Understanding and Composing Multimodal Projects

Determining how to integrate sources in a multimodal composition

The Internet makes it easy to find images, photographs, articles, songs, sounds, and other material with a few clicks of the mouse. With a fast Internet connection, downloading such materials is convenient. Most computer programs, from spreadsheet applications to presentation software to word processing tools, allow users to include images, sounds, and the like in their documents. Video production applications allow composers to include audio tracks and text on-screen.

Much of what you find on the web, however, is owned by others—in other words, it is the copyright-protected property of other individuals. This doesn’t mean that students can’t use the materials for class projects, but being a college writer means knowing how to integrate and acknowledge sources responsibly and correctly.

When you integrate words (a quotation from, a paraphrase of, or a summary of source material) into a words-only document, you will typically do so with a signal phrase and a parenthetical reference.

Source integrated in a student paper

In multimodal projects, however, using a signal phrase and a parenthetical reference may be disruptive. Slide show composers who include images on slides usually do so with design in mind, placing images near key words or ideas for emphasis. During a talk, the presenter might refer to a particular image: As you can see from this table, the number of people in America who identify themselves as biracial has tripled in the past fifteen years. The speaker may give the source of the information in the talk, include a source line in smaller type under the image, or include a bibliography in a final slide.

You may have a great deal of flexibility when integrating sources in a multimodal project. College instructors will expect you to document your sources; in doing so, you will have a little less flexibility. Be sure to ask your instructor for guidelines.