PRESENTATION
What
The presentation is your chance to tell the class about what you are doing in your final paper and why, share with us selections from the work in progress, and seek out feedback, advice, and constructive criticism on your research, argument, and interpretations. You will give this 10-to-20-minute talk on the last day of classes, 1/23/07, one week before the final paper is due. Afterwards, there will be time for questions and answers and a discussion of the issues your talk raises.
How
The presentation should fill us in on your responses to the key challenges involved with the research paper?which include planning, researching, and brainstorming (narrowing the scope, finding a focus, generating a research question, investigating other peoplefs answers to it, trying to improve on the best answers) and drafting, revising, and editing (figuring out the most persuasive and economical way to develop and support your answer, examining your draft from the perspective of a first-time reader and asking gwhy?h and gso what?h of every claim and paragraph, and polishing and proofreading your prose)?by describing what youfve done, explaining why and how youfve done it, and identifying whatfs yet to be done and difficulties you anticipate in doing it. You may decide to read from parts of the draft youfre working on, but you should frame them so that the class understands where they come from in the paper, how they fit in the overall argument, and what theyfre meant to accomplish. Remember that the focus should be on your thought, research, and writing process to date, so itfs most important to help us understand why you chose the topic, focus, and question you did; how your research has helped you analyze the meaning, significance, and stakes of the Hawthorne-postcolonial writer relationship; and what planning/research/brainstorming and writing/revising/editing remains to be done. Above all, try to convey your interest in and enthusiasm for the project?try to get us as excited about the project as you are.
Why
Giving a gwork-in-progressh talk can help you focus your thinking and writing as you enter the home stretch of a research project. Thinking and talking at the gmetah level?making questions of why and how at least as important as what?can help you better understand what you are trying to accomplish in your research. If you are planning to continue your literary studies at the graduate level, getting experience at talking about your research and writing is crucial practice for talking with advisors and thesis committees, writing proposals for fellowships and conferences, and delivering conference papers. But even if you are not, practicing critical thinking and oral presentation skills can serve you well in future academic and non-academic endeavors.
How Graded
Presentations will be graded on the quality of the description/explanation/motivation of the connection you're drawing between Hawthornefs and the postcolonial writerfs works, the quality of your description/explanation/reflection on the planning/researching/brainstorming and drafting/revising/editing stages of your project to date, and the quality of your speaking during the talk itself and during the subsequent question-and-answer period (including organization, clarity, verbal and non-verbal expressiveness).
American Literary Studies: Postcolonial Hawthorne, Kyushu University, Fall 2006
Created: 1/9/07 1:17 am
Last modified: 1/9/07 1:17 am
Webmaster: Bruce Simon, Fulbright Visiting Lecturer in American Studies, Kyushu University and Seinan Gakuin University and Associate Professor of English, SUNY Fredonia