You and a partner will be assigned responsibility for leading 30-40 minutes of class discussion for certain sessions.
You should think about the readings for those sessions in particular depth and list problems, questions, or points of interest which you think the class should address. (You do NOT need to provide detailed summaries of the authors' lives.) Draw our attention to images, lines, or stanzas that you think are especially important or problematic and use them to generate discussion. Xerox your list and distribute copies of it at the beginning of the session.
| 9/9 | William Butler Yeats | Ali Buffham and Jamie Jensen |
| 9/30 | T.S. Eliot | Jamie Jensen and Lee Cary |
| 10/14 | D. H. Lawrence | Erica Midkiff, Meghan Khoury, and Laurel Haynes |
| 10/23 | Marianne Moore | Tess Bennett, Ali Buffham, and Erica Midkiff (unless Erica prefers to do Williams) |
| 11/4 | William Carlos Williams | Laurel Haynes, Meghan Khoury, and Erica Midkiff (unless Erica prefers to do Moore) |
| Wallace Stevens | GUEST TEACHER: CONSTANCE MERRITT, BANISTER-WRITER-IN RESIDENCE | |
| 12/2 | Langston Hughes | Lee Cary and Tess Bennett |
You have the option to revise your paper, if you submit it by 11/22. The grade on the revised version will be averaged with the grade on the first version. Otherwise, you may submit your paper on 12/2, but with no option to revise. Revised versions of papers submitted on 11/22 are due, along with portfolios, on 12/6.
Commentaries should be dated and should focus on the work or works assigned for the session in which they are to be submitted. When typed, commentaries should be one to two pages in length. I may read your commentaries aloud in class, or ask you to, or I may xerox and distribute them for your classmates' consideration, so try to be as clear and coherent as possible.
For your commentaries, write up your thoughts and questions on one (or more) of the poems we will be discussing in the session for which the commentaries are due. Focus on some aspect of the poem(s) that you find especially odd, confusing, intriguing, or memorable. Be specific. Your comments and questions should make us look more closely at details in the poem or poems. You do not need to come up with definitive answers to the questions you raise. Think of yourself as opening up a discussion or a line of inquiry, instead of trying to close it down. ("Shutters shut." - Gertrude Stein.) At the end of the term, you will collect all of your commentaries and submit them as a portfolio. Only the completed portfolio will be graded, not the individual commentaries.
Commentaries should be e-mailed to me AT LEAST ONE HOUR BEFORE CLASS on the day they are due. You may also want to bring a copy of your commentary to class for your own reference.
Commentaries and papers with
multiple spelling, punctuation, and grammatical or stylistic errors will
not be accepted until the errors have been corrected.
Normally, deadlines will
be extended only in the case of a documented personal, family, or
medical emergency.
For your own protection, always make a copy of your work before submitting it. Remember to "save" your work every five minutes or so when you are working on a computer.
Please bear in mind that plagiarism, even when unintentional, is a serious offense and a violation of the honor policy. Any student found guilty of plagiarism will likely fail the course, in addition to whatever penalties are imposed by the student judicial system. If you are not sure what plagiarism is, ask me. Also, please note that you may not resubmit for credit in this course work you have done or are doing for another course, here or elsewhere.
Note: Substantive outlines
of your presentation must be e-mailed to me and to all other class members 24
hours before the final presentation session. The point of this part of the assignment
is to encourage you to give a well-organized presentation and to provide the
rest of us with a sneak preview of sorts, so that we might be thinking of questions
to ask you during the discussion session after your presentation.
Format: Prepare a 10-15 minute presentation, based on your major paper
for the course, in which you address the concerns described below. If possible,
address these items in the order that follows. This should help you to organize
your remarks; it will definitely help us to follow them.
(1) State what you were trying to explore (your research question) and why
(you may mention your personal reasons for pursuing this question, but focus
primarily on why it is an important question to explore; this is your 'rationale'
or 'justification' for your project), and how you went about it (your strategies
or methods of approach and interpretation).
(2) State your thesis, summarize the main points of your argument, and state
your conclusions (where you may want to reflect upon the larger significance
of your findings).
(3) If there is time, discuss what problems, if any, that you encountered, what
else you had hoped to do, but did not have time for, and/or what new ideas for
further possible research or experimentation occurred to you while working on
this project.
Discussion: Presentations will be followed by a brief (5-10 minute) discussion
and a short (approximately 5 minute) break to complete peer reviews.
Some Pointers: PRACTICE your presentation. Time it carefully so that you
know you can meet the time limits without rushing (and without falling way short!).
If you are soft-spoken, make a conscious effort to speak up. Since most of us
tend to talk fast, remind yourself to slow down. Feel free to refer to your
notes occasionally, but don't stay glued to them. Make eye contact with other
students in the audience, not just the professor. Try to avoid distracting mannerisms
(tapping on the table, pulling at your hair, etc.). If you talk about some problems
that you see in your work at present, don't put yourself down. Evaluating one's
own work is often difficult and requires considerable skill. It shouldn't be
confused with self-deprecation, which is usually a defensive tactic, an unconscious
habit, or both.
Fielding Questions
The discussion session after your presentation is an opportunity to learn
more about your project and its possibilities. While it is important to be
able to support your position, it is also important to stay flexible and receptive.
Try not to get defensive.
1. In the discussion period,
listen carefully to people's questions and try to respond to them (rather
than to what you wished they had asked). Before you answer, take a moment
to reflect on the question. This shows respect for the questioner and helps
to ensure you are actually responding to the question that was asked. If you
are unsure, restate the question or ask for clarification.
2. Wait for the questioner to finish her question before you respond. The
one exception is if she rambles on and on. Then you have to try to intervene
tactfully. You could do so by saying, "Are you asking whether…?"
Try to sum up what seems to be her main question and respond to that. If one
person is dominating the discussion, try to make eye contact with others and
ask them if they have questions.
3. If you can't answer a question, just say so. If appropriate, you could
try to suggest resources which would help the questioner to address the question
themselves. Or you could ask the audience for their suggestions.
4. If there are not enough questions, bring up one or two of your own, perhaps
ones that you thought you might be asked, but weren't, and that you would
like to talk about.
(From Jeff Radel's "Preparing
Talks" - with some of my comments interspersed)
Peer Reviews: Oral Presentations
Assess the presentation according to the criteria listed below, using this
scale:
Well demonstrated=1; Adequately demonstrated=2; Inadequately demonstrated=3
1. Overall Content: The presentation showed evidence of significant intellectual
content and investigation.
SCORE:___
Comments:
2. Clarity: The argument was clearly presented, including the thesis or
research question, main points, and conclusions.
SCORE:___
Comments:
3. Organization and Coherence: The presentation proceeded logically and
smoothly with clear transitions from point to point.
SCORE:___
Comments:
4. Delivery: The presenter adhered to time limits. It is evident that she
practiced her presentation and mastered her material (speaking from notes
rather than reading). She spoke clearly, with assurance, and not too quickly.
SCORE:___
Comments:
5. Fielding Questions: The presenter responded seriously and effectively
to questions and suggestions.
SCORE:___
Comments:
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Last updated: 4 December 2002