Oral
Training II Spring 2004
Language
Center »y¤å¤¤¤ß 239
Tuesdays 10:20am-12:10pm
Instructor: Karen S. Chung
There
will be 17 classes this semester.
Routine
work: You will recite and learn a poem, mark your listening assignment,
and receive the new listening assignment every class during first hour. Note
that this syllabus is subject to change.
Click
here for the Poems
for Memorization handout for Spring 2004; click here for the
poetry handout in Word format
suitable for printing out (3 pages).
Click
here for the About
Poetry: English Prosody Plus Selected Literary Terms handout.
(Refer to this for definitions of terms like iambic, doggerel,
and synaesthesia.)
Oral Training
II Play Outlines here.
Please
visit the class
discussion board (now on the Ceiba 4 system) often.
February 17: Hand
in listening homework, outline of play idea.
Listening assignment: Choose, listen to,
write a brief summary on a program from the archives of Radio RTÉ
Ireland. URL: http://www.rte.ie/radio1/archive/
Prepare: Poem: "Conundrums" by
D. H. Lawrence; Play outlines (by e-mail); title, author of book for oral book
report, to be handed in next class; NTU News.
February
24:
Go over final exam questions from last semester. Turn in book title for oral
report.
Listening assignment: I
Love Lucy: Breaking the Lease
Prepare:
Poem: "Antimatter" by Russell Edson. Print out play ideas, choose
five favorites to vote for next class. Turn in three poems for poetry reading:
one English/American (etc.); one in Chinese, translated by you into English;
one original one, written by you. Next class: impromptu speeches.
March
2: Turn
in poems. Vote on play ideas. NTU News.
Listening assignment: Monologue
by Ellen DeGeneres
Prepare: Poem: "Reply Letter"
by Fred Chappell. Impromptu speeches. Oral book report. Start writing plays.
March
9: Poem choices
will be returned. NTU News.
Listening Assignment: How
To Find a Husband after Thirty-five
Prepare: Poem: "Bloody Men" by
Wendy Cope. Oral book report. Poetry reading. Play writing.
March
16: 3-minute impromptu speeches.
Listening assignment: WHYY
91FM Been There/Done That with Marty Goldensohn; choose a program from
the archives, write a summary of it, and give your reactions to it.
Prepare: Poem: "Water is Taught by
Thirst" by Emily Dickinson. Oral book report. Poetry reading. Play writing.
March
23:
Oral book reports. Hand in drafts of plays. Two make-up impromptu speeches:
Sharon and Bryant.
Listening assignment: Choose and listen
to a radio mystery play from:
http://www.billsparks.org/OldtimeRadioTheater/Live_and_On-Demand_Old_Time_Radio_Shows/Mysterys/
and write a summary of it and your reaction to it.
Prepare: Poem: "I'm Happiest When
Most Away" by Emily Brontë. Oral book report. Poetry reading. Turn
in scores for impromptu speeches.
March 30:
Oral book reports. Impromptu
speech feedback.
Listening assignment: Choose an audio
news report of the BBC World Service at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/index.shtml
on a country other than Taiwan and the United States; summarize the report
and give your reaction to it.
Also watch: Comedy Central: "Made in Taiwan", a comedy monologue based
on the recent presidential election in Taiwan; featured on "The Daily Show"
with Jon Stewart, at:
http://www.comedycentral.com/mp/play.php?reposid=/multimedia/tds/headlines/8118.html
Prepare: Poem: "A Time to Talk"
by Robert Frost. Oral book reports. Poetry reading. Play revising.
April
6: Oral book reports.
Listening assignment: Popular song: "Between"
by Vienna Teng
Prepare: Poem: "To ¡X " by Percy
Bysshe Shelley. Oral book reports. Poetry reading. Play scripts.
April
13:
Oral book reports.
Listening assignment: Oprah Winfrey: After
the Show Choose a video from Oprah's "After the Show" menu; watch
it and write a summary of the content and your reaction to it.
http://www.oprah.com/tows/after/tows_after_all.jhtml
Prepare: Poem: "Talking in Bed"
by Philip Larkin. Oral book reports. Poetry reading. Play scripts.
April
20:
Last Oral book reports. Discussion of oral book report assignment.
Listening assignment: Choose, report on,
and give your reactions to an audio report from Chicago Public Radio WBEZ:
http://www.wbez.org/
or Chicago Public Radio WBEZ's "This American Life":
http://www.thislife.org/
Prepare: Poem: "Winter Trees"
by William Carlos Williams. Poetry reading. Play scripts.
April
27: Poetry reading practice;
work on play scripts.
Listening assignment: Choose an audio interview
with an author and/or a reading from a book from the Author
Interviews and Readings index of the "Books" section of the
New York Times online; you will need to register (it's free) if you haven't
already. Write a summary of the interview and/or reading you choose and your
reactions. If you choose just a reading, do a Google search and find out something
about the author and include it in your summary.
Prepare:
Poem: "People" by D. H. Lawrence; three suggestions for a discussion
topic.
May
4: Poetry reading.
Listening assignment: Find an audio or
video file on the Internet on an interesting topic suitable for a listening
assignment and under 10 minutes, and create a listening exercise based on it.
Prepare a vocabulary list and 10-15 listening comprehension questions, including
one or two thought questions.
Prepare: Poem: "On a Night of Snow"
by Elizabeth Coatsworth.
May
11: Make-up poetry
readings: Jack, Bryant, Naomi. Discussion, evaluation of poetry reading and
oral book review assignments.
Listening assignment: Choose an audio file
on history; some sources available here.
Summarize the content and write your reaction to it. The entire essay should
not be longer than one typewritten A4 page with 1.5 spacing.
Prepare: Poem: "Old Celery" by
Mark Yakich; class discussion: Fortunetelling. Plays. Make sure you've e-mailed
me your original poem.
May 18: Class
discussion: Fortunetelling.
Listening assignment: Listen to, summarize
and write your reactions to a short story; you may choose an audio file
from the Internet, or a tape or CD from the library or other source.
Prepare: Poem: "The Widow" by Julio
Cortázar, translated by Paul Blackburn; first rehearsal of your plays
next Tuesday.
May
25: Rehearsal
of play performances.
Listening assignment: Find an audio file
with an interview or discussion on art; summarize and give your reactions.
Prepare: Poem: "Dark House" by Alfred,
Lord Tennyson.
June 1: Play
performances.
Listening assignment: Listen to, summarize
and give your reactions to an audio file on some aspect of science; if
you did not do a report on the visual arts or architecture last week,
so that this week instead of a science topic.
Prepare: Poem: "New Every Morning"
by Susan Coolidge.
June
8: Play performance.