TED Talk

logistical information

total points: 150

due dates
tuesday, february 22:

  • design plan draft

tuesday, march 1:

  • final design plan and presentation outline

on your group’s presentation date (see below) the following are due:

  • 10-minute group presentation
  • on-screen presentation materials (provide me with your digital files)

the class session following your presentation the following is due:

  • reflective analysis (see below for details)
  • a summary of each of your three additional sources (no more than one double-spaced page for each summary)
  • group evaluation form (each group member submits this individually)

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overview

You will be using the TED Talks as a model for your presentation, and you will use your book as the the initial source for your presentation, but this is not a book report. The purpose of the book is to provide you and your group members with an in-depth argument on your chose topic. Your topic is one of the following:

  1. authorship and authority in the internet age; book, Keen; presentation date, thursday, march 3
  2. copyright in the digital age; book, Lessig; presentation date, tuesday, march 8
  3. is Google making us stupid?; book, Carr; presentation date, thursday, march 10
  4. digital literacy; book, Selber; presentation date, tuesday, march 8 or thursday, march 10

In addition to your book, each group member will locate one additional secondary source. This source may be a print-based journal or magazine article, a video, or an audio podcast. Regardless of the medium, the source should be feature length (at least 10 pages for an article, at least 30 minutes for video or audio) and present a well-reasearched argument aimed at an academic or college-educated public audience. You will use your sources to provide evidence and additional points of view during your presentation. Remember that as all the TED Talks do, your presentation should focus on one unified thesis or claim and use your secondary sources and additional examples as evidence to support your claim. You are presenting your own argument, not summarizing the arguments of your sources.

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design plan (20 points)

Your group will submit a design plan for your presentation. This design plan is similar in format to the one your created for your blog project. First you will craft a Statement of Purpose (SOP) that defines your:

  • purpose
  • audience
  • context

At the end of the SOP your group should state its thesis or the claim that you will be arguing for in your presentation.

Next the design plan should outline how you will carry out your SOP:

  • What production strategies will you use and how? (ethos, logos, pathos)
  • What mediums and modes of communication will you use? (this section should include a discussion of the visual aids you will use during the presentation)
  • What forms of arrangement will you use in both your verbal and visual materials?

Please refer to the design plan handout and presentation when preparing your design plan.

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presentation (100 points)

The presentation is graded holistically. That is, the group receives one score based on the overall success of the presentation. However, if it is apparent that a group member did not complete his or her portion of the work, I reserve the right to adjust that group member’s score accordingly. If you do not participate in the live presentation with your group, you will receive a zero for the project.

After the presentation, each group member submits a group evaluation form that outlines what each group member contributed to the entire project. Only I see these forms, so they are your opportunity to communicate with me regarding the successes and failures of each member’s collaborative efforts. However, please do not wait until after the presentation to inform me of any group problems. If your group is having difficulties working together, talk with me right away so that I can help you collaborative more effectively.

The presentation must include the following:

  • a clearly articulated thesis statement or claim
  • at least three forms of logical argument
  • an appeal to either pathos or ethos (or both)
  • an onscreen visual aid (or aids) used by each presenter. Each visual aid must do one or more of the following:
    • clarify information presented orally
    • function as an example or object of analysis
    • present information in a visual form that is qualitatively different from the way that information can be presented orally (e.g., a chart, graph, or map)

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reflective analysis (30 points)

Each group submits a two to three page (double-spaced) reflective analysis of the presentation in which you discuss the effectiveness of your argument. Questions to discuss in the analysis:

  • How clearly expressed was our claim or thesis?
  • Was the thesis an arguable statement. For example, most (but not all) Americans agree that “The federal deficit is too big.” While a minority might argue that the deficit is not a problem, the current discussion is about how we should reduce the deficit and in what timeframe. Therefore, a better thesis might be “we should reduce the federal deficit by cutting military spending and raising the capital gains tax.” Now we have a claim that that a larger number of people will want to debate. You are taking as a given that your audience wants to reduce the deficit and are arguing for a particular way of doing so.
  • How effective were our production strategies (ethos, logos, and pathos) and forms of arrangement?
  • Did each of our visual aids perform one of the required functions? If yes, how. If no, why not?

At the end of your analysis, please include a one-paragraph summary of each of your additional secondary sources and include a hard copy of the source or a link to it.

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