The very first thing I see in all novels is the scene, the setting, and most importantly – the emotion. If a regular text written with the purpose to inform you about something makes you analyze it and make an opinion, the multimodal texts capture other layers of your intellect such as empathy, perception of reality, even fear and anger. There is no doubt those texts are successful as they directly or indirectly draw a broader picture of the events that had become historical.

The “March” dictates emotion – the opening text is followed by an image of a man in tears). The text is also full of references that indirectly touch us (the buzzing phone and posters of protestors).

In the Maus text, the little footnote to a mouse that reads: “Poppa” is merely heartbreaking. Such a small addition to the full image of imprisoners changed the emotional context and immediately told us about the depth of the Holocaust. One more interesting thing: The last image was used as a background to the occasion he was telling about, thus emphasized the entire message. I think it would take one or two pages of plain text to describe what is happening. There is a saying: “One image instead of 1000 words.” True, indeed.

The most recent experience I had writing the multimodal text was an article for Medium.com where I describe on how to I learn new words from books. I supported my text with photos where I highlight words in a book in a specific way that helps me to remember them. I haven’t published it because it requires annual subscription.