Written Report?! WTF?!

Greetings, eager ones.
First off, let me again apologize for the long delay in my entry here. Computer terminals are hard to come by these days.
Well except if you’re willing to make a kindly donation to my favorite charity: me.


So it seems unavoidable that we must not only present in class as a group, but we must submit a written report as well. Oh, don’t get your pitchforks just yet. It’s just that you must have copies for me to base your grade with.

The point is, your presentation grade goes like this:

20% goes to the creativity of the presentation
20% goes to the organization and clearness of your presentation and
10% goes to the overall impact.

Now...

50% goes to the written report.

Why the 50%, you ask? If you must know, the biggest part of being a student is to learn how to do a term paper. It’s your preparation for making your thesis in your senior year. If you don’t do this, what’s the fun of learning?
The written report IS one half of your overall Class Standing, at it reflects your understanding of the subject.
If you are still unconvinced, then it’s up to you to risk it.
I know… life sucks.


Okay, so you are up to the challenge then? Well, if you really are, then look below for the details on how you are to write your written report. Remember that this is a group effort, which means EVERYONE MUST DO THEIR PART. If a group member lacks in his part, ditch him and tell it straight to me so I can give the young one a very special Christmas present. Believe me he will not like five golden rings on his card, would he?

So, read on to find out how to write the report.

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POETRY
Poetry is rather easy to do… okay so it’s paradoxical. Still, it is easy.
Since there are at least five to six of you in a group, all you have to do is to pick three poems from a single author. Then, you share the three poems among yourselves. Two will get the first poem, the next two the other, and the last two the last one. Easy, right?

Two heads are better than one, unless both have none. Just do what we do in reading and analyzing a poem. It’s not that hard once you get the hang of correlating things. At most, use common sense.
Just don’t forget that you choose only one poem to present from the three poems you have.

Here’s an outline on what to put on your paper. Just convert the outlines into full paragraphs and there you go…

I. Background of the Author
• Scholastic Achievement
• Past and Current Affiliation
• Awards

Note: Actually, you already know these so all you have to do is write a brief biography of your author. Remember, brief, NOT a full and long biography.

II. The Poems
• Just type a copy of all three poems.
• One Poem per Page.

III. Analysis
A. General theme of all of the author’s poems
• General topics
• Usual images involved and why

1. Poem # 1
a. Poem’s general message
b. Any significant image/s found to support the message
c. Your own interpretation of the message
(analysis with supporting evidence)

2. Poem # 2
a. Poem’s general message
b. Any significant image/s found to support the message
c. Your own interpretation of the message
(analysis with supporting evidence)

3. Poem # 3
a. Poem’s general message
b. Any significant image/s found to support the message
c. Your own interpretation of the message
(analysis with supporting evidence)

B. Synthesis
• Your overall impression on the common message of all the poems.
• Lesson Learned.

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Short Story
Writing reports on the short story is rather tricky. But on the lighter side, you only two.

As it is, you only choose one among the two and present it in class. The written report goes like this:

I. Background of the Author
• Scholastic Achievement
• Past and Current Affiliation
• Awards

II. Short Story Analysis
• (optional) Historical / cultural background
(of when and where the story was written)
• Setting
(When and where the story took place)
• Characters and characterization
(A brief list and description of each character, from main character to
the most mundane character)

III. The Short Story ( A Copy of the Original Short Story)

IV. Analysis
• Theme (what the story talks about)
• Value (what the lesson the story tries to impart)
• Its cultural significance then (during its time) and its significance today
• Group reaction / reflection


As for the essay and the speech, I’ll just bring you up to date next time. Perhaps within this week. As for now, let me remind those who are to present pretty soon to prepare.

And again… good luck to all of you.