Chapter 4 Presentations on Wednesday!

Thank you to all the "guinea pig" presenters today--someone always has to go first.  Among the six presentations today, there were creative approaches, some sharp insights, and some new information I've not heard before.  Everyone added value to our experience.

However, some elements in today's groups prompt me to make the following general suggestions for tomorrow and beyond:

Organization.  Listening is hard work.  Keep us better posted on the structure of what you are doing. You do not have to follow the order of your instructional hand-out, but the organization should a) make sense, and b) avoid needless repetition if possible.  Have a good plan and stick to it.

References--whether Biblical or mythological allusions, historical references (Emmitt Till, 332nd Fighter Group),  general cultural allusions, or whatever--need to be explained in full insofar as you can connect them to the chapter at hand.  Too much sketchy/incomplete information was disbursed today.  Then when I followed up, people generally knew more than had been stated.  Don't hold back! 

Caveat to point above--Sometimes we just need to know a bit more about the characters, even if you can't "do a number" on their names.  Take Hospital Tommy, Railroad Tommy, and Empire State, for example.  What do we know about these people as PEOPLE/characters?  Describe them briefly.  Then note whatever you can about names.  Does RTommy work on the railroad?  Does Hospital Tommy work at a hospital?  Any particular defining traits for these two regardless of why each clarifying nickname was added?  Could you tell the difference if someone just gave you some dialogue and asked which Tommy said it?  How? What about Empire State?  Which state IS the "Empire State"?  But what else is called (in part) the "Empire State". . .?  Does that fit in in any way?? If not, just hang on to it.  What is especially unusual about Empire State as a person?

Equalizing Info--I can't give each class an "equal experience" with these chapters, but especially early on, I like to make sure that the foundations are laid for further chapters.   SO
1) urine/peeing:  sorry about the indelicacy, but make sure you connect the Chapter 2 and 3 examples to what happens in Chapter 1  
2) eggs--on their own . . .keep track--and note that in Chapter 2, there was a connection made between eggs, and, yes, a trip to the bathroom   
3) definitely look more closely at Ruth.  Her name is critical, and not every group made the strongest connections.  Play with this a bit on your own (whichever group you are in). 
4) Yuni, do you still have the timeline?  We should put it on the board. As things continue, other groups might consider a clarifying timeline for confusing information.

FOR TOMORROW
Because you had so much lead time, people who have yet to present are surely done reading Chapter 4.  But it is possible that some of today's presenters were more wrapped up in their own presentations up to now--but you must catch up through 4 by tomorrow.  Conversely, people who have upcoming presentations need to look closely at the schedule.  There will not be class time for many of you, so you need to make sure you are planning ahead both for your reading (you can't have skipped chapters in between!) and sufficient time for your group to discuss and coordinate.  Timing is YOUR responsibility.

FINAL REMINDERS
Chapter 10 people--remember that your presentation is actually on Thursday, May 27.  We will have a work day on Wednesday the 26th (which might help you, and will definitely help those who need to READ Ch. 10 before they can profit from your presentation).  There is no school on Friday, May 28 (or Monday the 31st).

No internet access, which means no school server access.  Have materials on a flash drive or a CD.  You can, however, use the document camera as well.