Group projects/concerns: English Novel 305A

Fall 2011

Dr. Behrendt

General Information

You will participate in (probably) two group presentations during the semester, on dates and subjects for which you will be able to sign up in advance. I am requiring these group presentations

— to help you take a more active part in running a class session
— to give you an opportunity to work together on planning and delivery
— to provide more variety in the way we conduct our daily work.

The presentations are important. Whatever you do, do not approach them casually or carelessly. I will hold each of you accountable for the quality of the entire group’s presentation, and I will remember my impressions of your presentations when it comes time to calculate course grades.

I suggest that each group follow something like this plan in getting ready:

(1.) Get together, even briefly, to be sure each member of your group understands the assignment for the group.
(2.) Delegate tasks, so that each of you knows what your contribution will be.
(3.) Decide whether you need supplementary materials (handouts, visuals, etc.) and, if so, make sure to prepare them and try them out in advance.
(4) Plan how you will conduct your presentation; who will do what, how you will manage time, etc.
(5.) Be proactive in your class presentation; that is, present substantial and substantive information rather than planning simply to ask your classmates open-ended questions like “What do you all think about . . .?” or “Did anyone think anything different than what we’ve said?” Do not “fish”: be prepared to proceed if you don’t get the “feedback” you want!

By all means, feel free to engage the class in discussion, but I expect real quality in your presentations. I am giving you a substantial part of the class time, time that I would put to significant use if it was me running the session. So don’t disappoint me.

Your presentation should run between 20 and 30 minutes, total, so that we will have time for further discussion during the meeting at which you present.

I have worked out three sets of group questions and concerns:

Group Set 1 addresses the beginning of the novel and asks you to consider and discuss what the opening portion of the novel seems to suggest about how and why the author writes as she or he does, what ideas and issues are introduced (including character issues), and what hints (if any) are offered about what may follow in the rest of the novel.

Group Set 2 asks you to address these same issues, but now from the perspective of having read all – or at least a substantial portion – of the novel and having decided about which are especially important events and how they figure in the novel. You should plan to talk about what seems to be the author’s main “points” or “messages” and how they might reflect her or his values and beliefs.

Group Set 3 addresses matters of aesthetics, cultural relevance, and “value,” including considerations about why (or why not) the novel is or has been considered “good” or “important.” These judgments often vary according to the times; some works were immediately successful and “important” and others were not – and their various reputations have often changed over the course of time, sometimes repeatedly. This set asks you to talk with us about how and why “value” or “worth” is determined, and it invites you to consider matters like history, culture, politics, economics, science, the arts, etc. that may be relevant to helping us better to understand the novel.

The Group Set Questions

The guideline questions you will find below are “starting-points,” both for you and for the whole class, and they should guide you in thinking about what to do and to address in your group’s presentation. There are probably too many things in each of these sets for you to address completely in a presentation of only 20-30 minutes. So you should decide as a group where your particular focus will be and how you will go about creating the most effective presentation.

Group Set 1

What is revealed in the opening chapters (or even chapter--or even pages--or even the first page) about:

— setting
—characters, as well as characterization (i.e., how characters are presented to the reader, including literary devices the author employs)
—the narrator's perspective on, and relation to, the events of the novel
—literary style, including type and level of language, “readability,” use of figurative language, use(s) of dialogue, etc.
—the apparent theme of the novel
—central ideas or preoccupations of the characters, and of the author, as best you can tell, as they are revealed early in the novel

Group Set 2

Start with the same matters listed under Group 1, but consider them as they appear throughout the entire novel. In particular, consider any significant changes in any of the elements, either of the story (and its characters, plot, and settings) or of the novel as a literary work (including matters of style as well as intellectual or matters of theme, attitude, or philosophy of the author as best you can determine).
Include in your discussion what you regard as the most important events that occur in the novel, and be ready to explain why they seem to you to be especially important.

Group Set 3

Why has this novel come to be considered either “good,” or “important,” or both? What aspects or features of it would you cite to support your opinions? How would you argue the case for including this particular novel in a course that surveys the history of the English novel? Are there “extra considerations”--matters which lie outside the novel – that might influence your judgment on this matter, and if so what are they?
What aspects or features of this novel are unappealing to a modern reader, and why? How would you advise a reader to overcome these problems in order to get something (both intellectually and aesthetically) from the experience of reading the novel? What sort of information can you suggest (including actual sources) that would help the reader have a more satisfying experience with this novel?

Questions about preparation, presentation, and/or my expectations? Just ask, and I’ll be happy to try to help you so that you will all do your best work. We’re partners; this course is yours as much as it is mine. That’s one reason why I invest so much value in these presentations.