Literature in Historical Perspective
Winter 2022
Oral Presentation Assignment
Groups of 3-4 10 – 15 minutes
Choosing one of the chapters in Asimovs I, Robot, develop a presentation with your
group that explains and explores the subject of the haunting. You will be engaging in
literary analysis: close reading the text and drawing ideas and arguments from those
details.
Your presentation needs to include a brief summary of the text what happens within
the story? (no more than 3 minutes)
Your analysis (8 12 minutes) should dive into the details of the text. Questions you can
ask yourself include:
-how does Asimov create a sense of character in the short story?
-what are the themes presented in the work?
-what are the political statements being made?
-how does Asimov present these ideas?
-how does Asimov define humanity / robots / life, etc.?
-how does this story fit in the larger narrative? How does it respond to the stories
before it, or set up the stories to come?
You will be evaluated on the efficacy of your plot summary, the depth and clarity of your
analysis, the persuasiveness of your argument, your engagement of the class themes
and concepts, and your overall presentation skills