THE HAMILTON LITERARY AGENCY

THE HAMILTON LITERARY AGENCY

INTRODUCTION

Congratulations on your recent graduation from the University of American Talent Agents! Your school days are over. It’s time to get to work! You must begin to build a group of clients IMMEDIATELY! Your job now is to choose an author to "pitch" to the head of the Hamilton Literary Agency, the chief operating officer, Ms. Hamilton. If you don’t, you will starve, default on your student loans, and lose your new car!

The Hamilton Literary Agency CEO has informed you that she is need of new poets. Your first task is to find a poet to represent. Then, you need to create a press packet for that poet. In addition to the press packet, you must create a PowerPoint presentation to present all this information to Ms. Hamilton. Your presentation will take place on either Thursday 17 December or Friday 18 December.

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TASK

You will need to complete the following tasks:

You must create a list of best five attributes of a good poet,
You must select a poet to represent according to those criteria,
You must create a press packet which contains the following:

a letter of introduction,

a biography/ frequently asked questions (FAQ) sheet,

one newspaper article or press release,

and a letter of reference from one other author.

You must create a PowerPoint presentation that presents your chosen attributes, your selected poet, and the press packet to the CEO.

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RESOURCES

You may use any available resources in the room. You may use any technology in the room: the scanner, video camera, digital camera, etc. We will be going to the library for one day. You may need composition resources to find the forms for reference letters, press releases, or news articles. You may use the Internet, textbooks, or college anthologies. While you may do your own searching, I would also suggest the following sites that I have found recently:

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/2012/poems/index.html

http://www.datawranglers.com/voices/poetryvideo/bio.html

http://www.plgrm.com/Heritage/women/Poets.HTM

http://incompetech.com/authors

http://www.usd.edu/~thompson/Poetry

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PROCESS

First, you will be working in pairs or alone.
Then, you need to research and create a list of "good" poet attributes. How are poets rewarded or awarded? What process do they have to go through? How are they judged?
Next, do the research necessary to choose a poet. Do they match the criteria that you have determined is important?
Then, you must create a press packet. You may use the resources in the room to find formats for a introduction letter, a reference letter, biography or FAQ sheet, and a newspaper article or press release. This packet of materials should be stapled, bound, etc. in a professional manner upon completion.
Finally, you must create a PowerPoint presentation. It should present all of the above materials to the CEO in a professional manner. It will be expected that you will also dress professionally for the presentation.

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EVALUATION

You will be given a grade for the group you are in. You will be evaluated by the following rubric:

0 points 1 point 2 points

list of list incomplete, unable list complete but list complete, well rounded,

attributes to use effectively for faulty for evaluation and well-thought out.

evaluation

letter of letter missing letter complete, but letter written in correct style,

introduction faulty in form or in a clear and persuasive way

technique

letter of letter missing letter complete, but letter is correctly written from

reference faulty in form or lacking author’s point of view, in the

believability correct style, in a persuasive way

bio/ FAQ bio sheet missing accurate but incomplete accurate and complete

sheet

news article/ piece is missing article missing elements covers 5 W’s (who, what, where,

press release or lacking appeal when, why) in a manner that the

public can enjoy

PowerPoint purely factual with presentation interesting presentation is professional, persuasive,

very little appeal but lacking some elements informative, and complete

classroom wasted time in class, did occasionally off-task, did student focused and on-task throughout

participation not work well with others, other work in class, did class time, planned well, worked well

showed little planning some planning with others, completed tasks

professionalism student was not well prepared student completed some tasks, student completed all tasks, prepared

for final presentation, did not was somewhat prepared, work well, presented near materials, was well

dress appropriately, work was was in OK shape, made effort dressed.

sloppy to dress appropriately

grammar and misspellings and/or major few grammatical problems no grammatical errors, spelling is correct

spelling grammatical mistakes

content major inaccuracies few minor inaccuracies facts are understandable and correct

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CONCLUSION

It is important that you take what you already know, fill in the gaps, and then make your best decision at each step. It is also important that you can present your opinion, research, and suggestions effectively. These are skills you will need in school as well as after you graduate. Each step builds on another towards the final project. Divide the work up according to your skills and/or interests and do your best work. Good luck!

Your presentation will take place on either Thursday 17 December or Friday 18 December.

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