Meaning-making encourages students to consider the most effective ways to convey their thoughts, emotions, and messages, whether through text, visuals, or a combination of both.

Furthermore, incorporating multimodalities helps underscore a topic’s relevance and its broader social implications. This prompts students to question the societal impact of their messages. Finally, critiquing plays a pivotal role in this framework, empowering students with the tools for critical analysis and self-reflection as they engage in the creative process.

Rallin and Bernard (2008) maintain that studying and creating zines aligns with current trends in composition studies that emphasize community engagement. They quote scholars like Thomas Deans and Paula Mathieu, who encourage students to write within nonacademic discourse communities by urging educators to move beyond standardization and instead embrace discursive projects in various community contexts. The focus is extending the writing experience beyond the traditional university composition constructs. This shift in composition studies encourages the connection of student writing to real-world texts, events, and issues. Lonsdale (2015) emphasizes the use of zine-making for underrepresented and marginalized groups: “Zines provide an opportunity for those who feel invisible—those who exist on the margins—to speak out about their lives and interests…[and] are an inviting format for communication, an alternative to the traditionally valued forms of media and expression where they do not see themselves represented.” They are a form of personal expression that encourages classroom community engagement.

The student assignment, “Zine-Making for College Writers,” is an integral part of a university-level first-year composition course. It is placed within the larger context of the writing course, “Visual and Multimodal Composition,” in which students explore various communication methods and expressive forms that shape our world and go beyond conventional text-based writing. Crafting zines is only one topic the course will cover, as it will also include analyzing visual rhetoric and intentionally employing rhetorical strategies using language, imagery, and design to convey distinctive messages and engage an audience in several multimodal ways, including digital storytelling, infographics, and even podcast production.

Gagich (2020) describes all writing as multimodal since “any combination of modes makes a multimodal text,” (p. 42), and zines fit this description as part of a broader course. She distinguishes the five modes of communication that will be included in the overall course: linguistic—written text or the spoken word with an emphasis on how words are used; visual—what the readers can see; spatial—how the text and visuals are dealt with in the space including organization and emphasis; gestural—texts and visuals that “capture” movement and gestures; and aural—such as podcasts and other representation of sound or the absence of it. The course provides an overview of multimodal composition and includes various communication modes to enhance students’ writing skills and creative expression.

Throughout the four-week assignment students will study the history of zines, read, analyze, and write about them, and then work collaboratively to make their own while offering guidance, reflection, and direction to others. They will explore how zines use rhetorical techniques to address issues related to their specific audience and promote diversity within that audience. Classroom community engagement in this project is essential as it confronts rigid, established academic writing structures and instead fosters new forms of expression and community building among students.

Twenty-first-century college composition skills need to focus on the power of writing through language, drafting, editing, publishing, and collaboration, emphasizing the importance of identifying rhetorical contexts for audiences and purpose; and a convergence of various writing strategies that are appropriate for academic writing that actively engages the texts of others. It is not about putting an end to formal college composition skills such as writing thesis statements, proper paragraph development and organization, and other major composition elements taught in high school and refined at university. It is about equipping students with a broader range of composition skills that are highly relevant in a digital, interconnected world that prepares students for success in academic and professional contexts.

Higher education composition writing should reflect the evolving landscape of communication and technology while also addressing the core principles of effective writing and critical thinking skills to construct well-reasoned arguments. It must consider cultural competency as students navigate issues of diversity and identity within their writing. Students should engage in reflective practices that evaluate and revise their own writing processes. Group work must be integrated into the course as well, including peer editing and collaborative multimodal projects. Most importantly, college composition courses should include writing assignments that connect to real-world contexts and contemporary issues that reflect our digital age and focus on developing a versatile set of skills for effective communication. Adaptability to a rapidly changing world will be essential to the future of university students.