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So, I have a presentation tomorrow in my James Joyce class. The essay/presentation itself is pretty good, in my opinion. However, resulting from frustration and bitterness on writing the damned thing (spent most of today in the library writing it), I think I went mad when I wrote the outline.

See, the assignment asks to write an outline of our presentation, such as our thesis/argument and how we're going to prove it, works cited, discussion questions to the class, etc. Frankly speaking, the presentations thus far have been rather dull - but I've also been going through bad bouts of depression, which didn't help with my outlook of them - so in rebellion, for just the outline...

Well...let's just say that I hope the prof has as good a humour as I believe she has. I've e-mailed her a copy of this and hope to hear back from her tomorrow morning so I have time to write something that's all boring, serious and appropriate. Honestly, I don't think there's any grey area for this. It's either going to be viewed as ridiculously brilliant/unique...or utterly inappropriate for a fourth year course. My largest concern isn't that we have to give a copy to classmates, but that I must hand in the OUTLINE, not the presentation essay.

Okay, enough ranting. Let me post part of the outline, go to bed and check in the morning to hear what you guys think of the outline or what I should do.

A Case of Painful Loneliness
Does James Duffy just need a hug? Maybe he just hasn’t heard of online dating. Anyway, whatever the case may be, it’s a pretty painful one. You see, Jim’s got a case of the self-imposed isolation. He’s happy with his books and his black and scarlet rug. Well, happy might be going too far. But he met this great girl recently and…oh. Well, it didn’t go so well and now he really gets what it’s like to be lonely. He’s so deep in his own head that he forgets he has a heart, too. It’s like the Tin Man, only without the cool axe. For such an intellectual, though, J.D. never says a word. What a jerk, eh? But see, there’s all this great imagery through the story that tells the story for us! You’ve got moping trees, grey rivers, uncarpeted floors and even some of kooky “literary references” where the writer (some Joyce guy; I never heard of him) name drops things written by Germans. See, I thought he was just showing off, but those references actually make sense! Oh, those whacky Germans and their socio-political thinking! So, let’s get serious and start looking at an essay with a title that sounds like something out of Sherlock Holmes. It’s too bad I didn’t think to write the actual presentation having this much fun.
Outline
1) Introduction! Where I, you know, introduce my argument, which is that James Joyce uses a whole heck of a lot imagery and literary references.
2) Book ‘em, Jimbo! You know what I hate? When comic books get all cutsey and show The Flash’s collection of movies to include The Fast & the Furious and Speed. Why can’t they take a cue from Joyce and put some other literary material on the character’s shelf that not only parallel’s their own life, but also foreshadows their own emotional demise?
3) Taste the Rainbow! It’s like literary Lite-Brite, where you figure out what the image is or means. He’s a pretty boring guy, though. What’s with all the white he surrounds himself? And can’t he throw out that rotten apple? Ick!
4) Holy Weeping Willows, Batman! You know that cliché with two happy people frolicking through a field of daffodils? It’s like that, but if nature was being a Gloomy Gus (Depressive Duffy?). You know…like a Tim Burton movie.
5) Speak(er) Up! You know, this story would be so much easier to understand if ‘ol Jimmy would just talk. Fortunately, we’ve got a handy-dandy narrator who describes everything for us. Ain’t he a swell guy?
6) The Last Word! Everyone always says that a last sentence should be a doozy. And boy, does Joyce throw us one. “He felt that he was alone.” What a downer. What’s up with that?
7) Conclusion! Where I wrap things up, but without stuffing it under a pyramid.

I've found that most profs in the artsy side of things tend to like this sort of thing.

Unfortunately, I spend most of my time in stick-up-your-arse-eggheadland. Giving your presentations humorous titles or themes tend to be scoffed. My jokes and humor fall upon deaf and highly judgmental ears.

I say have fun with it, but show that you know what you're talking about.

That is a bit silly. In some parts of it, it's acceptable, but I think you go over the line quite a bit. I like what you're trying to acheive, but the humor seems a bit too high school for a good paper.

If you try this and it falls flat you'll look like an idiot. Pull it off and you're a hero who is difficult to follow. There's not much middle ground here.

But then again it's too late to change so go into it with confidence and panache and wow the fuck out of them.

drawn_inward said:

I've found that most profs in the artsy side of things tend to like this sort of thing.

Unfortunately, I spend most of my time in stick-up-your-arse-eggheadland. Giving your presentations humorous titles or themes tend to be scoffed. My jokes and humor fall upon deaf and highly judgmental ears.

I say have fun with it, but show that you know what you're talking about.

Click to expand...

Amen.

I remember one seminar I gave on HIV Matrix protein. I wanted to liven things up midway through my talk, so I had a slide with Neo in one corner and Agent Smith in another in between the crystal structure of the protein. Get it? Matrix...Matrix protein? It was more of a fun thing to wake people up (in a science talk about 50% of your audience isn't paying attention to you or sleeping) than trying to get laughs. Yeah, my doctoral committee told me to not do that sort of stuff anymore. Pricks.

Drawn is absolutely right though. If you're going to pull of something like this, you better know your shit. Humorous, quirky presentations are usually reserved for experts on the subject. They can afford to make quips about the topic. You're bordering the realm of trying stand out with a unique talk and slapping a bunch of bullshit together at the last minute; trying to butter up the prof with a few laughs.

My favorite presentation I did during my undergrad was about how Godwin's Calvinist understones shaped Caleb Williams. I did the whole presentation ala The Word, with my lecture being punctuated by snappy remarks I made on the PowerPoint. Pot jokes, raunchy sex jokes-- you name it.

Right after the first couple slides, I got some rough chuckles. People didn't know how to react to it all. So I says, I says to them all, with a collar pull, "Guys this is going to be a long fifteen minutes."

And it was, but I got enough laughs, and albeit my teacher looked like she wanted to lynch me, she gave me an A.

The moral of the story is, it's about how funny you are and how well you can pull it off. And, most importantly, playing to the teacher. That's college--these people don't have teaching backgrounds. They're all subjective and they grade thusly.

I had a teacher for my freshman orientation class (little did I know he was head of the psych department) who was a comedian in his spare time...

He was NOT funny... he tried to be "cool" but couldn't pull off anyone laughing with him (just AT him) due to his OCD and dry mannerisms. He also always looked at the same spot on the back wall...

What I'm trying to say (which isn't much to add to what has been said already) is DO YOUR BEST to connect to the audience. Don't be too quirky, and really try your best to look them in the eye and give an unforgettable insight to the material being presented.

Present it in the style of Finnegans Wake. Wear a costume.