3.iii.08 Foundations of Verbal Communications

Phew! So, I finally prepped those packets for the poetry project. Each one should include:

1. My review of your presentation headed "Oral Presentation Rubric" (see comment below)
2. Your presentation sheet headed "Oral Presentations of Poetry"
3. The full text of the poem you memorized and presented
4. One or more than one "Listening to Oral Presentations of Poetry" evaluation forms, completed by one or more of your classmates, responding to your presentation
5. My review of your listening exercise (see 6), headed "Listening exercise evaluation"
6. One or more than one "Listening to Oral Presentations of Poetry" evaluation forms completed by you, responding to other students' presentations


Comment on "Oral Presentation Rubric": I was recently informed that this is not, properly speaking, a rubric, but an evaluation form. I will strive to use the proper terminology in future: "evaluation form".

***

Now that we are moving into the presentations of the informative essays, I can reflect more fully on the poetry project.

I've generally shied away from poetry in FVC101/102 or its predecessor courses, LA101/102, but based on this class's experience I am inclined to make with poetry practically the first project.

In poetry, for example, we have

a great memorization tool
a focus for analysis
a means by which to reflect upon the self and personality
concise and meaningful material for oral presentation
an introduction to the artistry of language

In preparing their presentations on poetry, I called upon students to research the backgrounds of their chosen poems and the poets who composed the poems: this can lead directly to an examination of bibliographic format. In presenting the analysis, students can be challenged to properly quote, paraphrase, summarize, and refer to their sources.

In brief, a poetry unit can tie into technical research training and technical format training as well as technical training in rhetorical analysis. A poem illustrates the rhetorical triangle of author/audience/material as boldly and baldly as any form.

***

The oral presentations of poetry in FVC102.F3 this semester may have seemed at times slow, but from my perspective we covered an awful lot of ground. Although I probably could have been more demanding of strict postural correctness, careful enunciation, and so on, I notice that the students are making these sorts of suggestions in the comments to the informational presentations. The main thing is that we all be aware of better versus worse posture, and strive to improve our own posture, that we be aware of better versus worse enunciation, and strive to improve our own enunciation, and so on. Scholarship -- being part of a school and studying -- is about improvement, after all, steady, ongoing improvement, not instant perfection. Although, instant perfection would be nice.

Yes, I probably could be more concise in my comments. On the other hand, I do strive to be thorough. I personally find the atmosphere of the class with presentations that turn into conversations more attractive than an entire class of me talking. Not that I don't like to talk.

I would be happy if I sensed less need for me to talk. More thorough preparation before the presentations would ease my burden of correction. At a certain point, we must move on to the next project; I have to play my desire to be fair by giving everyone a chance to present and to hear suggestions surrounding the work and the need to fit all the assignments into the semester.

One comment made at a recent informal faculty meeting was that, astonishingly, students do not make notes of the comments given during critique.

I know that I have a lot of trouble remembering things if I do not write down some notes. When discussing something as significant as one's foundational technical training in the arts, it would seem to me that any artist would want to make careful notes. I know that you may not think of yourself as being in the same league as daVinci, but Leonardo took extensive notes throughout his life. I'll say this: taking notes in and of itself won't make you the next daVinci, but not taking notes will lower your chances of reaching that goal.

It's true, I will sometimes make light jokes in class, but generally I strive to say weighty and valuable things, and I certainly hope that my comments on your work are useful. Making notes of them could save you -- and me -- a lot of trouble in the future.