English 111: Guidelines for Oral Presentations on the 2008 US Presidential Race

1.   The purpose of the presentation will be to explain why you prefer one of the two major candidates (John McCain or Barack Obama), why you do not support one of them, or why you would have preferred a wholly different candidate (say, Mitt Romney, Hillary Clinton, Ron Paul, etc., or a third party candidate such as Ralph Nader). If you are not a citizen of the United States, you may speak about another world leader; see the instructor regarding choice of topic and sources of information.

2.   The time limit of the presentation is about five minutes.

3.   You are not required to write a formal printed essay, but the oral presentation must conform to the same requirements of structure and development as those that have applied to the papers you have written for the course. However, a formal outline must be submitted at the time of the presentation. You must also submit a bibliography, citing author(s), titles, dates, and pages numbers or URLs as appropriate.

4.   You may use visual aids, but the focus should be on oral delivery. Do not plan, for instance, just to read text from projected PowerPoint slides.

5.   Begin your research by exploring the information on a great variety of current and former 2008 presidential candidates at <http://www.procon.org>. Focus eventually on three or four of the following issues covered at the website for the candidate you study (select issues from this list only): China, criminal justice, death penalty, economy, education, election reform, energy, environment, health care, immigration, Iran, Iraq war, Israel, Israel-Palestinian conflict, presidential power, Social Security, stem cells, taxes, war on terror. (Certain highly controversial issues are not included in this list so that the emphasis in the presentations can be on exposition not emotional appeals.) You may also include the Supreme Court as an issue. A list will be provided for you to select from so that not every oral presentation covers exactly the same issues.

      You must also show that you have reviewed your information at FactCheck.org: <http://www.factcheck.org/>.

      Other sources of information (any other sources must be approved in advance):

      CNN.com: <http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/candidates/> 

      Democratic Party: <http://www.democrats.org/index.html> 

      Republican Party: <http://www.rnc.org/>

6.   The content of the presentation should be based on clear and specific explanation of why you think the issues you choose to discuss are important in deciding who should run the country for the next four years. If you choose to speak in support of a candidate, do not simply state his or her position: explain why it is relevant and how it can affect the US and the lives of its citizens. Similarly, if you speak against a particular candidate, explain why his or her positions are not good for the country and its citizens.

7.   Prepare well in advance, and rehearse (perhaps with a classmate) outside of class so that your presentation can be as clear as possible. Pay particular attention to the way you state your main points so that your audience can easily follow the development of your thesis.

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