GUIDELINES FOR CANTERBURY TALES PRESENTATIONS Presentations begin Thursday, October 13 In the General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer introduces a group of travelers making a pilgrimage to Canterbury. Each of you will present one (or more) of the pilgrims to the class. For your presentation, you must explain the section of the Prologue that covers your character(s). (You are not responsible for the tale told by your pilgrim.) Among the questions your presentation should answer are these: Who is he/she? What is his/her job? What was his/her role in society during Chaucer’s time? What does he/sh e look like? What clothes does he/she wear? What is Chaucer’s opinion of him/her? How do we know Chaucer’s opinion? What words need explaining to the class? Explain any jokes, obscure references, hidden meanings, etc. (This list is not exclusive — you may bring other things that you believe to be important to the class’ att ention.) Your presentation must include a PowerPoint component (you may use a PowerPoint rip-off or similar presentation program, if you wish), but you may supplement that if you wish with something creative. At minimum, however, you must answer the questions posed above and explain any other material required for your classmates to fully understand the character. You are responsible for answering any questions your classmates may have about your section of the General Prologue. THIS WILL BE A TEST GRADE! Some advice and suggestions for your presentation: 1. Two good places to start your research: the Chaucer Metapage (http://www.unc.edu/depts/chaucer/; this link is on my website) and A Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer (available in the school library; I also have a copy to lend). 2. Make your presentation colorful and interesting. I will be demonstrating two sample presentations (the opening 40 lines and the Knight) , as well as showing you “Practical Pointers for Powerful PowerPoint Presentations.” Try to follow my guidelines. Regardless of how you present your character(s), remember that, as is true for any presentation, you must retain your audience’s attention to be successful. 3. Be as thorough as possible. Every student is responsible for having read the entire General Prologue before the presentations. (It appears on pp. 3 – 26 in The Canterbury Tales ). Every student is responsible for gaining at least a basic understanding of the entire General Prologue before the presentations. However, the presenter is responsible for explaining any material that any student does not understand. I WILL INTERVENE AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE — usually only to correct a factual error. If a student read the section and did not understand a reference or an allusion, and that reference or allusion was not explained during the presentation, he or she must ask the presenter to illuminate, elucidate, explicate, and otherwise make clear the material. The presenter is responsible for all material in his or her section and must be prepared to answer any questions that may arise. I reserve the right to ask questions about points that I do not feel were adequately covered; however, I expect the members of the class to ask whatever questions are necessary. If you fail to understand something in the General Prologue and don’t ask questions, you will continue to fail to understand — and I will not necessarily rescue you. Be an active learner!
4. The due date (October 13) is the first day of presentations. Obviously, not all of you will present that day. Presentations will be given in the order the characters appear in the Prologue and I expect to cover up to four presentations a day. However, EVERYONE MUST BE PREPARED ON OCTOBER 13. If a student is unprepared or absent when his or her turn comes up, the class will proceed to the next presentation. Is it likely that enough students will be absent on October 13 that the person responsible for the Reeve will present that day? No. Is it possible? You never know. (N.B. Anyone unprepared to present when his or her turn comes up loses 10 points on his or her grade every day until he or she is ready to present.) 5. If you are having any difficulty with your presentation, I will be happy to answer any and all questions through the morning of Wednesday, October 5. After that, you are on your own. Do not e-mail me the day before the due date and say, “Mr. Leib, I can’t fi nd any material on my character.” My response? “Tough.” START YOUR RESEARCH NOW! 6. A portion of your grade (at least indirectly) relates to whether you answer the needs of your audience, while 20% of your grade directly represents your presentation skills. T his requires that you retain your audience’s attention. Think about that when you are listening to others’ presentations. You are expected to pay close attention, ask intelligent questions and show the respe ct to the presenter that you expect to receive when you are the presenter — or maybe even a little more than you expect. “The Canterbury Pilgrims” by William Blake (yes, that William Blake —author of “Songs of Innocence” and “Songs of Experience”)
Name ______________________________ Period ________ Character(s) ____________________ RUBRIC FOR CANTERBURY TALES PRESENTATIONS F = 5 D = 6.2 C = 7.4 B = 8.6 A = 9.8 Score Weight Total Eye contact × 1 Never Rarely Infrequent Often Regular Voice projection Inaudible; many Not all of Most of All of presentation All of presentation words not presentation presentation audible; most audible; all words × 1 pronounced clearly audible; some audible; most words pronounced pronounced clearly words not words pronounced clearly and and correctly pronounced clearly clearly correctly Scope Insufficient effort put Presentation Presentation needs Good presentation. Excellent into presentation. unclear. Character additional material Character is well- presentation. Character unclear. unclear. Many for clarity. defined. Most Character is clearly Words not defined. unfamiliar words Insufficient unfamiliar words defined. All × 6 undefined. explanation of defined. Most unfamiliar words Underlying underlying underlying defined. All meanings not meanings. meanings underlying addressed. explained. meanings explained. Organization Information not Little structure of Some information Most information Entire presentation structured in any information. structured in a structured in a structured in a × 2 order. logical and easy-to- logical and easy-to- logical and easy-to- follow order. follow order. follow order. Up to 10 bonus points for quality of supplemental materials Grade
PAGES CHARACTER(S) PRESENTER 14 – 5 Knight Martini 15 – 5 Squire Griep 25 – 6 Yeoman Kalarickal 66 – 7 Nun Ellis 67 – 8 Monk Rhee 68 – 10 Friar Esteban 66 – 10 Merchant Han 10 – 11 Oxford Cleric Engkvist 11 – 12 Sergeant-at-the-Law Vitale 11 – 12 Franklin Waletzki 12 – 13 Guildsmen/Cook Bevacqua 13 – 14 Skipper Hayward 14 – 15 Doctor Bookstaver 15 – 15 Wife of Bath Holden 16 – 17 Parson Shea 15 – 17 Plowman Shames 17 – 18 Miller Mitchell 18 – 19 Manciple Moody 19 – 20 Reeve Covello 20 – 21 Summoner Hoffer 21 – 22 Pardoner Casalino 23 – 26 Host Amos-Flom
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