ENG 4U
Short Story Presentations
For the culminating task in this unit, you will work in a group to “teach” a short story to the class. Each
group will present their short story through a specified critical lens we have studied in class: Formalist,
Archetypal or Feminist.
Formalist
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“The Gifts of War” (handout)
“Everything That Rises Must Converge” (handout)
Archetypal
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“Two Words” (Imprints, 51)
“The Forest of Arden” (Imprints, 134)
Feminist
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“The Shining Houses” (Imprints, 26)
“Boys and Girls” (handout)
PROCESS:
1) Before your first work period: Using the Reader Response approach, make your own individual
notes on the story BEFORE you meet with your group. Be sure you are focusing specifically on
details applicable to your particular school of criticism. Use your handouts as a guide. Prepare a
couple of thematic statements to bring to your group discussion.
2) During your first work period: Meet with your group to discuss your story. Compare your
thematic statements and come to a consensus. Use this as the starting point for your analysis.
Create a thesis statement which reflects your school of criticism, such as “When examining ‘On
the Rainy River’ through an archetypal lens, we realize a critical life decision can create more
inner conflict than its resolves.”
3) Find specific details from the text which support your thesis. Try to categorize your evidence to
help create supporting arguments for your topic statements. You might want to start with a
large mind map, adding evidence to the different categories you create which will support your
thesis. Your rough notes will be handed in for (formative) assessment.
4) Develop an outline that follows the keyhole structure that you would use for an essay
 Introduction (hook, thesis and supporting arguments/topic statements)
 Body (at least three main ideas) wit supporting details, specific quotations,
page references, etc.
 Conclusion that restates the thesis and summarizes key ideas
PRESENTATION:
Include the following in your presentation:
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Audio and/or visual aids. This should not be gimmicky, but directly related to your material
A one-page handout (for your classmates) to accompany your seminar
A multiple-choice or True-False content quiz for your classmates
Practise the delivery of your seminar so that everyone is confident and knows what each person is
responsible for. There should be no confusion as to who should be speaking at any given point in the
presentation. Each person must take an equal share of presentation time and content. Review your
rubric carefully to become familiar with the evaluation criteria.