The research groups, their members and presentation dates are as follows:

In Country (Feb. 1)- Wil Cartano, Jennifer Fisher, Bill Frobe, Kristin Harland, Miriam Kravitz, Carlos Medina, Monika Mendoza, Meredith Shane, Armando Urbano

Novel Without a Name (Feb. 15) - Travis Higdon, Joseph Perdreauville, Jeff Plevan

Beloved (March 24) - Cyndi Bennett, Dana Chester, Karen Gilbert, Ashleigh Holroyd-Muth, Cara Mikesell, Amanda Occhiuto, Noelle Pelio

Othello (March 31) - Alicia Chambers, Dylan Harley, Jeff Inmon, Keira Perkins, Kori Zimdars

Season of Migration to the North - Sonya Barrera, Catherine Meek, Theresa Stone, Samantha Weaver

Kiss of the Spider Woman - Zach Cleaver, Vishal Devraj, Laura Duff, Inoka Hapugoda, M. Lawrence Kopp, Adam Lindsey, Seth Pederson, Jonathan Riley, Traci Stallard, Leon Tuchawena

Goals and Description

Group presentations of critical literature serve several different functions: 1) peers rely on each other's expertise to find relevant book reviews and scholarly articles; 2) presentation group acts as experts on critical literature and can share their expertise with rest of class; 3) opportunity for public speaking; 4) understanding the critical conversation on a text and the differences between book reviews and scholarly articles; 5) opportunity to discuss research before critically analyzing it on paper. The critical analysis paper offers you one more opportunity to practice developing and articulating your own ideas.

Your critical analysis paper is due on the second class session after your class presentation. In your analysis, you engage the two critical pieces you have selected (one book review, one scholarly article) by first offering a succinct summary (no more than a paragraph) of the author's argument (can you identify the author's main point?). Then go on with a critique of the criticism. Notice the places where 1) you agree with the author; 2) you disagree with the author; 3) you are confused; 4) you are intrigued. Ask yourself: what does this piece teach me about the novel?

Please be sure to include correct documentation of your sources either at the start of your paper or at the end in a "Works Cited" page (I recommend the latter, just because it's the same format for your other papers). Be sure to follow the MLA format.