Melendez 1

Anthony Melendez
Professor Lynn Raymond
UWRT 1102
9 March 2015
Semester Long Multimodal Proposal
For the semester long multimodal project, my group and I have decided that our project
be about electricity. Using linguistic and visual modes we will explore the history of electricity,
the battle between using A/C and D/C and the resurgence of D/C power today. Tomas Edison and
Nikola Tesla will be focal points of the history of electricity. We will show how influential they
were to the technology we have today. I would also like to explore the future of electricity and
alternative energy sources that may be the future of how we power our homes and gadgets.
The plan for the semester long project is to gather as much information as we can to
support our topic on electricity and to present it in a straight forward, visually appealing and easy
to understand slide show. I can understand how dry facts can be and do not want to bore the
audience with too many dates and scientific data. It needs to be easily understandable to those of
us who are not scientifically inclined. I want to present Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla as the
Bill Gates and Steve Jobs of their day in order for the audience to relate better to them. Without
their discoveries Microsoft and Apple wouldnt even exist. The majority of my research will be
done through the internet just because of the easy gathering information and plethora of
knowledge out there. I will also be checking out the library for documents, books and video clips
that perhaps dont exist on the internet. If we could include a video clip or two from a
documentary or other credible source that would aide in the visual aspect and help paint a picture
for the audience.

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The plan for researching our topic is straight forward and simple to understand. We can
gather all of the necessary data through the internet, library and documentaries. The topic of
electricity is one that the audience can relate to because its something we all rely on daily.
Whether consciously or not we use light bulbs powered by electricity to illuminate our rooms so
we can see and read. The computers we do research on and type our papers on use electricity to
keep the operational. Our smart phones must remained charged by electricity so we can stay
connected. Without electricity, life as we know it would not be possible. We would still be
reading by candle light and would be forced to write letters and have actual face to face
conversation with each other (oh no!)
Blake, Jake, Lorenzo and I will all partake in researching what we deem to be relevant
and important aspects of electricity. Then we will pick out what pieces we want to use and
discard the rest. As a guideline we will be sticking to sub topics such as Thomas Edison and
Nikola Tesla, how electricity influences us, the future of electricity and sustainability. We will
determine everyones strengths and weaknesses and assign task from there. Lorenzo will
probably be in charge of the visual aspects of our presentation, while Jake with his vast
knowledge and scientific mind will be our more powerful researcher.
This week (March 9-15) we will meet and evaluate where we are at with the information
we have gathered to this point. Then we will determine where we need to go from there. During
the week of March 16-22 we will be close to being done with our research. We will meet and
decide what information we are going to use. During the week of March 23-29 we will be
making the slide show and typing what we are going to say. March 30-April 5 we will be
refining our presentation and editing where we need to. By the week of April 6-12 we will be
finishing up and adding the final touches. I want to be done by this point so the following week

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for peer review we can take advantage of any constructive criticism and advice from Professor
Raymond.