<p>CRTW 201 Hiner</p><p>Group Presentation Assignment: Postman</p><p>According to Aristotle, “teaching is the highest form of understanding.” This Group Presentation Assignment will allow you to “teach” one chapter of Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death to your classmates. To do so effectively, you will need to analyze the chapter using Nosich’s Elements, assess Postman’s claims and evidence using the Standards, and strategize ways to deliver and present the material in creative, engaging, clear, and relevant ways to your classmates. Your verbal presentation should include all group members, should be thorough and detailed, and should be creative and engaging. </p><p>Assignment Description:</p><p>Working in groups of roughly four students, you will prepare a 45 minute presentation and discussion on one chapter of Amusing Ourselves to Death. Your purpose in this assignment is to help your classmates understand the claims, arguments, and evidence presented in your assigned chapter, as well as how and where Postman uses the Elements to support his argument and claims. (You may find the “Evaluating Around the Circle” section of Nosich [pp. 155—156] to be very helpful in this analytical process.) You should also try to encourage your classmates to take intellectual ownership of the content by including them in a discussion of how the Elements operate in the chapter and how well they are employed through a consideration of the Standards. Attempt to make your presentation as clear, understandable, engaging, and interactive as possible, possibly incorporating outside material, sources, video clips, props, etc. You may also ask your classmates to participate in creative activities, games, or short exercises that reinforce the material. Ultimately, you should help your classmates, in creative and engaging ways, to analyze Postman’s chapter from the perspective of the Elements and Standards in order to better understand and evaluate his central claims. It is vital that you encourage them to engage with the material in a deep, rather than superficial, way. Do not let them make quick judgments about the claims without demonstrating that they understand the reasoning behind the claims. </p><p>Assignment Components:</p><p> A visual component (Power Point slides are strongly encouraged)  Identification of one or two primary Element(s) in the chapter.  An analysis of all of the Elements employed in the chapter.  An analysis and application of the Standards to the chapter.  Multiple discussion questions to lead your classmates in an extended discussion of the material.  Additional creative ways to present the material (videos, activities, games, etc.). This is optional but encouraged if you feel it will help your classmates understand the central concepts in the chapter.  A clear organizational strategy to the presentation, including background information to provide a context for the ideas contained in the chapter, a summary of the chapter’s main points and arguments, important passages from the text, an analysis of the Elements and Standards, and discussion questions to ask your classmates.  Participation by every member of the group.  One typed or handwritten “log” of group meetings, recording the participation and contributions of group members throughout the entire preparation process. This log must be signed by all group members.  Demonstration of effective professional speaking skills by all group members (see guidelines on my website).</p><p>Assessment:</p><p>You will earn an individual grade for this assignment based on your own participation in the group. I will evaluate your verbal participation during the presentation, analyze your group activity log to assess how much you contributed overall to the project, and evaluate how much you incorporated the Elements and Standards into your presentation. I will also evaluate the group presentations based on the sufficiency, accuracy, clarity, creativity, and depth of the presented content. </p><p>Due Dates and Presentation Topics:</p><p>Group I, Mar. 26 Postman, Chp. Seven, “Now . . . This” (the nature of TV news shows)</p><p>Group II, Apr. 2 Postman, Chp. Eight, “Shuffle Off to Bethlehem” (TV and religion)</p><p>Group III, Apr. 7 Postman, Chp. Nine, “Reach Out and Elect Someone” (TV and politics)</p><p>Group IV, Apr. 9 Postman, Chp. Ten, “Teaching as an Amusing Activity” (TV, children, and education)</p>