Presenting text, sound, and images . . .From Reading to Writing In his story “Ambush,” Tim O’Brien examines his experiences as a soldier during the Vietnam War and concludes, “Even now I haven’t finished sorting it out. Sometimes I forgive myself. Other times I don’t.”

MultimediaExhibit

Presenting text, sound, and images . . .It may be difficult to understand the strong feelings people have about war unless you know something about this emotional topic. One way to explore complex subjects is throughmultimedia exhibits.

MultimediaExhibit

Presenting text, sound, and images . . .In such exhibits, video recordings, music, visuals, artifacts, and other media are used to engage viewers and teach them about particular topics.

MultimediaExhibit

B a s i c s i n a B o x

GUIDELINES & STANDARDS Multimedia Exhibit

A successful multimedia exhibit should

• attract viewers’ attention with appealing visuals, interesting artifacts, and clear text

• present information about a topic logically and clearly

• contain a variety of objects and materials appropriate to the subject

• include specific and accurate written information

• lead viewers along an easy-to-follow pathway with clearly labeled beginning and ending points

Creating Your Multimedia Exhibit1 Planning Your Exhibit

Since your exhibit will probably be a group effort, you might begin by brainstorming possible exhibit topics with a small group of your classmates. Try to come up with broad topics—such as sports, war, peace, and childhood—that you can later refine.

Planning Your Multimedia Exhibit

1. Narrow the focus of your subject. You will need to

break down your topic into more specific parts. Use a

web to organize various elements of your subject

that you might cover, then pick one or two elements

as your focus.

2. Brainstorm a list of materials. What objects,

materials, and media are most appropriate to your

content and focus? Where will you find these things?

Are there any items you will have to make yourself?

Planning Your Multimedia Exhibit

3. Conduct research. Make some notes on what you

already know about your topic and what you need to

find out. Conduct library research to identify key

ideas, dates, and facts that relate to your topic. As

you research, consider what will interest your

audience. What might they already know about this

topic?

Planning Your Multimedia Exhibit

4. Sketch a rough floor plan. Where will you set up

your exhibit? Draw a sketch of the area and imagine

how you might arrange items in it. Keep in mind the

flow of traffic through your exhibit. To avoid traffic

jams, make sure you put enough space between

items in your exhibit. Also think about how many

electrical outlets are available and where they are.

Creating Your Multimedia Exhibit2 Preparing Your Exhibit

After you have gathered all of your

materials, use these steps to prepare

your exhibit.

Preparing Your Multimedia Exhibit

1. Revise your floor plan. Depending on what materials you’ve gathered, you may need to revise your initial sketch. Will you group your materials chronologically? thematically? Which organization will offer the clearest and most interesting path through your exhibit?

2. Create visuals. You may need to create charts, graphs, or maps for your exhibit. Make sure the visuals you create are neat, clear, and accurate.

Preparing Your Multimedia Exhibit

3. Write the text. For the beginning point of your

exhibit, create a sign that includes the title of the

exhibit and a paragraph explaining what viewers are

about to see or why you created the exhibit. Also

create labels that identify the items in the exhibit,

pointing out their important features and explaining

their significance. Finally, write a paragraph for the

end of your exhibit, summarizing what viewers have

seen. Your text should be clear, specific, and

accurate.

Preparing Your Multimedia Exhibit

4. Proofread the text. Although your exhibit may not

include a lot of text, everything you write should be

grammatically correct. Share the task of editing and

proofreading with other group members.

5. Arrange your materials. You may want to

experiment with the layout, but use your final sketch

to guide you in setting up your exhibit.

Creating Your Multimedia Exhibit3 Refining Your Exhibit

After you have constructed your exhibit,

ask several friends or classmates to walk

through it and share their impressions.

Use their feedback to make your exhibit

as interesting, informative, and clear as

possible. The following points can help

you review your work.

Creating Your Multimedia Exhibit3 Practicing and Presenting

Look at the exhibit as a whole.

Consider how well your materials work

together. Does everything fit in the

exhibit space? Does the order of the

items make sense? Do any of the

media overpower other points of the

exhibit?

Creating Your Multimedia Exhibit3 Practicing and Presenting

Evaluate your information. Have you

presented enough information about

the items? Have you presented too

much? Are your facts accurate? Is the

writing specific and clear?

Creating Your Multimedia Exhibit3 Practicing and Presenting

Review your media choices.

Audiences often ignore lengthy text in

favor of visuals. Do you have a good

mix of sound, visuals, and text? Look

for places where a visual would

present your information more

effectively than text.