Thesis
The thesis is the core assertion of the presentation, the main point or claim the writer seeks to persuade the audience to believe. The thesis should emerge early in the presentation and be clearly evident to an audience listening to the piece for the first time. An effective thesis strikes a balance between asserting too much (making claims the writer can’t possibly prove) and asserting too little (making claims that are obvious or self-evident).
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Organization
Organization is the internal scaffolding of the presentation. Effective organization supports the audience through the various turns or moves of the essay, linking each new point to the larger picture and providing a logical, step-by-step integrity to the piece as a whole.
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Style
Style refers, in part, to the language of the presentation. In a strong presentation, word choice is lively and exact. Phrasing is polished and vivid. There’s a sense of the writer’s individual presence in the language, a feeling of freshness, energy, and conviction. But style also refers to the fluency of the oral performance: whether or not a speaker presentsthe text (rather than simply reading it) and engages the audience effectively with his or her voice, eyes, gestures, and physical presence. A stylish presentation conveys an aura of self-confidence and mastery, a writer fully in command of the material.
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Research
The scholarly sources discussed in the essay are authoritative and up-to-date. The presenter demonstrates a precise and nuanced understanding of these sources and is able to incorporate them into the developing argument, showing how his or her thinking builds on, challenges, or revises the ideas of the critics.
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