ORALGUIDELINESW2024

The document provides guidelines for an oral group presentation assignment on short stories. Students will be divided into groups to analyze and present on a short story. Each group member must take a different critical approach and the presentation should have an introduction, body, and conclusion. General tips are provided for delivering an effective oral presentation.

Uploaded by

isabelaecheverria6

Available Formats

Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

0% found this document useful (0 votes)

6 views

ORALGUIDELINESW2024

Uploaded by

isabelaecheverria6

Available Formats

Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

You are on page 1/ 2

DAWSON COLLEGE: English 603-102: Contemporary Short Fiction

Guidelines: Group Oral Presentation (15%) Winter 2024

Purpose: This presentation will test your analytical skills as well as your ability
to present information orally and to work in a team. It will also provide you with
material for your final 1000-word essay worth 25% (summative assessment).

Process: Your group's job is to analyze your choice of one of the short stories that
we haven’t covered in class from our text, The Best Short Stories 2021. Each
group must present a different story and discuss the oral plan with me on the
specified date (see Oral Schedule) before the oral takes place. All students must
attend and have read the stories being presented. Students will be expected to
write a short reading journal for one of the stories being presented on each oral
presentation day. Each presenter will receive four peer reviews with their grade.
Peer reviewers will be credited for their feedback.

Schedule/Groups:
March 25/26: Send me your group of 4 students. If you don’t have a group, I
will assign you one.
March 27/Apr. 2 (Deadline): Send me your story choice (tentative). I will assign
each group a number, which will be listed on Moodle – the dates are already on
the calendar. Once I receive your story choice, I will put it on the schedule. First
come, first served. Before you send the story, make sure to check the schedule to
make sure it has not been taken yet.

April 22-May7: Orals will take place.

Presentation: Your group can decide how to organize your presentation, but
each group member must take a different critical approach to the story. (Reader
Response excluded). Every member of the group must speak for at least 5-8 and
hand in an outline of the main points and a list of sources on the day of the
presentation. You will be marked individually.
Organization: Divide the material equally between all of you. Like an essay, the
overall presentation should have an Introduction, Body (individual speakers) and
Conclusion:
INTRODUCTION: Your group should begin by engaging your audience, giving
individual reader responses or a collective group reader response. Then you
should preview your discussion by identifying which approach each of you will be
taking.
BODY: Each student will discuss the text taking a different critical approach.
Remember that your individual oral report is similar to an essay in that you make
interpretive claims that support a controlling idea (thesis). Your claims will be
supported with direct examples from the text. You should read supporting
passages.
CONCLUSION: Think of an interesting way to clinch the presentation, leaving
your audience something to think about.

CRITICAL APPROACHES: Look at the ways we have approached the stories

in class so far – what type of story is your choice according to Boyd’s taxonomy?
Remember that a critical approach is a reader’s way of looking at the story – not
the writer’s. A formalist approach works for all stories, so make sure one of you
discusses how the most important literary elements present meaning. The other
approaches depend on your story, so think carefully about which ones apply best.
To generate ideas, use the checklists of critical questions for each approach. Make
sure, though, that your oral starts with your general application of the approach, a
thesis, which is then supported with explanations and textual details. Do not
simply run through a list of answers to the questions.

General Tips for Oral Presentations:

 Imagine that you are a member of the audience. Think of what you
appreciate when listening to an oral.
 Make sure the audience knows your topic from the start
 Keep in mind that the audience will have read your story
 Use pertinent, accurate vocabulary
 Use Standard English: avoid slang
 Be enthusiastic, relaxed, pleasant
 Do not read your notes; use them as a guide
 Include direct quotes from the story
 Be creative. Find an interesting way to engage your audience
 Practice with your group
 Stay within the time limit of 5-8 minutes
 Practice alone.

FINAL ESSAY: You will choose a topic to explore for your summative
assessment, but it must be on the story you presented orally, and it must be peer-
edited by someone in your group. Class on May 8/10 is dedicated to pre-writing;
Peer-editing will take place on May 13/14. The Final draft, with the first draft and
peer-editing, is due May 15/17.