Presentation on Literature and Culture

Objective:

Research the cultural and historical contexts of a non-Western or non-English-language literary work. Make clear connections between research and the literary work, highlighting the ways research facilitates understanding.

Procedure:

• Form into groups of 3-4 students (let me know if you prefer to present individually).

• Identify a specific cultural or historical topic that will help you understand one of the works on the English 1582 syllabus.

• Research the topic using online or print sources. Cite 1-2 sources per group member in your presentation and topic outline.

• Present the results of your research in a class presentation in which each group member speaks for five minutes.

• Turn in a 1-2 page topic outline for the whole group immediately following your presentation.

Presentation limits:

When presenting each individual group member should most likely use GoogleSlides or PowerPoint as follows:

• One slide to list 1-3 questions pertaining to your subtopic—a question or questions that you will set out to answer in the rest of your presentation.

• One slide to briefly state a thesis statement articulating the subtopic. Define the cultural element clearly and link it to a specific aspect of the literary work in question. The more arguable or unexpected this statement is, the more effective it will be in engaging your audience.

• 2-4 slides for images relevant to your subtopic (up to 10 words may label or otherwise explain the content of each image). Include a separate smaller text-box (not counting toward the 10-word limit) that identifies the source of the image as clearly as possible. (This does not really even have to be legible to everyone in the room—it is only there as a reference to answer follow-up questions and establish source legitimacy.)

• Duplicate up to two quotations from the literary work for the purpose of explaining a specific aspect of the text. Use your spoken presentation to explicate each quotation for your audience—i. e. pull out specific terms or phrases and connect them clearly to your own topic.

• One final summation slide that reframes earlier questions and thesis statement based on what you have presented.

As a group, you should:

• Begin with one title slide for the whole group.

• Follow with one overview slide breaking your topic down into subtopics.

• Conclude the final presentation with an optional conclusion claim/image and a required amalgamated list of works cited in the different presentations.

If you wish to present information by some medium other than GoogleSlides or PowerPoint, you are welcome to do so, please touch base with me to adapt the above standards to your chosen medium.

Possible Topics:

This is not an exhaustive list. Please feel free to refine topics as needed:

Countries/time periods:

Poland in World War II, Colonial or post-colonial Nigeria, Post-colonial India, etc.

Historical events:

Plague outbreaks, the 9/11 attacks and US-Middle-East policies, the Internet RevolutionŐs impact on India, the Biafran War, etc.

Cultural elements:

Hospitality traditions, medicine, spiritual practices, hybrid cultural forms, language differences, marks of social class and other hierarchies, etc.

Deadlines:

Group presentations take place during a class when we are discussing the related literary work, and groups will work that out with me in advance by signing up for a slot.