As a group, you will be presenting information you have researched regarding your individual poet or author in an approximately 20 minute presentation to the class. All parts of the presentation are due Oct 5th at the beginning of class regardless of when your group presents. Your presentation MUST include, but is not limited to the following:
® Brief biography of your poet/author
® Their contribution and connection to Romanticism or Transcendentalism
® Sample of their work and analysis lead by YOU. This analysis is not a line-by-line discussion, but rather a demonstration of why this excerpt is important, how it is representative of the author and their ideas, etc.
Emerson group pg 390-394 of Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience
Thoreau group pg 410-412, 416-417 of Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience
Poe group “The Bells” at http://www.bartleby.com/102/88.html
Dickinson group pg 426 of Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience-
Whitman group "I hear America Singing" pg 448 of Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience or at http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/1575
® Overall lesson plan summary. You must hand in your ‘lesson plan’ with your information and sources. This ‘lesson plan’ is not anything formal, but rather an unofficial summary of your work. It should tell me who is doing what, how long it will take, and in what form (handout, overhead, etc.). Your sources should be in MLA format.
® Handout. You must have a handout that accompanies this presentation containing the major points your groups thinks we (your class) should know – don’t forget copies for everyone. Be conscientious in your printing and copying requests and expectations.
® These five elements can be presented in any form, but keep in mind…Some part of your presentation must be done as in a Powerpoint or Prezi. Remember to be consistent in your formatting. Usually sentence fragments are better than full sentences. Don’t do block paragraphs. Consider how to keep your audience focused on what is most important.
® Everyone in the group must contribute during the presentation, and all must know all pieces of the presentation. I may ask directed questions during your presentation, and even if a group member is absent, the rest of the group will be expected to present if it is their turn.
Other than that, the structure is up to you! Consider crafting your presentation around the excerpt you will be reading. The more creative, the better. In that spirit, if you have a fantastic idea & the above criteria are an issue, talk to me. Otherwise, your group will be graded by the rubric on the other side of this sheet. You will be grading your group members (and they will grade) you at the completion of this assignment. All parts of your presentation should be on turnitin.com as well.
How to start
1. All members of the group should start by reviewing their notes on romanticism and reading the information on transcendentalism at http://www.pbs.org/wnet/ihas/icon/transcend.html, http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americannovel/timeline/romanticism.html,and http://www.ushistory.org/us/26f.asp
2. Then, all members should look into their author. Do some web searching, read about their lives, their beliefs and their writing. Try to get a clear picture of who they are, what they stood for, and how they acted on their beliefs. What was their contribution to American Literature? This is the main purpose of your presentations.
3. All members should then read the excerpts of your author’s writings.
4. Then, as a group, decide your format and create your content.
THIS ASSIGNMENT WILL BE WORTH PART OF A PAPER GRADE.
Content / Points Possible / Points AchievedBiography of your poet/author / 10
Clear contribution &/or connection to Romanticism or Transcendentalism / 10
Analysis of sample work / 10
Overall ‘lesson plan summary’ – Complete information and materials
All parts should be in turnitin.com as well and your sources should be in MLA format. / 10
Strong, clear, interesting, well-constructed and organized Powerpoint / 10
Strong, clear, interesting, well-constructed and organized summary handout / 10
Overall Presentation Flow (everybody had to do something!) / 10
Overall Presentation Creativity / 10
Your contribution to the group / 20
TOTAL: / 100
Participation Grades
I will be grading your participation based on your classmates’ evaluations, your presentations, and my observations during discussions and class work time. Below is the information you will need to provide about your group members.
Assume you have only 10 points to split among the members of your group. List each group member, what their physical contribution was to this project (what they did), and how many points you would give them out of the 10, remembering everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. Consider, were they utilizing their strengths? If you all worked equally, then you would all receive the same number of points. If one of you did half of the work, they should receive 5 points, with the remaining 5 to be divided up among the remaining group members based on their individual contributions.
When determining the points, think about things such as:
Pleasant to work with
Availability or willingness to help
Creativity
Ability to stay on task
Shared workload on both research and presentation
Independence
Cohesiveness/Group mentality
If you did the work and they sat off and giggled with their friends, give them a zero; they deserve it. If you did the work and they tried to help, but you did it anyway…that’s a different story. And if you didn’t do at least your fair share of the work, then don’t expect the points.
Group Member Name / Pointsout of 10 total / Contribution (what part of the presentation did they work on?)