You will choose one of five texts to work with: Mourning Dove's Cogewea, D'Arcy McNickle's Wind from an Enemy Sky, N. Scott Momaday's The Way to Rainy Mountain, Louise Erdrich's Love Medicine, or A.A. Carr's Eye Killers. you will be asked to present a particular text and its context to the class. You will work in a group of 3-4 people - for a list of those groups already assigned, click here. These texts are available in small quantities at the bookstore (Eye Killers will be available in a few weeks).

Give a 20-25 minute presentation introducing your classmates to the text and to its author. You are strongly encouraged to meet with me - as a group, if possible - to clarify any questions you have. I will also help you place the work within the larger context of Native American literature - you don't have to do all the background work on your own, but you should have already done the reading (and preferably some research) when you meet with me.

Your presentation should reflect your work as a group. Unless it becomes clear that some group members are doing significantly more or less work, you will be graded as a group. If you notice that this is the case, please let me know.

You should also prepare a handout to go along with your presentation. You may hand it out on paper, or on the web. It should give a brief overview of the content (and perhaps structure) of your presentation, and it should be easy to read. It should also be creative? Feel free to use the computer tools at your disposal; the CWRL has scanners, PhotoShop, DreamWeaver (for web pages), and a number of other programs.

Your presentation and handout will be graded on:
* Content: Have you discussed the key components of the text and the important aspects of the author's life and influence?
* Clarity: Can you present the material clearly to a group of people who haven't read it yet? Have you organized the presentation in a logical, easy-to-follow structure?
* Creativity: Have you presented the material in a way to keep your classmates interested for 20-25 minutes?

List of presentations and presenters

back to syllabus
back to course homepage

updated 1. September 2002