The document provides guidelines for transforming a research essay on pet preferences into a multimodal presentation, focusing on the pros and cons of dogs and cats. It advises on structuring the presentation, legal considerations for using external content, and ensuring clarity and readability. Additionally, it emphasizes the importance of citation and proofing to maintain credibility.

1. Converting your research essay
into a multimodal presentation
English 104
Ball State University
Tess Evans

2. Let’s say this is the outline for your
research essay…
Cats and Dogs: Which Make the Best Pet
Introduction: Dogs and Cats are popular pets, but people tend to
like one or the other better
Dogs
• Pros, citing facts, stats, and opinions of experts
• Cons, citing facts, stats, and opinions of experts
• Pros and Cons by Breed, citing facts, stats, etc.
Cats
• Pros, citing facts, stats, and opinions of experts
• Cons, citing facts, stats and opinions of experts
• Pros and Cons by Breed, citing facts, stats, etc.
Conclusion: What are Pros for some are Cons for others

3. You decide you want to focus on dogs
for your presentation or video
Cats and Dogs: Which Make the Best Pet
Introduction: Dogs and Cats are popular pets, but people tend to
like one or the other better
Dogs
• Pros, citing facts, stats, and opinions of experts
• Cons, citing facts, stats, and opinions of experts
• Pros and Cons by Breed, citing facts, stats, etc.
Cats
• Pros, citing facts, stats, and opinions of experts
• Cons, citing facts, stats and opinions of experts
• Pros and Cons by Breed, citing facts, stats, etc.
Conclusion: What are Pros for some are Cons for others

4. You further narrow that down to focus
on the cons of owning dogs
Cats and Dogs: Which Make the Best Pet
Introduction: Dogs and Cats are popular pets, but people tend to
like one or the other better
Dogs
• Pros, citing facts, stats, and opinions of experts
• Cons, citing facts, stats, and opinions of experts
• Pros and Cons by Breed, citing facts, stats, etc.
Cats
• Pros, citing facts, stats, and opinions of experts
• Cons, citing facts, stats and opinions of experts
• Pros and Cons by Breed, citing facts, stats, etc.
Conclusion: What are Pros for some are Cons for others

5. Based on your previous research, you
might focus the presentation this way
When Not to Get a Dog
Introduction: Briefly state pros of owning dog, then
transition to cons of owning a dog
How Cons Relate to
• Allergies and other health issues
• Households with children
• Busy lives outside the home
• Apartment living
• Expense of care
Conclusion

6. K.I.S.S.
Keep
It
Short
and
Simple

7. Your platform affects your message
• How it’s organized:
circular, linear, hierarchical, and more
• What applications are available, limited, or
unavailable: Insert links, change
typeface, rearrange design layout, etc. (especially
for the free versions)
• Whether you can legally use creative works of
others (online projects have more risk of violating
Fair Use exceptions to copyright law because
putting things online is a form of publishing)

8. Circular: Prezi
Start
EndMiddle

9. Linear: PowerPoint, Video
Beginning Middle End

10. Hierarchical: Web Site
Home
Topic
Subtopic Subtopic
Topic
Subtopic

11. Components of the presentation
• Video
• Audio
• Graphs, Charts, or Tables
• Illustrations
• Photos
• Facts and Statistics
• Expert Opinions

12. Keep it legal
Use your own works
This is the safest route, but
is not always possible:
• Take your own photos and
videos
• Draw your own pictures and
scan or photograph them to
make .jpegs
• Create slides in PowerPoint
and save as .jpegs
• Perform music you wrote
yourself or that is in the
public domain
Use the works of others
In this case, you must do
one of the following:
• Find a work in the public
domain
• Find a work with a creative
commons license
• Pay to use the work
• See if the project and use of
the work fall under Fair Use
exceptions to copyright law
• Risk getting sued

13. Make Sure It’s Readable
• Can you see
this?
• Contrast makes
a difference
• So does type size
• Can you read this?
• How about this?
• Can you read this?
• How about this line?

14. Stay focused, in both text and image
And when using your own works, give yourself credit.
Focus is on the flowers Focus is on the bee
Photo by Tess Evans Photo by Tess Evans

15. Give proper attribution and link back
Photo by CoreBurn

16. This 3:21 minute video explains how creative
commons licensing allows artists to share their
work, while protecting it.
Provide information about video links

17. Remember to cite your sources of
information and opinions
Works Cited
Dickinson, Howard W. Crying Our Wares. New York: Day, 1929. Print.
Ewen, Stewart, and Elizabeth Stewart. Channels of Desire: Mass
Images and the Shaping of American Consciousness. U of Minnesota
P: Minneapolis, 1992. Print.
Fleckenstein, Kristie S. "Words Made Flesh: Fusing Imagery and
Language in a Polymorphic Literacy." College English 66.6 (2004):
612-631. JSTOR. Web. 10 Jul. 2012.
Friedman, Walter A. Birth of a Salesman: The Transformation of Selling
in America. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 2004. Print.
Garner, Dwight. "Oil's Dark Heart Pumps Strong: 'Private Empire,' Steve
Coll's Book on Exxon Mobile." nytimes.com: n. pag. 26 Apr. 2012
Web. 15 Jun. 2012

18. On a Web site you might cite sources at the
bottom of the page where you have cited them
Loremipsum dolor sit
amet, consectetueradipiscingelit, seddiamnonummynibheuismodtincidunt
utlaoreetdolore magna aliquameratvolutpat. Utwisienim ad minim
veniam, quisnostrudexercitationullamcorpersuscipitlobortisnislutaliquip ex
ea commodoconsequat. Duisautemveleumiriure dolor in hendrerit in
vulputatevelitessemolestieconsequat, velillumdoloreeufeugiatnullafacilisis
at vero et accumsan et iustoodiodignissim qui
blanditpraesentluptatumzzrildelenitaugueduisdoloretefeugaitnullafacilisi.
Loremipsum dolor sit
amet, consectetueradipiscingelit, seddiamnonummynibheuismodtincidunt
utlaoreetdolore magna aliquameratvolutpat. Utwisienim ad minim
veniam, quisnostrudexercitationullamcorpersuscipitlobortisnislutaliquip ex
ea commodoconsequat.
Works Cited
Dickinson, Howard W. Crying Our Wares. New York: Day, 1929. Print.
Ewen, Stewart, and Elizabeth Stewart. Channels of Desire: Mass Images
and the Shaping of American Consciousness. U of Minnesota P:
Minneapolis, 1992. Print.

19. Video credits might be shorter
“Beautiful” Photo
Samuel Smith
A Great Book
Sally Jones
“Impressive Statistics Published in an Article”
Credible Research Institute

20. Who appears more informed?
This person?
• Proper speling and
grammer is imprtant
• Misteaks can distract
frm your massage and
that means you loose
credilbility
Or this person?
• Proper spelling and
grammar are important
• Mistakes can distract
from your message, and
that means you lose
credibility
Proofread. Proofread. Proofread.

21. Check your links
Link to articles you cite in text if they are
available. You can also link to videos and Web
sites that may be relevant to your
presentation. Always check your links to make
sure they work. Sometimes links get broken or
the work is taken offline or moved to a new
URL address. Don’t persuade your audience to
click on a link to the best video ever if it only
leads to…

22. ERROR 404: The page you
requested cannot be found

23. ERROR 404: The page you
requested cannot be found
And make sure the link to your
presentation, video, or Web site works, too!