PowerPoint Presentation with Speaker Notes

EN240—CLASS PRESENTATION

Select one of the short stories found below. Be sure to select a story that you find intriguing—if you are not interested
in your story, chances are you will not be able to make the class interested. The presentation grade consists of content,
organization, and delivery (review the rubric on Blackboard).
ORAL REPORT GUIDELINES: Review Before Developing your Presentation!
• The presentation must be at least 7 minutes; it can be no longer than 8 minutes. Please practice so that you
know if it is too short or too long. It’s fine for you to pre-record your presentation using audio clips and
PowerPoint slides.
• Aim to construct a clear organizational plan for your presentation.
• Establish a CLEAR Introduction– Set up your main topic. why did you pick the story? Why do you think
it’s important to investigate / understand this particular story? How does it extend our understanding of
the short story genre? You should articulate a clear thesis about the story for the presentation—a
central idea / argument that you are trying to prove about the story and its relation to the genre we are
studying.
o Offer some historical background about the composition of the story. (i.e. when was the story written?
Is there some source of inspiration? What has the author said about the story? Etc.)
• Guide us through the key components of the story: point of view, characterizations, plot structure, etc..
Pay close attention to the ways the story’s structure informs its meaning. Apply fiction terminology to
your interpretation.
• Make the case for why you think this story is important to read when studying the short story genre.
Look for ways to connect it to other stories that we have studied. Also, look for ways to explain how it is
different from other stories that we have studied.
• As part of your presentation, you must directly cite the words and/or ideas of at least TWO different
LITERARY SCHOLARS during your presentation: either scholars who publish in peer reviewed literary
journals or publish a book of literary criticism.** It’s essential during the presentation to clarify when
you are using the ideas or words from your scholarly source (i.e. According to David Reynolds, “this
poem epitomizes Dickinson’s call for equality …”). Failure to cite scholars in this direct way during the
presentation (not in a Works Cited page at the end) could result in the loss of 10 POINTS from the
presentation grade. (You can cite more than TWO sources—it’s just the minimum requirement for this
project.)
• Organize your presentation around the key ideas that support your thesis. Do not organize your
presentation around a series of quotes from your scholarly sources.
o Offer a CLEAR Conclusion—an effort is made to pull ideas together and make assertions about what you
believe is the importance of your topic / reconnect with that thesis.
o Since this course is online, you must use some version of PowerPoint. Audio clips also will be needed.
You should use no more than 5 slides. If you would prefer to use some sort of video presentation, I am
fine with that alternative but please notify me in advance.

You must submit the following to me with your presentation before the start of our class session :

o A formal outline of your presentation; A copy of a power point presentation does not count as the
formal outline. If you do not know how to prepare a formal outline, be sure to consult the MLA
Handbook for Writer’s of Research Papers.
o A bibliography of the sources cited in the presentation. This bibliography must follow the MLA format
and list all sources cited during the presentation (both the poem and scholarly source); also, submit it on
the day of the presentation.
o Late submissions of the outline or bibliography will lose points.

Students who submit their presentation late will lose 10 points from the report’s grade. If the student fails to make-
up her presentation, she will earn a zero as a grade.

Possible Stories and Due Dates:
9/14 Hawthorne’s “The Minister’s Black Veil” (online)
9/28 Chekhov’s “The Lady with the Toy Dog” 136
10/5 Chesnutt “The Wife of His Youth” 155 (online)
10/12 Glaspell’s “A Jury of Her Peers” 154
10/19 Machado de Assis’s “The Fortune Teller” 127
10/19 Mann’s “The Path to the Cemetery” 155
10/26 Lawrence’s “The Prussian Officer” 162
11/2 Pirandello “Mrs. Frola and Mr. Ponza, Her Son-in-Law” 185
11/9 Hemingway’s “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” 222
11/16 Hurston’s “Sweat” 182
11/23 Allende’s “And of Clay Are We Created” 57 (on BB)
11/30 Kureishi’s “My Son the Fanatic” (online)
You can choose your story; however, it is important to note that the first person to select a topic will get it.
Consequently, be sure to have a few stories ready in case someone selects your first choice. I must know your choice
by 9/1/20.
SCHOLARLY SOURCE EXPECTATION:
At this level of coursework, it is essential to demonstrate literary research skills that move beyond a basic search of the
Web. Consequently, the following sources do not count toward the mandatory required “scholarly” sources:
encyclopedias, dictionaries, cliff notes, poetry overviews, Norton Anthology introductions, Magill’s reference books,
Gale Student Aids, Spark Notes, open access journal articles, etc. If you find material on the web, you must check with
me to determine if it is an acceptable “scholarly” source. Remember, a credible scholarly source is written by
someone with an advanced degree in literature. Such a source is peer reviewed before publication and uses citations
and a bibliography. It also should be current (the last 50 years). University Presses often publish such scholarly
materials.
To find a scholarly source, it’s a good idea to first check our library’s holdings of literary criticism related to your author
and his or her specific work (Webcat). Besides the many scholarly books related to specific authors, the library holds
several major critical works focused on this literary period (see attached). A great place to find quality journal articles is
the MLA Bibliography. Please note, though, that this is a comprehensive bibliography—our library will not have all of
the sources listed. In addition, you may want to check JSTOR, Academic Search Premier, or Wilson OmniFile.
Sometimes you can obtain a full-text scholarly article from these databases; however, be sure that it meets the expected
scholarly standards.
**If you want to use materials from a Web site, I must approve it. If you fail to seek approval
for Web site materials, points will be deducted from the presentation grade.**