Comp Lit 40 / English 54 The History of the Book Fall 2018

Book Biography / Bookness Assignment

This assignment asks you to take a book (or books) or an aspect of book form and investigate it. The results
of your work will take three forms: a set of research notes, an oral presentation, and a Rauner blog post.
You may also develop a final critical essay out of this work.

Count on doing some research (encyclopedias and reference books; article searches; etc.) and some
comparative examination of books for your presentation. Keep a set of research and thinking notes as you
go, appropriately annotated. You are encouraged to consult with me and/or Jay or Morgan (or any other
professors and library staff) as you proceed.

The project as a whole will be worth 16 points, divided as follows: 5 points for the research notes, 5 points
for the oral presentation, and 6 points for the blog post.

Presentations will be scheduled in weeks 8 and 9.

Presentation

Present one, two or three books (or objects) held in Rauner (or other special collections libraries). Multiple
books must be presented in relation to a common rubric.

Your presentation must be at least 5 and no more than 7 minutes long. It will be followed by
discussion/questions. You may use only one page of notes (one side only). You may use the document
camera and you may show images in a ppt or some other slide organizing software.

Your presentation should explain your choice, describe the book(s) and their contents, situate the book(s) in
a context of production, use, and/or significance, and note and show any aspects of particular interest in the
volume(s) presented, etc. These aspects do not have to be weighted equally, nor addressed in any particular
order. For some of you, this template will be inappropriate, in which case, figure out something else. I’m
happy to consult. In any case, think about focus and flow in shaping the presentation--remember it's a
performance of sorts and it's aiming to engage your audience.

Turn in both your research notes and the notes for the presentation itself. If you developed digital materials
for the presentation, turn those in as well.

Rauner Blog Post

If you haven't already read some of the Rauner blog posts, do so and pay attention to the ways in which both
"coolness" and information are presented. The text of your post should be about 300-400 words and it must
be accompanied by at least one interesting image. The blog post is due two calendar days after your oral
presentation.
Exemplars listed below from earlier classes:

http://raunerlibrary.blogspot.com/2013/02/book-improper.html
http://raunerlibrary.blogspot.com/2013/03/howard-pyles-book-of-pirates.html
http://raunerlibrary.blogspot.com/2013/03/gaming-in-rauner.html
https://raunerlibrary.blogspot.com/2015/06/order-and-chaos-playing-with-constraint.html
http://raunerlibrary.blogspot.com/2018/01/voices-of-dissent-dartmouth-feminists.html