The basis for your seminar presentation on your ISU author will be a handout that you make ahead of time. You are advised to begin preparing your handout as soon as possible and show me your draft work so that I can help you revise. Once it has been finalized, doing your seminar presentation will be simply a matter of leading us through your handout. There's no need to be nervous--these are fun (and largely informal) presentations.
Your seminar handout should have a number of elements:
A brief biography of your writer. --> Please, just the highlights!
A thesis about what makes your writer's work distinctive and highly publishable. Choose 3 or 4 elements of your writer's writing that make it effective. Perhaps he or she is masterful in the use of imagery, plot construction or dialogue. Maybe characterisation is his or her forte. This is a great place to draw on the various literary terms you've acquired in your many years of study. Perhaps you're not sure which term is best to describe what it is you want to say--if so, come see me.
Proof(X3-4). For each term you've decided to use, quote a passage (or two) from the novel that demonstrates your author's use of the technique. You (or an eager classmate) will read these excerpts during your presentation.
Comment(X3-4). Connect the dots for us. Explain, how the excerpted passage demonstrates your claim. Expand, where appropriate.
A Journal Topic. Using some of my prompts as models, devise a journal topic that relates to your writer's style. Avoid generic and opinion based questions such as "Would you like to read a novel by this author?" Try for a topic that fits the content of your presentation. e.g. "Write a scene that begins with very little tension and gradually builds tension and ends with a 'cliffhanger'" to go along with a presentation on Stephen King's writing.
**Students will be offered a chance to use these journal topics to "make up" for previously missed journal assignments
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