Presentation Description

        The oral component of the course includes reading preparation, attendance, contributions to seminar discussion and a presentation.  There will be occasional in-class writing or group discussion exercises. 

For oral presentations you will be expected to research your topic and provide the class with a one-page typed outline.  Presentations should make critical use of two library resources and two web sites; sources consulted during research must be documented and included in the outline.  In addition, your library resources and web sites will be added to our class web site: this means that your library materials and web site addresses must be submitted to me at least one day in advance of your presentation.

Aim–to stimulate discussion by helping the class to comprehend the essay’s argument.  You should strive for the following:

Outline  

  1 page
   point form
   includes main points that you want to raise about the essay
  comments about use or incorporation of print and web sources
  documentation of library and web sources

Web component

1) information

   identify source – who made the site; how old is it?
  assess reliability and authority of the information – quality, accuracy, trustworthiness, focus
   identify audience for the site
   useability – navigability, layout, links (what’s missing?), use of visuals
   applicability – comment on the quality of the content and how might we apply or use (or not use) the information

2) illustration

   visual resource used to exemplify or illustrate an idea from the essay (visual analogy)
   what connections does the example help us make? how do those connections further our understanding of the essay?

Length of presentation: 15 min.