Oral Presentation: Research Narrative

The Research Narrative is the next-to-last step in English 100’s research sequence. It is the only step that takes the form of an Oral Presentation. The purpose of the assignment is to share your experience as a researcher with your classmates and with me and to tell the story of your search so far. The goal is to practice thinking and talking, not only about the topic of your paper but also about the process of research itself.

You will now move beyond the questions you posed in your Research Question, Proposal and Annotated Bibliography and begin to think about where you are in the research process and what you need to do next. This assignment, in other words, should help you establish what you have learned in your research and what is still unknown or unclear to you. It should help you answer the question: where are you heading as you begin the last part of this process? It is therefore an opportunity for you to honor not only your progress but also the complexity, uncertainty, and even frustration of research.

Your narrative should take the form of a well-planned and well-rehearsed oral presentation to your class. It will still require a good bit of writing, however, especially in the form of notes and outline. You may use these written documents in delivering your presentation, but please do not simply read from a prepared speech. The presentation should be about 8 minutes long: no less than 6 minutes, and no more than 10. Other students will be presenting on the same day you do, and I will keep close track of time, so please rehearse your presentation and keep to these time limits. (Just to give you an idea of length, an 8-minute oral presentation usually corresponds to about 4 pages of writing, typed and double-spaced.) Be prepared to answer questions after you speak.

Even though this assignment is an oral presentation, it will still be considered part of your final writing portfolio. For that reason, I may ask you to turn in your notes, outline, or some other piece of writing (a self-evaluation, for example) from this assignment.

Guidelines: PowerPoint is not permitted for the oral presentation; however, you can use the dry erase board in the classroom and print handouts for any information you want to convey to the class. Please be sure to make your presentation clear and concise. Make sure that the main purpose of your research is clear.

General Tips:

· Use eye contact with your classmates.

· Have verbal flags or markers so your classmates and I know where you’re headed in your presentation.

· Feel free to repeat ideas in order to convey them clearly. In other words, the repetition you avoid in your written drafts can now be used effectively and sparingly in your presentations.

· Essentially, we want to know what you’ve been up to in your research these past weeks. We want to know how your project has transformed from a few ideas to a focused topic. Don’t forget to convey this in an organized and polished manner.

· Practice before you present. I will take note of presentations that are too long or too short. It’s my personal pet peeve, and many professionals consider going over time as disrespectful to your fellow classmates.