moving away from just printed words to convey meaning. They use colour, images, sounds, even change the page layout of different documents from portrait to landscape and they change document designs (Iedema, 2003). One can see that language is no more the centre of meaning making (Iedema, 2003). Multimodal discourse analysis can be expressed as an outline used to analyse how the combined use of several types of signs interrelate to compose meaning and determine meaning making options (Matthews, 2010). This assignment will discuss Kress and Van Leeuwen’s (2006) notions to multimodality and do a multimodal discourse analysis of the Brother’s for life pamphlet.
Kress and Van Leeuwen (2006) have introduced different concepts to explain how to analyse multimodal texts. One of these concepts is information value, which can be described as the arrangement of verbal and visual signs in a multimodal text. Information value is divided into subdivisions, namely real, ideal, given, new, centre and margin (Kress and Van Leeuwen, 2006). Real refers to all the features that is found in the lower section of the text and it contains more basic, realistic and practical information (Kress and Van Leeuwen, 2006; Chen, 2010). Ideal signifies the upper section of the text and contains the information that grantees exquisiteness, exhilaration, success, prosperity or even the perfect situation. It portrays what ought to be or may possibly be (Kress and Van Leeuwen, 2006; Chen, 2010). The left side of the text is referred to as the given, which is all the information that is previously known to the audience or reader (Kress and Van Leeuwen, 2006; Chen, 2010). The new refers to all the features that are located on the right side of the text. This is the information that is presumed as new information and that which the audience or reader have to pay attention to. Thus, it
Kress and Van Leeuwen (2006) have introduced different concepts to explain how to analyse multimodal texts. One of these concepts is information value, which can be described as the arrangement of verbal and visual signs in a multimodal text. Information value is divided into subdivisions, namely real, ideal, given, new, centre and margin (Kress and Van Leeuwen, 2006). Real refers to all the features that is found in the lower section of the text and it contains more basic, realistic and practical information (Kress and Van Leeuwen, 2006; Chen, 2010). Ideal signifies the upper section of the text and contains the information that grantees exquisiteness, exhilaration, success, prosperity or even the perfect situation. It portrays what ought to be or may possibly be (Kress and Van Leeuwen, 2006; Chen, 2010). The left side of the text is referred to as the given, which is all the information that is previously known to the audience or reader (Kress and Van Leeuwen, 2006; Chen, 2010). The new refers to all the features that are located on the right side of the text. This is the information that is presumed as new information and that which the audience or reader have to pay attention to. Thus, it