Academic Year 2004-2005

CO 251 Group Presentations

Group presentations will be given throughout the semester. Each person will take part in one group presentation. For this assignment, you first need to form a small group of three people. (Groups of two may be acceptable if there is a compelling reason.)

The general purpose of the presentations as a whole is to use the course readings as a starting point to analyze contemporary trends in the representation of gender on television and in Hollywood film. Your presentation should be 10-15 minutes long, and can include up to five minutes of video clips. If you are discussing a film that is not yet available on video, you can use clips of similar films released recently (such as the first film in the same series/franchise), or a detailed explanation of the scenes you want to emphasize. BCTV can make off-air tapes of television programs, but you will have to give them the date, time, and channel information in advance of the airdate of the show.

The ideal presentation will consist of an introduction to the show or film (about 1-2 minutes on its production history, main characters, and producers), 4-5 minutes of clips, a 4-7 minute discussion of gender within the show or film (including specific use of the reading materials indicated on the syllabus), and finally a 1-minute conclusion including your rating of the show or film overall (good, fair, bad, horrible). The three main goals of the presentation are

  1. to contribute to our overall understanding of the current representation of gender on film and television and
  2. to examine the representation of gender within your specific text, and
  3. to provide an assessment of the current relevance of the reading material that guides your presentation.

It would be helpful to prepare a handout of basic information about your show to assist the audience in following the presentation. Please be prepared to answer questions on your program or film and on your analytical comments. Each group will have 3-5 minutes (in addition to the presentation time) to answer questions from the class.

If you do not include any videotaped clips, your presentation still needs to be 10-15 minutes long. Simply expand the other sections and add lots of description so we can understand the details of the representation of gender in your text.

You should use the questions on the next page to guide the construction of your presentation. The listing of your presentation topic on the syllabus also includes suggestions for course readings that you should refer to and apply to your text during the presentation. This is a very important element of the presentation. The point is to show how the course material is relevant and helpful and/or outdated or confusing in relation to your particular text. You should be able to make suggestions for how to improve the models and ideas given in course readings such that they become more relevant to the text you are analyzing.

Presentations will be graded using the following criteria:

delivery 10%
selection of clips 20%
focus on a clear point(s) 20%
analysis of gender 45%*

*25% use of relevant course materials; 10% analysis of masculinity; 10% analysis of femininity

Note: The assignment of presentation topics is partly by choice, but within the limits of the specified films and TV programs listed below. Some of these texts carry “R” ratings and/or contain adult language and themes. Please use discretion when selecting clips for classroom viewing.

Questions to Answer for Group Presentations

You don’t need to answer these questions sequentially or organize your presentation according to them, but make sure to cover each one at some point during the presentation.

  1. Give some basic background and facts on your show or film
  2. What is the standing of this text (Nielson rating or box office success)?
  3. Are gender representation and gender interaction significant elements of this text in your opinion? In other words, are these elements part of what really makes this text what it is? Explain with examples showing yes or no.
  4. Is gender a key part of what makes this show entertaining? (either funny or dramatic). Explain with examples.
  5. How well do the concepts outlined in the assigned readings (listed on the syllabus next to your presentation topic) fit your assigned text? Are there elements of the readings that are out of date or not subtle or complex enough to cover your text? One way to think about this question is to consider what the author(s) of the assigned reading(s) would say about the text. EXPLAIN WITH EXAMPLES SHOWING FIT, NONFIT, OR BOTH. Be sure to clearly specify which concepts or models from the course readings apply best and worst to your specific text.
  6. If you could add one update to each of the readings that were assigned with your text in order to make it explain your text better, what would you add?
  7. What is the main strength of this text (in your own opinion) with regard to gender?
  8. What is the main weakness of this text (in your opinion) with regard to gender?
  9. Draw a conclusion about your text’s representation of gender. Please be sure to cover both femininity and masculinity.