assignments ENGL 101 Writing Rhetorically: The Big Idea
​WE ARE BRIDGEWATER final project & presentation

Need to be in touch with me? 
LEE TORDA
310 Tillinghast Hall
Bridgewater State University
508.531.2436
ltorda@bridgew.edu
www.leetorda.com
Fall 2019 Office Hours:
W 9:00-10:00
R 2:00-3:00
F  1:30-2:30
Need to make an appointment? Click here: https://goo.gl/3CqLf
OVERVIEW: One thing I’ve been trying to get you guys to see this semester is that you're part of something at Bridgewater. You are you, your unique self. You bring your talents and strengths—and your vulnerabilities and weak spots—to this campus. And this campus is the better for it. Seriously.  But you are also not alone—you’re a BSU student in his or her first year and you are part of a long line of BSU students (and State Normal School at Bridgewater and Bridgewater State Normal School and Bridgewater State College students). You are part of something bigger than just you, and who you are contributes to the legacy of this institution, just as the alumni that you interviewed this semester are also a part of that legacy. And just as your future as a BSU graduate will, too, reflect on what BSU is and will be. You, you sitting there trying to avoid looking at me, you and what you will one day become is what makes BSU what it is.

You are not one story. None of us are. You are the And that is the story you are going to tell in your final project.

DETAILS: THE WHAT
Here are the three essential questions you need to be able to answer in your final project:
  1. How did you get to be you—a first year student at Bridgewater State University?
  2. How do you fit in to the story of BSU--it's past? How do you relate to what you've learned about BSU as an institution? How do you related to the alumni you interviewed? 
  3. Where are you going? How will you represent BSU in the future as a graduate and alumnus/alumnae
Those three question will shape how you develop the material for your final project. We will write a little bit each day in ways that contribute answers to these questions. You can also work with Lakynne on this. Finally, I will give you some specific guidelines about information you have to include in the final project to help you develop material and organize your ideas.

DETAILS: THE HOW
For our final project of the semester, you will consider the work you’ve done all semester long to produce a six minute and forty second (6:40) “video” using PowerPoint. You will create 20 slides, each slide will last for 20 seconds. You will turn the individual slides into a seamless video-like presentation by using the “record presentation” function in PowerPoint. We will work on this process in class and potentially in conferences.  You will present this short video at the Midyear Symposium to be held on 10 December 2018. You will present during either our regularly scheduled class time (11:15 to 12:05) or during the block of time that would have been your Monday book club (12:20 to 1:10).
Here are some more specifics on what a Pecha Kucha Presentation is
  • A Pecha Kucha requires, as I say above, 20 slides at 20 seconds per slide. This is non-negotiable. It is like saying you need to write a 10 page paper, not a 9 page paper and not an 11 page paper, but a 10 page paper.
  • You will locate or produce 20 images, one per slide. There is some wiggle room here, as you’ll see in any examples you check out. You might repeat images. You might add to an image for a second 20 seconds on the same image.
  • Using the “RECORD SLIDE SHOW” feature in PowerPoint, which is located on the “SLIDE SHOW” tab, you will actually record your twenty, 20 second scripts for each of your slides.
  • If you are wondering, this means you are recording a 6 minute, 20 second presentation.
  • YOU CAN’T USE THE GOOGLE DOCS VERSION OF POWERPOINT TO DO THIS ASSIGNMENT. It won’t work because you can’t record in the google.doc version. I will give you time in class to do as much of the physical work on this project as possible. I'll be here to help you. 
  • You use the template I made for your Pecha Kucha and for a copy of the instructions on how to record your Pecha Kucha script, click here: ​​
pecha.kucha.pptx
File Size: 51 kb
File Type: pptx
Download File
how_to_record_your_pecha_kucha__1_.docx
File Size: 150 kb
File Type: docx
Download File
  • I will send you an invitation and a link to dropbox (if you don't already have it) and you will join a team folder. You'll upload your presentation there. It will be the easiest way for me to view them for assessment and it will be the easiest way to present them at the MYS.
  • I will sign you up for the MYS myself. You don’t need to worry about that.

IDEAS FOR 20 SLIDES
 But first, a word of caution. T he only thing that can really mess up these presentations is if you don’t have a thesis and if you don't have evidence that proves that thesis. When I evaluate your presentation, I will look for the same sorts of things that I would look for in a paper:
  • YOU NEED A THESIS just like you would in any other argument you were making.
  • You need slides that serve as an introduction where you introduce that thesis.
  • You need slides that prove your thesis (in the order that your thesis requires you to do it in).
  • And you need a conclusion that tells your audience why they should believe your thesis and, most of all, why they should care about it.

There are other requirements for the final project that you did not need to think about in your earlier papers.
  • You need for the visuals that you select to match and compliment the words you are saying.
  • You really only get 20 seconds per slide.
  • You really have to have 20 slides.
  • You should include information you learned from doing your first paper about your alumnus/nae (sure hope you asked for that picture). 
  • You should include information you learned from participating in book club--things in the book that made you think about your own life. 
  • You should include information you learned from doing the second paper about the BSU archives.

As I said, we will work on this in class, and, as I also said, you should borrow from work you’ve already done in the class. I’m going to group suggestions for slides under each of the three major questions from this assignment.

How did you get to be you—a first year student at Bridgewater State University?
  • What is your home/home life/family life like?
  • Do you have a story about your friends that helps us to understand who you are and what role your friends have played in making you who you are?
  • What was your school life like before coming to BSU?
  • Why did you pick Bridgewater for school?
  • Is there anything that you read in your book-club book that you connected with, that reminds you of your own life leading up to college?

How do you fit in to the story of BSU--it's past? How do you relate to what you've learned about BSU as an institution? 
  • What do you feel like you have in common with the alumnus/a you met during your interview with them?
  • What do you feel like is very different from them?
  • What “advice” would you say your alumnus/a would  give you, based on your interview, about what to do with your time at BSU?
  • When you look at the archives of other students at BSU, what do you feel like you have in common with those past students?
  • When you look at the archives of other students at BSU, what do you feel like is very different with those students?

Who are you, right now, in your first semester of your first year of college—what has your story been so far as a member of this BSU community?
  • How has the semester been for you academically?
  • How have you changed—if you’ve changed--since the start of the semester?
  • How has the semester been for you socially?
  • How does your story of your time-so-far compare to the story of your alumnus/a?
  • What are some things you’ve learned from your classmates in LT’s class about who is at BSU, why they are here, and how they are managing.

Where are you going? How will you represent BSU in the future as a graduate and alumnus/a
  • What ideas/plans do you have for your future semesters at BSU? For a career? For your life after you graduate from BSU?
  • What do you notice about the lives after BSU for the alumnus/a you interviewed? Did any of it inspire you? Affect you? Change you?
  • What do you hope LT’s First Year Writing Class of 2028 has to say about you when they interview you? NOTE: This would be an excellent question to try to answer for your concluding slides/paragraph.
  • What  are some things you’ve learned about the history of BSU that inspires you to want to represent BSU in the best way possible?
  • Is there anything that you read in your book-club book that you connected with, that makes you think about for your own future life?

Before you record your presentation, you will need to OK your script with me or Lakynne, to make sure it is 20 seconds per slide. You will need to OK your visuals as well.

HOW DO I FIND 20 IMAGES FOR THIS PRESENTATION
I think there are three sources of images:
  • You can use photos of you and your life, obviously
  • You can use photos you take of the archives
  • You SHOULD have your alum for a picture or two that represents them to include in your PowerPoint.
  • You can use some images from the internet (I can show you how to copy and paste them into a PowerPoint slide), but the more of this you use, the less good.

FINALLY, WRITE A REFLECTION ESSAY
Complete a two-page, typed, double-spaced reflection essay (Informal) that answers the following questions:
  • What your thesis is
  • Why the stories you’ve included proves it (provide a general discussion of your entire presentation, but include a few specific references to specific stories that you think were particularly effective).
  • How the images you’ve selected prove it (provide a general discussion of your entire presentation, but include a few specific references to specific images that you think were particularly effective).
  • How successful you think your final presentation was, what you would do differently if you had to do it again.

You’ll turn this informal reflection in as part of your final portfolio along with your script.

HOW I WILL EVALUATE YOUR FINAL PROJECT
Because we eliminated one full paper, this final project is worth two papers—so 20% of your grade. In order to earn a B grade for that 15%, you MUST do the following:
  • Participate in the majority of in-class writing in order to gather information/evidence for your presentation.
  • Complete a script for 20 slides, 20 seconds per slide and turn in this script in your final portfolio for this class.
  • Participate in the workshop for the script and turn in the workshop draft of that script along with the final draft in the final portfolio for this class.
  • Complete a 20 slide “video,” with appropriate images, for presentation at the MYS.
  • Complete your two page, typed, double-spaced informal reflection on your presentation (for your final portfolio).
  • Attend at least one meeting with Lakynne to discuss your work on your presentation.
  • Attend one meeting with me to discuss your work on your presentation.

In order to earn an A grade for your 15%, you MUST:
  • Do all the work required of a B, and demonstrate a strong thesis, excellent evidence, and strong introductions and conclusions.
  • Put together a presentation that is unique and entertaining for presentation at the MYS.

In order to earn a C grade for your 15%, you MUST:
  • Complete a script for 20 slides, 20 seconds per slide and turn in this script in your final portfolio for this class.
  • Complete a 20 slide “video,” with appropriate images, for presentation at the MYS.
  • Complete your two page, typed, double-spaced informal reflection on your presentation (for your final portfolio).

If you do not meet the requirements for a C grade, you will fail the 15% of your final grade. Additionally, because your inability to complete this assignment will have an effect on your final portfolio, you are at risk of failing your final portfolio as well.