Poem Presentations |
For this project, you will thoroughly study one major modern poem, presenting the poem to the class by offering a full reading of that work. You will provide a copy of the poem to the class (some of these poems may be included in our anthology, in which case you don't need to provide an additional copy), read it aloud, and then offer an explication and interpretation explaining both problematic sections of the poem and the poem overall.
Presentations will begin on February 27 and continue on March 1; you will receive your assigned poem and date when we discuss this assignment.
In your presentation you will discuss not only the poem itself, however, but also any relevant background information about the author, literary period, literary elements within the poem, its genre, or historical or cultural movements of importance to understanding the work. You will use secondary research to assist you in the interpretation of this poem; when you distribute a copy of the poem to the class, you will also submit a bibliography for the work indicating several critical sources commenting on the poem, its author, or any other materials relevant to understanding the work. Your bibliography should be prepared correctly in MLA format; if you’re unfamiliar with the format, check your handbook or Purdue University's Online Writing Lab.
For your research, you may make use of the online database, Literature Resource Center (available from the Medford Library's Quick Links), which I have already demonstrated in class. But you may also find additional resources in the print reference work Poetry Criticism (Reference PN 1010 .P499), available in the Medford Library.
Essentially, you should approach the poem as if teaching it to the rest of the class. You may choose to prepare any handouts you wish in addition to the required poem and bibliography; if you get these materials to me in advance, I will arrange for photocopying for you. You may also wish to include a multimedia presentation as part of your talk; our classroom is set up in such a way as to accommodate this if you bring your materials on a flash drive or floppy disk. Your presentation should take approximately fifteen minutes, including some time at the end for questions and discussion from the class. I have built some extra time into the syllabus in the event you go over a few minutes.
If you have any difficulties locating sources or interpreting your poem, please don't hesitate to ask for help. Good luck.
Presentation evaluation rubric
This page copyright 2000-2007 by Lisa Hammond | last update 20 February 2007