ENGL 150: Research and Writing
Topic Sheet for In-class Presentations (Synthesis)
Beginning Friday, Nov. 21, 2014
Professor E. Derek Taylor
For this assignment, you will offer an eight minute presentation that synthesizes material from this class with material not from this class in a way that is
a. Informative
b. Interesting.
You will want to use a few audio/visual reference points along the way (three or four Powerpoint slides, for instance), but be sure to do so in a way that adheres to the “rules” we extrapolated from the Rebecca Schuman slideshow (both “dos” and “don’ts”). Remember: properly used, Powerpoint, Prezi, and other such tools offer a valuable means of supplementing your presentation, but on their own your slides should be incomprehensible. Your present-ation, in other words, ought to depend on you being present.
You will have to decide for yourself whether to provide yourself a full script, work from note cards, or do something in between; I strongly encourage you not to attempt to speak extemporaneously. However you proceed, careful preparation will help both with timing and with nerves.
Some possible “point of entry” to consider:
1. A concept or idea you learned in this class that allowed you to think differently in another class (or, perhaps, vice-versa).
2. A text we read that challenged (or confirmed) something you had long believed to be true—or that opened your eyes to something about which to that point you knew nothing.
3. A habit, or strategy, or practice you developed in this class that is different from how you formerly operated as a student.
4. Something with which you struggled in this class—were you surprised, not surprised? Has the difficulty in question surfaced in other classes or other areas of your life? Do you have a plan for grappling with it?
Topic Sheet for In-class Presentations (Synthesis)
Beginning Friday, Nov. 21, 2014
Professor E. Derek Taylor
For this assignment, you will offer an eight minute presentation that synthesizes material from this class with material not from this class in a way that is
a. Informative
b. Interesting.
You will want to use a few audio/visual reference points along the way (three or four Powerpoint slides, for instance), but be sure to do so in a way that adheres to the “rules” we extrapolated from the Rebecca Schuman slideshow (both “dos” and “don’ts”). Remember: properly used, Powerpoint, Prezi, and other such tools offer a valuable means of supplementing your presentation, but on their own your slides should be incomprehensible. Your present-ation, in other words, ought to depend on you being present.
You will have to decide for yourself whether to provide yourself a full script, work from note cards, or do something in between; I strongly encourage you not to attempt to speak extemporaneously. However you proceed, careful preparation will help both with timing and with nerves.
Some possible “point of entry” to consider:
1. A concept or idea you learned in this class that allowed you to think differently in another class (or, perhaps, vice-versa).
2. A text we read that challenged (or confirmed) something you had long believed to be true—or that opened your eyes to something about which to that point you knew nothing.
3. A habit, or strategy, or practice you developed in this class that is different from how you formerly operated as a student.
4. Something with which you struggled in this class—were you surprised, not surprised? Has the difficulty in question surfaced in other classes or other areas of your life? Do you have a plan for grappling with it?