Blog Post #7

Humans are prone to categorization, whether it is the placement of numbers, words, or general concepts. We tend to group things of similar characteristics--together. The same can be said of genre's. They, make filtering through an array of medias easy and straightforward. Chandler explains genre from a creators perspective though, and discloses the "constraint" that comes with the creating a text to fit within a genre. When defining genre as a "set of expectations", I instantly thought of my multi modality piece and the expectations I felt towards relaying my intended message towards  my specific audience. So I can see where multi modality and genre may collide.

The relationship between the two may seem to differ on the surface of things, but are actually very similar when it comes down to the details. On the surface, genre actually limits the audience, in the way that the audience themselves choose the text they would like to read based on the definitive genre of their choosing. Rather than, in multi modality, the creator chooses the intended audience and then bases the text off of what would appeal best to them. Leaving multi modality with more room for creativity since there are no expectations to uphold. It will either appeal to you as a viewer, or it won't. The success of a multimodal piece is for it to reach its target audience, but genre has to please its already set audience, leaving little room for creativity.

A genre can be defined as a "constraint [to] the possible ways in which a text is interpreted. Guiding readers toward a preferred reading."  These set of expectations or textual schemata are not present in multi modality. Where only the audience you intend to target, is the only limit to your composition. The only similarities I see here between multi modality and genre, is that they are both composed of modes. Whether the audience is intended or not, genre and multimodal mediums, all have to be aware of the arrangement of its compositional modes and how affective these modes will be in that arrangement in hopes of captivating an audience.