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Assignments
Grading breakdown:
Non-Exam Portion
2.5% Impromptu speech
(1-2 minutes) - Wed., Jan. 10
-This
assignment requires one student to prepare a short award speech for an
unsuspecting student. The student who is
the recipient of the award must deliver an acceptance speech impromptu style,
meaning off-the-cuff and with no preparation.
10% Informative speech
(5-7 minutes) - March 23 - 30
-The
goal of this speech is to increase the knowledge, understanding, or abilities
of audience. You can choose from any of the six types of informative
speeches listed in Table 16.1 on page 428 of the textbook. Those include
demonstrative (how-to), instructional, descriptive, and explanatory speeches as
well as a brief or a report speech. Refer to Chapter 16 for more
information about informative speeches. Your
speech can cover any topic, but it must be approved by me. To gain
approval, simply e-mail me your topic by Fri., March 16th.
The speech will be delivered extemporaneously and it must include at least 3
orally-cited sources and at least 1 visual aid. Notice that
those are minimums, meaning you can always have more of each. Outlines are due the day of your speech.
The outline should follow the guidelines for a formal outline found in table 15.1 on page 392. Figure 15.1
on the following 3 pages gives an example of this type of outline. You
are only allowed to use a keyword outline while giving the speech
however. Please use 5 x 7 note cards for this. Reminder… NO
GUM, NO HATS when presenting. Attendance is required for all presentation
days. You will lose points without a valid reason for an absence.
Please show respect for those presenting. Presentations will be graded on
both verbal and nonverbal delivery, speech content, preparedness (outlines
included), articulation, etc…
10% Persuasive speech
(5-7 minutes) - April 13 - 20
-The
goal of this speech is to change the opinions, attitudes, or actions (persuade)
of your audience. Do this by using ethos, pathos, and/or logos appeals.
A good topic is controversial in nature, or one that is not widely agreed
upon. You may present a one-sided or
multiple-sided argument. Refer to Chapter 17 for more information on
persuasive speeches. Your speech can cover any topic but must be approved
by me. To gain approval, simply e-mail me your topics by Fri.,
April 6th, and I will get back with you. The speech will be
delivered extemporaneously (using notecards) and it must include at least 3
orally-cited sources and at least 1 visual aid. Notice that
those are minimums, meaning you can always have more of each. Outlines
are due the day of your speech. The outline should follow the
guidelines for a formal outline found in Table 15.1 on page 392.
Figure 15.1 on the following 3 pages gives an example of this type of
outline. You are only allowed to use a keyword outline while giving the
speech however. Please use 5 x 7 note cards for this.
Reminder… NO GUM, NO HATS when presenting. Attendance is required for all
presentation days. You will lose points without a valid reason for an
absence. Please show respect for those presenting. Presentations
will be graded on both verbal and nonverbal delivery, speech content,
preparedness (outlines included), articulation, etc… Please remember the
importance of a good intro (attention-getter, thesis, credibility, and preview
of main points) and a good conclusion (remind audience of main points and
thesis and close memorably) when preparing and presenting.
7.5% Group speech (4-5
minutes per person) – Feb. 26 – March 2
-For this speech, you will be required to inform, persuade,
demonstrate, or any combination of the three, the class about a vacation
destination in Indiana, Illinois,
Michigan, Ohio,
or Kentucky,
excluding big cities. Don't go for the obvious choices here. Try to
think of something original and unique. Tell us about it, why should
someone go there, what is there to do, how should someone travel there, how
much would it cost, when is the best time to go, etc. The speech should
have a minimum of 5 sources orally cited as well as at least one visual
aid. Every group member is required to speak between 4-5 minutes.
One outline with cited sources should be turned in per group. Topics
are due by Wednesday, Sept. 27th.
10% Communication Model
Essay – due Mon., Jan. 29
Maximum 2 pages (typed, stapled, double-spaced,
12 pt. font, normal margins)
-Apply
one of the models of communication to a recent (specific) communicative
interaction you have had and explain why you chose that model.
(1)First describe the communication
incident. Who was involved, what was the message,
how was it transmitted, etc...?
(2)Next, tell me which model best
descibes your situation and explain why.
(3)Finally, tell me what is lacking
in the other models.
These
are just rough guidelines. Although you should address all of the issues
mentioned above, feel free to be more creative. If you don't think any of
the models perfectly fit, then pick the best one and add aspects from the
others that would help to describe your scenario more accurately. Be sure
to provide ample support for your assertions. The ultimate goal here
is for you to show me that you have a solid grasp on the communication models
and how they apply to real-life scenarios. The paper should be no
more than 2 typed, double-spaced, 1-inch margin pages. ABSOLUTELY NO MORE
THAN 2!!! All papers should be stapled. Please make sure the paper
is grammatically sound as you will be graded accordingly.
10% Speech Analysis Essay
– due Wed., April 11
Maximum 3 pages (typed, stapled, double-spaced,
12 pt. font, normal margins)
-Attend
a speech on campus or in the community and critique it. I DO NOT want a journalist's account of the
speech. That means that I don't want you to merely summarize the speech
or talk about the key points. I want you to analyze and critique the
speech using the information that we will learn on how to effectively research,
prepare, organize, and present a speech. That means that you can use
examples to illustrate points and to critique it, but don't just give me an
account of what he or she said. The ultimate goal here is for you to
show me that you have a solid grasp on the ideas and concepts that the book
uses to define a good speech.
(1) First off, tell who spoke, what
the occasion was, where it was, when it was, and what his or her topic was.
(2) Next, tell if it was an
effective speech. In other words, did the speaker achieve what
you understood to be his/her
general and specific
purposes? In order to
do this I will need you to tell me his or her general and specific
purposes.
(3)Then, tell me why the speech was
or was not effective by applying the criteria we have discussed in class and the criteria the book lays out
for a good speech. For example: Tell me what his or her
thesis was. Did the speaker do a good job of making it clear? Was the speaker passionate about
the topic? How could you tell? Did the speaker speak to the specific
audience or did he or she not take the audience
into account when preparing the speech. Was he/she credible? Did he/she have initial cred. or did he/she have
to build derived cred.? What types of visual aids did the speaker use?
Were they effective? What evidence did the speaker use to support his/her claims? Which of the eight
types of organizational patterns for
speeches did he/she use? What type of attention-getter did he/she use? Was it effective? Talk about the intro and conclusion as a
whole. This is not an exhaustive list, meaning you can
analyze other relevant aspects of the speech. These are just ideas that are
there to help you. If you need to, you
may use speech grading rubric to
help give you ideas on what aspects of the speech to analyze.
10% Quizzes, assignments,
and attendance
Exam Portion
40% 4 tests (combination
multiple-choice, true/false, and short answer)
-Each test is worth 10% of your
overall grade.
Note about Grading:
A student must
have a passing average (60% or above) for both the exam and the non-exam
portions of the course, separately, in order to pass the course.
Grading scale:
90%-100% A
80%-89% B
70%-79% C
60%-69%
D
59% and below F
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