BIS 487 (LN 2064)
Topics in American Literature:
Cyberpunk
Spring 2005
David S. Goldstein, Ph.D.
Group Discussion Leadership
Assignment
due as assigned below
The purpose of this exercise is to help you collaborate
with classmates to help yourselves and your classmates learn more about
the novels we are reading.
You will assign roles in collaboration with
your group. Some of you will do parts of the presentation, some of
you will help write discussion questions, and all of you will meet with the
other discussion groups to assist. You may do more than one of these
assigned roles.
The novel assignments are as follows:
Group Numbers:
|
Novel:
|
Discussion Questions Due at 10:50 a.m.
on:
|
Presentation Date:
|
Roles Document Due at 10: 50 a.m. on:
|
1 and 2
|
Neuromancer by
William Gibson |
Mon., April 25 |
Wed., May 4 |
Wed., May 11
|
3 and 4
|
Noir by K. W.
Jeter |
Sat., May 7
|
Mon., May 16
|
Mon., May 23
|
5 and 6
|
Snow Crash by
Neal Stephenson |
Mon, May 16
|
Wed., May 25
|
Wed., June 1
|
Discussion Questions:
In collaboration with
your groupmates, write four good, substantive discussion questions.
Remember that a good discussion question comes from genuine curiosity on
your part, and stimulates good dialogue among group members. Good discussion
questions rarely can be answered with a "yes" or "no." You may use
one discussion question that you
find from another source, but if you do, make sure you provide proper attribution.
You must always give others credit for their intellectual property, and that
includes discussion questions.
You will submit your group's questions to me as a Microsoft Word document in Blackboard (click on "Group Pages," and then
on "Discussion Board," and then on "Group Discussion Leadership Questions")
no later than 10:50 a.m., nine calendar days before your group is scheduled to lead the discussion
(i.e., 10:50 a.m. on Monday, April 25 for Groups
1 and 2; 10:50 a.m. on Saturday, May 7 for Groups 3 and 4; and 10:50 a.m.
on Monday, May 16, for Groups 5 and 6). Please have every group member's
name on the document, even the ones who did not help write the discussion
questions. Although some group members might not be assigned to help
write the questions, every group member is responsible for their content,
so I strongly encourage all group members to check and approve the questions
before they are submitted to me. The questions should be carefully
proofread. Do not assign the questions to particular groups.
I will do that.
Article:
Every group member
must read a scholarly article related to the novel or author they are helping
to teach. Groups 1 and 2 must read "William Gibson's Construction
of Cyberspace" by Sabine Heuser (in eReserves);
Groups 3 and 4 must read "A Long Guide to K. W. Jeter" by James Cappio and
"Has Success Spoiled K. W. Jeter?" by Ariel Haméon (in the "File Exchange" area of your Group Pages in Blackboard); and Groups 5 and 6 must read "Neal Stephenson's Metaspace"
by Sabine Heuser (in eReserves).
Presentation:
On your
group's assigned day, you will make your presentation to the class.
(Remember that your classmates, not I, are your audience.) I strongly
recommend practicing your presentation. Remember that you need to
project your voice so that everyone in class can hear you, even in the back
of the room. Frequent eye contact and a well-modulated voice helps
maintain your audience's attention.
Your presentation should have these
elements:
- A brief biography (about five
minutes) about your author, using information that you gather from research
in an academic database. (I recommend any of the top three databases
listed on the UW Library's guide to sources in literature at <http://www.lib.washington.edu/subject/English/>,
especially the Literary Resource Center. Note that you need to log in for off-campus
access, using the link at the top of the English Resources web page, if you
want to use the databases from off-campus.) Your biographical
sketch should cover basic information such as dates of birth and other details
that help us understand the author's place in the American science fiction
tradition.
- A brief discussion (about
five minutes) of the novel's critical reception, using information that
you gather from research, using print sources, online sources, or both.
(I recommend any of the
top three databases listed on the UW Library's guide to sources in literature
at <http://www.lib.washington.edu/subject/English/>,
especially Expanded Academic
Index, and Research Library Complete, which is listed near the bottom of
the Library's web page. Note that
you need to log in for off-campus access, using the link at the top of the
English Resources web page, if you want to use the databases from off-campus.) Give us a general sense of what critics
have said about the novel.
- A brief summary of what you
think the novel's significant themes are. Imagine that a friend asked
you, "What is that book about?" If you had five minutes to answer (which
you do!), what would you say?
- A brief summary (about five
minutes) of your assigned article's main points.
Discussion Leadership:
After
your group's presentation, the members of your group will split up and join
the other four discussion groups to help lead their discussions. Your
job will be to keep the conversation going, and to provide insights that
the host group might not have had on their own, since you are now experts
on the novel, but also make sure you let the host group do most of the talking.
Your group also will be responsible for running the discussion after
the small groups reconvene.
Roles Document:
No later
than 10:50 a.m. one week after your group's presentation, you will submit,
in the "Group Pages" of Blackboard, a single Word document that describes, briefly,
what each group member did for the group presentation. By that same
deadline, I also want each group member to e-mail me, separately, to give
me a very brief, narrative evaluation of what each presentation group member
(i.e., the members of both discussion groups that collaborated on your
presentation) contributed, which I will use as a "checks and balances" in
conjunction with the self-reported descriptions and my own observations. If
you do not know what a particular group member did, please just say so. Your
comments will remain confidential, although if the majority of members
of your group share an opinion about a group member that differs from that
group member's self-perception, I will point out the discrepancy to that
individual so he or she will have a chance to respond. Be sure to read
your group's "Roles" document before you
write your evaluations. Some of your group members might have done
work that you did not know about.
I will e-mail the members of your group within one week to provide feedback
and grades. Except for unusual circumstances,
everyone in your group will get the same grade, so you have a strong incentive
to help each other.
Criteria for grading:
|
Class presentation
|
50 percent
|
|
Discussion questions and group leadership
|
50 percent
|
|
TOTAL
|
15 percent of final course grade
|
If you have problems with any of your group members, please let me know
as soon as possible.
This page last updated May 4, 2005.
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