Group Presentations

Brief Presentations & Final Presentation

Purpose: The following is a guide to assist in the preparation of this semester's group presentations. The purpose of these research activities is to afford an opportunity for each group to find information about a composer, performer, or musical composition of interest and pursue an in-depth look at the biographical factors, contemporaneous social conditions, musical influences on compositions of the period, and specific compositional techniques incorporated. This process will:

Contents: Each group will present the information they have discovered by preparing a Powerpoint presentation. Presentation length requirements vary for the Brief & Final Presentations. The Brief Presentations should consist of 10-15 Powerpoint slides, not including title slide & reference slides. The length of the Final Presentation should be between 20-30 slides, not including title slide & reference slides. Graphic images may be used tastefully throughout, but please do not overuse. Under no circumstances, should sound files be included in the presentation unless you have made prior arrangements with Dr. Lipscomb. When complete, no file should be larger than 500 KB to facilitate viewing over the internet.

To receive complete credit, the Powerpoint file must be submitted to Dr. Lipscomb on or before the due date stated in the course syllabus. Every member of the group will be responsible for researching the chosen topic thoroughly and assisting in the creation of a presentation for the purpose of communicating the information to other members of the class. The presentation should be well-organized & coherent, and each member of the group must actively participate in the process. Topics for the Brief Presentations will be assigned by the instructor at least two weeks before the due date (slightly less time during summer sessions). For the Final Presentation, each group will decide upon a topic of interest. This topic must be submitted to Dr. Lipscomb on or before the due date stated in the course syllabus. Topics are approved on a first-come, first-served basis and duplicate presentations will not be allowed. The sooner a group requests a certain topic, the more likely that it will still be available.

Each presentation must include ALL of the following items:

    1. Introduction: provide a brief background (i.e., what musical, biographical, societal, and other influences lead to the contemporaneous musical style); In the Final Presentation ONLY, also include a statement of why you find your particular topic - of all that could have been chosen - interesting.
    2. Musical Analysis (Final Presentation ONLY): The group must provide an analytical discussion of one specific piece of music, providing a coherent discussion of this selection using our musical elements & structures as a basis. The selected piece should NOT be one of the musical selections analyzed in our class text.
    3. Conclusion: Discuss how this composer, performer, or piece represents (or does not represent) the typical musical style of the given time period; briefly suggest how this individual or musical composition fits into the evolution of Western art music or rock & roll, depending on the course
    4. References (in APA format): each member of the group must provide independent references found in the process of researching the chosen topic. For the Brief Presentations, each member must contribute at least one reference. For the Final Presentation, each member much contribute at least three references (e.g., a group consisting of 5 members should have 15 references, i.e., 5 x 3 = 15). References can be books, encyclopedia references, or journal articles; at least one of the references provided by each student must be a non-internet source. The text required for this class will not count toward the number of required references, since all students are expected to have read this material. A complete list of all references used in the preparation of your presentation must be included as the final slide(s) of your Powerpoint file. [Note: the reference slides do not count toward completion of the presentation length requirements mentioned above.]

Grading:

Brief Presentation:

Final Presentation:

If you have questions about any aspect of this group presentation, feel free to contact me via email at lipscomb@northwestern.edu or using WebCT.

Choose an interesting topic & have fun with it!

Back to Previous Page