One of the competence aims of this course is to do an in-depth study of a chosen topic, and make a presentation for the class. Below are listed some suggested themes for an oral presentation. Before you start you are well advised to check out these guidelines for making a good presentation:
How to Make an Oral Presentation
How to Make a Mini Presentation
How to Make a Visual Presentation
Curricular Themes:
- The Rennaisance – a new beginning.
- Hamlet – a true Rennaisance Man.
- Shakespeare – comedy, tragedy – and fake?
- "Rule Britannia" – The British Empire.
- Queen Elizabeth I
- The Enlightenment and Religion
- Defoe and Swift – a comparison.
- Benjamin Franklin
- Romanticism – a political awakening
- The Gothic Novel
- Mary Shelley's Frankenstein – then and now.
- Poetry – the true expression of the Romantic age
- The Noble Savage – a Romantic ideal
- Destructive Love – a study of Wuthering Heights
- Edgar Allan Poe and the gothic mystery tale
- The Victorian Age – the birth of modern Britain
- Oliver Twist – a child of the Victorian Age
- The duality of man – Jekyll and Hyde in retrospective.
- Oscar Wilde – a serious dandy.
- Rudyard Kipling – an imperialist writer?
- "Manifest Destiny" – the USA in the 19th century
- The Transcendentalists
- Modernism – anything goes
- Modernist painters
- Ernest Hemingway and modernism
- James Joyce
Miscellaneous cultural issues:
- Cartoons and animations – more than Disney
- Hollywood – a critical look at present-day American culture.
- Monty Python, MR Bean and British Humor.
- South Park and The Simpsons – satire or just fun?
- Gaming for learning.
- Blogging and social media
- TV series and escapism
- What makes a successful TV series?
- Fantasy and the supernatural. (Why is Harry Potter so popular?)
- The Lord of the Rings – the ultimate story of the fight between good and bad
- The female protagonist – feminist culture
- Youth culture – protest, punk, rap and hip-hop