DO NOT READ DIRECTLY FROM POWERPOINT SLIDES!

Just say no! Unless it is text quoted from one of the books -- very specific and well-chosen text -- do not read your presentation from the slides. You may use note cards. Avoid big sloppy notebook paper. It's part of the "register" of the communication.

Remember that you must pass a reading check on the books you intend to do your oral presentation on. It would be awful to have a zero on the exam because of that...

Remember that you must pass a reading check on the books you intend to do your oral presentation on. It would be awful to have a zero on the exam because of that...

 

I will check the gradebook even for The Merchant of Venice and The Metamorphosis.

Thursday

Please remember to bring your books and all materials you may need to work on your oral presentations.

Tuesday

Bring any materials and books you may need for your oral presentation along with the assignment listed below. The majority of your classtime will be devoted to developing a very shiny oral presentation.

Friday

Today in B-day we regrouped to brainstorm ideas for oral presentations. Finish The Things They Carried by Thursday and have these things done:

 

• Prepare your critical concept with five essential questions to help develop it.
• Prepare, from the concept and your initial thoughts, a starting thesis (this thesis is flexible!)
• Decide what form your presentation will take.
• Schedule for any class day after May 18 to do your oral presentation. Class time will largely be devoted to working on this presentation from now until then. Some after school and school day presentations will be fine as well if you do not need the class.

See the posts below to make project suggestions for the oral presentation. Do not repeat previous posts. Bonus of five points in the language category for all who contribute.

The Things They Carried

Place project ideas as comments here. Here is the starter list:
Narrative point-of-view; situation of narrator; narrator’s stance toward narrative
Nature of truth as revealed (may be combined with above)
Transmissibility of experience
Fantastic, magical, or eerie elements within realistic novel
Juxtaposition of kindness and civility with savagery
War friends vs. home friends; the bond
Metafictive techniques
Nature of fiction as revealed in the novel
Meaning and suggestiveness of names
Revenge
Nature of nature
Richly detailed scenes for comparison
Use of language in specific scenes compared (figures of speech, comparisons, imagery, style, tone)
Appreciation of life when near death
This novel as a "true war story"
Physical versus emotional weight of burdens
Burdens in Things and Beloved

The Merchant of Venice

Place project ideas as comments here. Here is the starter list:

Pertains to play’s stance (“The play’s the thing…): Point-of-view; narrative stance
Nature of truth (focus on reported events, not seen first-hand; transmissibility of truth)
Juxtaposition of kindness and civility with savagery (other juxtapositions possible)
Parent-child relations
Play’s comment on human nature
Hypocrisy
Revenge
Nature of justice
Richly detailed scenes for comparison
Use of language in specific scenes compared (figures of speech, comparisons, imagery, style, tone)

The Metamorphosis

Place project ideas as comments here.

Narrative point-of-view; situation of narrator; narrator’s stance toward narrative
Nature of truth
Transmissibility of experience
Fantastic, magical, or eerie elements within realistic novel
Parent-child relations
Richly detailed scenes for comparison
Use of language in specific scenes compared (figures of speech, comparisons, imagery, style, tone)

Ideas for Beloved

Place project ideas as comments here. Here is the starter list:

Narrative point-of-view; situation of narrator; narrator’s stance toward narrative
Nature of truth as revealed in the novel
Transmissibility of the truth of an experience
Fantastic, magical, or eerie elements within realistic novel
Juxtaposition of kindness and civility with savagery (other juxtapositions possible)
Parent-child relations
Nature of nature
Richly detailed scenes for comparison
Use of language in specific scenes compared (figures of speech, comparisons, imagery, style, tone)
Storytelling
Different kinds of love
Isolation and community
Embarrassment and pride
War scars
Deaths of Beloved and Kiowa
Theft
Guilt from things that have happened to characters
Dependence
Family relations