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Creating an Effective PowerPoint Presentation

Hints for a successful presentation: 

• Plan carefully
• Do your research
• Know your audience
• Time your presentation 
• Practice your presentation 
• Speak comfortably and clearly 

Effective PowerPoint Slides

• Use design templates
• Standardize position, colors and styles 
• Include only necessary information 
• Limit the information to essentials
• Content should be self-evident
• Use colors that contrast 
• Be consistent with effects, transitions and animation 
• Too many slides can lose your audience

Text guidelines

• Generally no more than 6 words a line
• Generally no more than 6 lines a slide
• Avoid long sentences
• Larger font indicates more important information 
• Font size generally ranges from 18 to 48 point
• Be sure text contrasts with background
• Fancy fonts can be hard to read
• Words in all capital letters are hard to read
• Avoid abbreviations and acronyms
• Limit punctuation marks

Clip Art and Graphics

• Should balance the slide 
• Should enhance and complement the text, not overwhelm 
• No more than two graphics per slide

Media Analysis Project

Directions:   Choose one of the following analysis projects to complete in a group of no more than three.  You will be working on this project outside of class so choose group members wisely.  The project will consist of the following:

·         Choose a topic

·         Research and collect data on television shows

·         Present on topic

Topics

1.      Gender – Choose several TV shows to examine in terms of gender.  Look at the characters closely focusing on the gender of the characters.  How is their gender important to the roles that they play (or is it)?  To what extent are the characters in roles that could not have been played by an actor of the opposite gender?  Are the shows playing with gender?  Explore the ways that gender enhances or detracts from the shows that you are examining – consider all the major characters of the program, looking particularly at any stereotypes and any roles that break with more traditional gender roles.

2.      American Culture – Choose several TV shows to examine how American culture is reflected by television.  Does TV reflect culture or create culture?  What populations and cultures are not represented by television?  What populations are only represented in stereotypical forms?  What shows have shown breakthrough in this area and how have they been received?  You may focus on one culture such as teenagers or Asian Americans or examine all American cultures in several shows.  You may also choose to examine one show for how the production staff uses culture to express truth or an agenda.

3.      Reality TV – Choose several reality TV shows to examine their purpose and impact.  Why are Americans watching these shows?  What needs do they serve?  What messages do these shows communicate about American culture, men, women, daily life, etc?  Examine American ideals and morality in terms of the shows.  How is American culture portrayed to American viewers and throughout the world?  What impact do these shows have on American culture and American television?  How will this genre possibly shape the future of American television and culture?

4.      Commercials – In addition to watching the television shows, pay careful attention to the commercials that come on.  What products are advertised?  What commercials are used?  As you watch, make a complete list to the commercials and the order in which they appear.  If there are repeats, be sure to note them.  Once you have a list, look for connections.  Just who is the audience for all those commercials – who would buy the products or services?  Would the characters on the program be likely to buy the products or services?  After you’ve gathered all the details on the audience for the commercials, apply that information to the television show.  How does the audience for the commercials fit the programs?  Based on the commercials that you see who is being targeted by TV show?  Explore the relationship between commercials and the television program, focusing on what you can tell about the audience for the program and their interests and desires.

5.      Realism or Stereotype – Choose several programs and consider the characters in the programs that you’ve watched. In what ways are the characters real and in what ways do they seem to be stereotypes or caricatures?  Do the characters have real emotions?  Or do they just have the emotions that seem politically correct for the time and place that the programs consider?  Are their emotions predictable?  Do they look like real people or like models?  Explore the degree of realism in the programs or re-write one of the episodes that you watched from a more realistic perspective and explain the decisions you made.

6.      Clothes - How do clothes and costumes play a role in the programs that you have watched?  For each major character, record the clothes and accessories that they wear in each show.  Once you have assembled your list; look for patterns for each character – and among and between characters.  To what extent does the show use clothing, jewelry, and the like to communicate information about the characters, their lives, and their interests?  Consider how the program would be different if everyone wore generic clothing.  Explore the function that costumes play in the programs you have watched.

The Presentation – Prepare a presentation in which you teach the class about your research.  Incorporate the following into your presentation:

·         Deliver the information in the form of a handout, power point, mash-up, etc.

·         Use visual aids and bring in video clips of selected scenes from your program.

·         Involve the class in your presentation by discussion, brainstorm, writing, and participation.

Presentation grading criteria

The information presented was relevant and insightful.

The information presented reflected thoughtfulness and in-depth analysis

The TV clips were stimulating

The presentation reflected hard work and effort

The presentation reflected creative use of space, time, and materials

The presentation stimulated thought in fellow classmates

Interview Assignment

Interviewing
To understand a culture, one not only observes and participates but one also learns by asking. In some senses, you are like the inquisitive child with the one hundred questions to everything you see and hear. Who does the anthropologist interview? Any individual who provides information in the field is an informant, or consultant.
Even after a lengthy stay in the field, few sociologists will have managed to speak to every resident in the village, or town, or city. Who you ultimately seek out to interview is in part dependent on the questions you bring to the field. You might ask any individual to learn more about the community, but you might also seek those who have specialized knowledge.


Remember, as well, your informants provide an introduction to other members of the community and to the community itself. That initial informant may open doors that might not have been available to you otherwise; s/he may also establish the perception of others towards you. Obviously, you talk with everyone who is willing to speak to you, but those who you come to know as sensitive and insightful regarding their society are individuals who you are likely to seek for in depth interviewing. Even so, there is no way to know who will be a "good" or "poor" informant. Good communication is easy to recognize, but lack of communication is equally significant. Negative evidence is still evidence!


An interview is an intense conversation with a purpose—to obtain information on a specific topic. It can be structured with a set of questions, and/or unstructured (open ended). The former is good for collecting general quantifiable data, e.g., genealogies or demographics, while the latter is used to explore a topic in depth, e.g., life history. It is open ended because the questions are likely those that you had not even considered for lack of sufficient information. Generally, the best questions require an elaboration, rather than a "yes" or "no" response—the standard "who, what, when, why, and how."


Interviews can also be formal and informal. The latter is just that, unplanned, a chance encounter in which conversation develops and is exchanged. Quite often, the anthropologist comes to learn something without seeking it specifically in a casual conversation.


The assignment
The topic for this assignment is to learn about a family tradition or holiday celebrated by your partner.  You initially need to interview one another to learn which traditions or holidays are celebrated in order to decide on the one to focus for this assignment.


Partners:  Please try to choose someone that you do NOT know, and if possible, someone who has a different ethno-cultural background. Choose your partners according to these criteria!


Discuss the types of questions, you might ask one another. Establish your basic "need to know" queries about the tradition or holiday. Once you agree upon these, proceed with the interview. Remember that your partner’s response may trigger another line of enquiry. Keep your interview focused (on target), though also be aware that tangential commentary in the field may lead you in directions that can be useful.
If your partner does not want to answer a question, you cannot make them do so. Keep in mind the code of ethics employed by sociologists. The three main ethical principles that must guide fieldwork are: 


1) acquiring informed consent, 
2) respecting one’s informant’s privacy and dignity, and 
3) doing no harm (protecting them from risk).


Since this assignment is between class members you do NOT need to get signed consent forms from each other.  You already know the purpose of this exercise and by partnering (as well as being in the class) you informally consent to undertake this interview assignment.


This assignment is to practice interviewing, therefore do NOT write up notes on your tradition to give to your partner. This is an exercise in discovery; by ASKING questions, you become informed. Traditions can vary from family, region, country, etc. You will likely have to meet more than once to complete this assignment; generally, a sociologist will interview an individual several times over a period of weeks or months.
Write your interview as a draft and have your partner review what you have written. S/he may want you to change a few things that are viewed inappropriate or unintended. After this stage, complete your assignment in its final form.


All interviews should be typed, double-spaced, 12-Times New Roman font, with 2.5cm (1 in) margins. Provide a copy of your questions on a separate piece of paper with your ethnography based on your interview. You aim to write 2-3 pages(not including the question page!). 


Due Friday, February 24th (It must be printed and ready to hand in at the beginning of class.)

Participant Observation Assignment

Participant Observation

Participation observation is one of the hallmarks of ethnology or Sociology. In its early history, anthropologists went into the field but often did not have the language skills and/or lived apart from those they were studying. Bronislaw Malinowski in his study of the Trobriand Islanders, among others, went beyond the second-hand information of traders and colonial administrators to help establish participant observation as a method of research.

In participant observation, the ethnographer lives among those in his/her study and participates in the community’s round of activities over an extended period of time. Alice Reich has described participant observation as "a time-honored tradition of making a fool of oneself for a point" (Kutsche 1998:5). Why a fool? Generally, the ethnographer is not a member of his/her study community so s/he comes as a stranger. When in a totally foreign environment, one naturally expects that there will be misunderstandings. By overcoming these, we learn about those around us and ourselves.

As noted by Bohannan and van der Elst (1998:26), "Even the simplest of cultures is vastly more complex than the mind of any single person, whether native or observer, can encompass." In other words, there is no one person who has experienced, and therefore knows, all there is to any culture. Indeed, there may be some who know more than others and they are "found" treasures when undertaking any research. More likely, one will encounter an individual who has limited knowledge. Like those in one’s research, an ethnographer cannot possibly see and explain everything. One should be cognizant that the task ahead can be never-ending and certainly is not easy.

With the above in mind, your observations will be limited or affected by a number of factors. Where are you positioned within the setting/event? What kind of setting/event is this? Are you strictly an observer or are you a participant? If a participant, how so? How many people are there (do you have a full or obscured view)? How do the participants use the space? Is note-taking possible? What effect, if any, does your presence have?


The Assignment

You are going to the cafeteria where you are part of the local scene. Basically, you do as you typically do as a member of the public (you observe without drawing attention to yourself) but in this case you consciously evaluate the interaction(s) that you observe. Since you are not interviewing, you do not need a consent form. Observing does NOT mean stalking the individual(s)!

During a sustained period of 5-20 minutes, make your observations. Avoid being judgmental in your descriptions, i.e., be objective. If you write "international student," or "married couple," how do you know this? You are assessing data and coming to a conclusion—state what those bits of evidence are from which you are drawing. Be aware of verbal and nonverbal forms of communication, i.e., kinesics (body language) and proximity (social distance). It is all data.

Describe the setting (a schematic drawing can be helpful).

Describe the individuals on which you are focusing. Who is a major or minor actor in this?

Describe the activity and/or interaction(s) observed?

Why did you focus on what you did?

After making your observations, discuss the above event(s) with a partner. How did your observations compare—similar or different? How so? How would each of you interpret what you saw? What did you learn from this discussion? This commentary is to be part of your written assignment; marks will be deducted without this aspect. Since everyone will have his/her own experience, you will be expected to contribute to class discussion on this topic.

Write up your observations. There is no set number of words or pages as the amount you write is reflective of the observation time and the activity. This assignment is will count as a project grade.

Your assignment is to be typed, double-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman font size, and MLA format with 2.5cm (1 in) margins.

Due Monday, March 5

How to Write a Synthesis Paper?

Content

1. Pick a topic from the list 

2. Develop a thesis. If you posed a question, present a tentative answer.Begin your paper with the thesis, clearly outlining the ideas you will develop 

3. Identify the texts, which we read in this class and address the theme and/or question you chose to focus on. Ideally you can find references, which support your thesis. 

4. Read each of your sources carefully and summarize main ideas 

5. Analyze your sources to identify the similarities and differences or group similar ideas together; generalize from these similar ideas 

6. Assemble the various generalizations in a logical and coherent way 

7. Focus on the ideas, not the authors of those ideas (your essay should not sound like a list of unrelated ideas by unrelated people) 

8. It is highly recommended that you use direct quotes when referring to texts, but make sure you situate your quotes and integrate them into the paper both in terms of content and writing

9. If your thesis/question lends itself to this, you can present and refute arguments, which challenge it

10. Whenever possible, make an effort to pepper your paper with real-world examples, which support your overall argument

11. In conclusion you should summarize your main thesis and outline questions, which remain open or issues that ought to be further explored

Format

1.The length of your paper should be 3-5 typed double-spaced pages with reasonable margins. This does not include your bibliography (or works cited). 

2.Be consistent in your use of bibliographic references; include page numbers for quotes. List all works you cited at the end of your paper 

3.As you use quotations to support your ideas, make sure you do not produce a paper of lengthy quotes strung together. If you quote three lines or fewer, the quote should not be set off or indented but integrated into the text of your paper.  

4.Do not use first person. 

5.Connect ideas using linking devices and transitions. 

6.Spend time outlining, organizing and editing your paper. Ideally, you can find someone else to proof-read your paper. 

7.When you are done editing, think of a title, which best captures your thesis.