Expectations on Your Presentations

Essay Presentations Should Include:

• identify author, title, page -- explain WHO the author is, what his/her "credentials" are, the original publication in which the essay appeared, any particular relevance of the essay title
• identify the purpose of the essay (often this appears in the headnote, just above the essay) and the audience, along with the context of the essay, if applicable
• explain what TYPE of essay this is: definition, process-analysis, argumentative, cause and effect - AND what MAKES it representative of this particular essay
• identify, define and explain the context of at least 2 vocabulary words - even if you know all of them in the essay
• state the author's primary focus or main idea (thesis) in the essay and at least 2 points you found interesting or intriguing (and feel free to lie--that is, none of these essay may actually interest you, but since you have to read them and since you have to lead us in a discussion of one of them, what points do you find of forced interest?)
• ask 2 relevant questions to the class for their response--these can be related to the points you bring up--these should be thoughtful questions OR questions you puzzled over when you read the essay; these should be open-ended and NOT fact-based
• as a way to bring closure to the essay, provide us with a final, lingering quote that YOU or the author might want us to consider