"A Simple Heart/A Simple Soul by: Gustave Flaubert

Students will create a PowerPoint presentation based on a work of literary criticism about any work we have read this semester. You may choose one of the early poems or a recent short story. The presentation should focus on an analysis of the work. While the presentation involves a presentation of the work and is guided by your understanding of the work, you do not have to offer “the final word” on the work or the author. In fact, engaging multiple, sometimes conflicting, readings of a work prevents us from reducing a work to a single meaning or theme. Presentation Hints and Guidelines Structure the presentation around an argument. Begin your analysis with a claim about the work—the rest of the presentation should offer support for your argument. Know your presentation and the material you cover. The presentation should flow seamlessly from one idea or point to the next. A lack of coherent focus indicates an unprepared speaker with an undeveloped, unfocused, or cut and pasted presentation. Make the presentation easy to follow. Your argument should determine the order of your points. Effective presentations will sequence information in a meaningful manner, with each point building upon the previous one and setting up the next. Regardless of how you structure your discussion of the analysis, you should include basic information: your argument concerning the work, the points you will address, and information about each point. Throughout the presentation, use transitional phrases to signal shifts between ideas.