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You will produce a 25-30-minute presentation on an aspect of early nineteenth-century history or culture or a poet's biography that is relevant to our course. The main objective of each presentation is to introduce the topic to the class and show how a better understanding of the topic might help us understand the poets better. The presentation should be semi-formal, and I encourage you to use your creativity to hook your audience and keep our interest. You can use music, visuals, props, drama, food or whatever means you think would be effective and appropriate. The purpose of this activity is to test how well you can gather information from a variety of sources and synthesize it into an organized, coherent, and engaging presentation. These skills will be particularly useful for those of you planning to attend graduate or professional school, to teach at any level, or to get a job where you will need to independently acquire expertise and inform and engage others. As part of this assignment, you will also provide a handout to complement your presentation. You need to decide if delivering the handout before, during, or after your presentation is most appropriate (sometimes handouts can distract your audience from the actual presentation). The handout must include an annotated bibliography of at least five resources with correct MLA entries (see note at end of this handout for annotation guidelines). Potential Topics
I'll add more later. Grading & Criteria for Evaluation: Each partner will receive the same grade unless your self-evaluations reveal that one of you did not pull your weight. I will grade your presentation on thoroughness (Did you have details supported by research?), accuracy (Was the information accurate?), organization (Did the presentation have a logical structure and flow? did the presentation make sense?), engagement (Was the presentation interesting? Did the presenter(s) consciously try to capture our attention? vary tone and pace? display enthusiasm about the presentation?), clarity (Could we understand the presenter(s)?), and if you worked with a partner, esprit de corps (did the presenters work well together? Did they complement one another?). An A presentation will not just provide information, but the presenters will present information in a truly engaging and creative way. The presentation will not just include the presenters talking, but it will include effective visual components to the presentation as well. The presenters will be masters of the subject, stimulate our interest, and will be able to answer questions. An A presentation will balance the information and not give us too much from one source or another. Each teammates will contribute in nearly equal amounts, will not step on each other's toes, and will complement the other's contributions. Presenters will look professional and organized, will speak so that we can hear and understand them, and will have sincere enthusiasm and energy for their project. An A presentation will provide a helpful handout that complements but does not reproduce the presentation and includes a correctly formatted annotated bibliography. A B presentation will provide useful information, but will not have as creative or engaging of a hook to keep our attention. B presenters will know their material but may not have mastered it as completely as A presenters. B presenters' level of engagement will not be as consistent as for an A presentation. Teamwork may be balanced, but there may be a few moments were teammates step on each other's toes. The look and feel of professionalism will not be as high for a B presentation, but the group will attempt to create a professional impression. B presenters will be easy to understand, but they may not have the consistent energy and enthusiasm that an A presentation has. A B presentation will include a handout and correctly formatted bibliography, but it may not be as neatly organized. A C presentation will have useful information but will not have a creative or engaging hook. Basically, the presenters will deliver all of the information accurately but will not have mastered the material. The presenters will not use transitions between points nor will teammates complement each other's ideas. We will be able to understand the group, but there will be little enthusiasm or energy in the presentation. The group will not create a professional, organized, completely prepared impression. The team will produce a handout, but it might be incomplete. Hopefully work below C-level will not be an issue, but D and F work will generally be shorter than 20 minutes, incomplete, carelessly presented, and poorly produced. Special Notes: Due Dates: There will be a sign-up sheet for presentation dates. If you want me to copy your handouts, you need to give them to me the day before your presentation. Multimedia: I will schedule an optional tutorial for those of you who wish to use Power Point for your presentation. You may also use other traditional visual aids to complement your presentations. If you do use PowerPoint, make sure to use it skillfully—don't just monotonously read slides at us. Non-traditional Approaches: I will entertain proposals from teams who wish to use an alternative approach as long as the methodology allows the group to achieve all of the assignment's objectives and requirements. The material from these presentations will comprise about 20% of the final exam. |
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