ORAL PRESENTATIONS ON THE IMPORTANT HISTORICAL INTELLECTUAL AND OTHER CONTEXTS FOR THE PHILOSOPHER IN QUESTION

Bob Corbett, instructor
Phil 2520.01
Fall 2000

Schedule for who gives oral presentations and when are below the description of the assignment.

THE ASSIGNMENT; PREPARATION HINTS; GRADING CRITERIA

• ASSIGNMENT:  Give a 5-10 minute oral presentation on the historical context in which the philosopher in questions lived. Any relevant historcal detail may be considered, but the focus should be on those things most likely to situate the philosopher and philosopher's work.

• PRE-PREPARATION TASKS:
  1. Read about the philosopher and the historical period in which he or she lived.
  2. Think about it for a while and try to get a handle on what is CENTRAL to life of the philosopher. What special features of the period set the situation in which the philosopher thought, worked and which were likely to have been an influence on the philosopher's life and work. argument.
  3. Begin to formulate the claims and carefully work them out.
  4. Edit the comments to fit the time available and be sure to give central attention to the most important elements.
  5. Sources need not be cited unless specificially asked, but it would be good to have them available at least in your notes.

• THE ORAL PRESENTATION ITSELF:
  1. Give a brief general overview of where and when the author lived.
  2. Then focus in on those items which you are claiming are the most important in understanding the author's development and the sorts of questions the author asked and studied.
  3. Choose with care to include things quite critical to the author's development, but include some of the larger elements of the time as well. The choosing is everything. There is a careful balance needed between the very specific and broader world context.
  4. During the entire oral presentation please do not quote the author or any other source directly. Tell it all in your own words.
  5. Please speak loudly and clearly.
  6. Please do not READ a paper. Rather, prepare an oral presentation. You may use notes if you need them, but do not just read a prepared text.

• THINGS I WILL ESPECIALLY NOTE AND LOOK FOR IN GRADING THE ORAL:
  1. Is the presentation accurate of the historical period and relevant to the life and work of the author?
  2. Are the ideas laid out in clear fashion and presented in an interesting and grabbing manner?
  3. Is the presentation a minumum of 5 minutes?
  4. Is the presentation no more than 10 minutes?
  5. Did the student give an oral presentation (with or without notes) and not read a paper?
  6. Did the student speak loudly and clearly and at a pace which allowed the class to follow the presentation?
  7. Was the presentation in standard English?

• THE GRADES THEMSELVES:
  • A grade of A will mean: The oral was at least 8 minutes long, but no longer than 10 minutes. The presentation was an accurate of the general historical period and place, and yet specific to the life and work of the author. The presentation was well-ordered, interesting and engaging. Finally, the oral was not a read paper, but an oral presentation, presented loudly, clearly and at a pace which made it easy for the class to follow along.
  • A grade of B will mean: All parts of the presentation looked for in the grade of A were there and quite strong. However, in some matter or other there was a noticeable performance of less than excellence, but nonetheless, the total presentation and contribution still came across as a superior contribution to our study of the philosopher at hand.
  • A grade of C will mean: All parts of the presentation were basically in order yet the sum was not of a quality that would rate excellent or higher on the criteria expressed above, was nonetheless acceptable work for a university level philosophy course. If either the minimum time was not reached or the maximum was exceeded, the a grade of C would be the likely highest grade possible.
  • A grade of D will mean: Some more serious versions of deviation from the criteria expressed above were present in the oral presentation.
  • A grade of F may mean anyone of three things:
    1. The presentation was not given as scheduled.
    2. Significant failures to meet the assignment at the level of reasonable university level expectations of thought, attention to detail, attention to the time guidelines or presentation expectations. (Specifics will be pointed out).
    3. The actual presentation itself (the form rather than the content) was seriously flawed. This could mean the time peramaters or such things as clarity of expression, or volume of voice or use of the English language. All of these would be expected to be used in a reasonable fashion for university level work. However, a grade of F on these grounds would require some quite serious deviation from the expectations listed above.

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