These activities have two goals: (1) to make the classroom more interactive and collaborative, and (2) to encourage you to ask the sort of questions and to do the sort of research that can lead you to write a good article-length paper.

Presentations

        For presentations, each pair should prepare a brief presentation (no longer than 10 minutes in length) for the class on the topic you have selected.

        I encourage you to develop a brief handout (one side of one page or two sides of one page) which you can distribute to the class as a reference to the information and insights you will provide.

        You will need to consult relevant resources (some on reserve, others available in the stacks or other library resources). As you can tell from these guidelines, you should plan to meet with your group at least once in advance of the presentation; I strongly encourage you to meet with me, too. I may be able to recommend some sources for your subject.

Leading Class Discussion

        Once during the semester, pairs of you will initiate our class discussion and sustain it for about 10 minutes.

 

        On the day you lead discussion, you will need to do the following:

 

1. As a focus for your question or questions, choose a specific passage, image, quotation, or a small portion of a scene. While your question can (and should) lead us to other areas in the text or pictures, select a specific place from which to launch our discussion.
2. Develop discussion questions on some issues or ideas you think we should address. Discussion questions should have more than one possible answer, and should lead to other questions. Note: While your discussion questions may well point us towards a reading of the text and/or art, your questions can certainly be ones to which you do not yet have complete answers.
3. Make an outline of your discussion, including the passage(s) you intend to focus on, and the questions you will ask. Your outline needs to reach me by 8 p.m. the night before class: email it to me or put it in my box in the English Department (in Denison Hall).