Final Thoughts

Ok so it seems people aren't happy after all then!

In my opinion, we all did a fair and equal amount of work.

I offered to do the powerpoint in the first week, everyone agreed that they would tell me how they wanted their slides and I would put it all together. I offered to do this because when we joined together as a group, NO ONE SPOKE! I had to start all the discussion. So I went away and made a start.

Then Charlene emailed me saying that we should all put the powerpoint together at the same time as a group. This is fair enough, but when we first met up in the learning centre, only me and Raj had completed our slides and brought them in. No one else had done this.

Charlene then decided she would do exactly what I had offered to do in the beginning.



Second meeting...Charlene was not there. Raj sat at the computer and filled in our parts of the handout sheet with all of us (minus Charlene) contributing our sections.



What annoys me about this whole situation is that no one who has had a problem has spoken to me face to face. When we met up, everyone was nice as pie to each others faces. If Charlene had discussed her thoughts with the group instead of ranting about it after the presentation we might have been able to sort something out.



Emma, I apologised at the time and I do so again now for the late reply by email, other assignments were also due at this time.



What have I learnt?

1. Never assume people are being honest. If they appear to be friendly, they might still have a problem with you.

2. I agree with Charlene, I don't like relying on other people for a decent grade.

3. I think the presentation went well overall, we ALL contributed equally.

4. Next time I will be very wary about who I am in a group with. I want to work with people who want to do well and will be honest and speak the truth face to face, rather than through emails and blogs.



Thankyou Mark for all your help and great lectures and trip to London!



Well done to EVERYONE. We ALL did well.

oooooook then... just a few things for whoever marks this..

errrm.. not entirely sure why there seems to be a slight tension but as i said in my post earlier i thought the presentation went good.

For whoever is going to grade this:

1. Everybody in the group researched and put together their own sections including the slides and talk they delivered
2. There was a slight disagreement in the early stages as to who would be putting together the completed slides for the final presentation that was shown; as we seem to be naming names, Cat offered to do this but Charlene thought it would be better for everybody to do it together. We had a meeting after this in which we showed our slides to each other.. Charlene took these away and said she would put it together. If this was a problem then I think an email or post on here stating this or asking for others to pull in would have been beneficial instead of struggling through it alone.
3. Re. the handout, during the second group meeting, we looked at the final presentation and completed half of the handout we needed to give in at that point. Emma completed the rest along with the concluding slide with email responses..

Personally, i think we probably could have done with meeting up maybe a day or two before the presentation and cleared up any problems that seem to have aired now as all in all i thought this was a pleasant experience of group presentations.

Thanks to Charlene and Emma for making certain that the presentation and handouts were completed to a high standard and thanks to Kate, Kiri and Cat for doing what I thought was a fair share of the work also.

Final thoughts

Hey guys,
I thought the presentation went well. I was surprised at how well due to last minute panic.I feel that i have learnt a great deal from carrying out research about not only Jack the Ripper, but in terms of research skills which i feel i will be able to carry on into other assessments.My most interesting find was the representation of the Ripper in children's fiction, which shocked me a bit. If i could change anything it would of been more depth in our conclusion, agreeing with Charlene's thought about Meena's question. I was a bit annoyed about the lack of email/blog respond during the final week from a few members of the group, again agreeing with Charlene's views about the sharing of the work, but luckily these problems did not effect how our actual presentation was on the day.

Well done to everyone, hope our hard work pays off when we get our grade x

In response to Kiri's comment, about the work being shared. That was the problem, Cat offered to do the powerpoint and the handout, whilst a few of us felt it should be done TOGETHER and that was mine and Emmas response. We did not suggest that we wanted to do it all, just that it was group work and therefore contributed by all members. In terms of my other post about the week leading to the presentation, the comment that me and Emma was left to sort it out overall, was that Emma had emailed everyone and posted on here, about the conclusion and the handout. Raj me and kate was the only ones to do respond to this. It was quiet hard to get in touch with everyone. So my comments were about the fact that me and Emma was left to worry about the powerpoint and the handout the day before as not everyone had responded to email or blog in the final week and i thought had a more laid back attitude, therefore i feel that my comments were justified. Everyone did their fair share in their part of the presentation, just not overall in terms of bringing it all together. The point of this blog was/is for reflection of our presentation and our last post was to reflect what we would do differently or what we have learned, so my comments were adhering to what the blog especially the last post aims were. In terms of how much effort particularly me and Emma did put in to this presentation compared to others is only highlighted by Emmas upseting rant the night before, because Cat and Kiri had not contacted her back and even more so by the amount of posts and extreme and constant blogs/discussions we posted on here show our effort at trying to bring the group together as a whole, and to involve everyone, it is not our fault if some other members were not as enthusiastic or putting in the amount of effort we thought this presentation deserved and that we were working at. As unlike my history debate this presentation was graded as a whole and not individual therefore it is fair that the work was disturbited evenly as everyone benefits from the same grade, therefore we did try to involve everyone, but this i found very difficult when people are putting less effort/unwilling to do so and wants to sort everything out over email to avoid group meetings etc. I was not saying that everyone did not take part/contribute well enough in their individual parts, but in a way were more concerned with their individual area, then bringing it all together etc/ working in a group which was the aim of the assessment! and this is something i would of changed and i feel me and a few other members have learnt from, for future presentations.

On a more positive aspect Well done to everyone, as on the day i felt that it was brought together quiet well x

Overall

To respond to Charlene's post about Emma and her being left to do most of the work......I feel this is unfair on Cat as she offered to put the presentation together herself but was told not to, as Charlene believed that this would not work, however Charlene then took control herself and ended up doing exactly what cat had originally offered to do.

Overall I think that the presentation went really well, and I think that considering we didn't run it through because of Charlene being ill the week before it went well. I thought Kate's introduction with all of the gruesome facts was brilliant and you answered Meena's question really well Kate!

Hope everyone has a nice Christmas!
x

afterwards.....

Okay,
so our presentation went quite well and smoothly. I was very pleased by the response from Mark and Meena. I felt that we explored the topic in depth. Meena's question about why objects such as figures, games etc, and why people exploit Jack the Ripper, threw me a bit because throughout each of our parts we explained that their is a market for such items mainly due to the many open interpretations of who the Ripper was/ what exactly happened, therefore it can be explored and exploited in many different ways. Also i felt at the time this was shown by Cat, who talked about many Americas thinking the Ripper was a fictional character etc. However after the presentation i thought about this more, i realised Meena's point and thought what we could of done to improved it further. I think that even though we all included why we think people exploit the Ripper, we did it briefly and did not highlight its importance in any significant way. Therefore if we could of changed anything, it would been to include a section/ slide(s) exploring why people exploit the Ripper, and why there was a market for this, looking at different reasons etc.

As this was the first presentation i have really done at uni for an assessment. I have learned quite a lot, heres a quick list.
1. That i don't like relying on other people for my grade, as other people have different acceptances of what is a 'good' grade for them etc.
2. It made me realize that in group work, its not always equal like it should be. Even though we all did our own individual research etc, and all worked equally hard in that particular sense. I did feel that the work overall was not Shared equally, and that Me and Emma in particular was left with the task of bringing it all together, or left with the fear that it wouldnt of been if we hadn't of done this.
3. In a more positive aspects, presentations make you research/prepare weeks in advance because other people are relying on you, and you don't want to make a fool of yourself in front of other etc on the day. Another advantage of this is its less rushed and it gives you the opportunity to find lots more.
4. Also that presentations etc, are not really scary or nothing to get really stressed about which i thought they would be. Whilst im on this point, i also believe that they dont have to be as boring as you think. Our particular topic i found extremely interesting and with the use of visual aids, clips etc, you can create something good.
5. Finally that the use of a blog alongside presentation topic is an EXTREMELY good idea, it keeps the whole group in touch. It makes you find/research something every week sometimes more which consequently helps your presentation, and makes sure its not left to the last minute.

Okay so thats enough from me. I'll look forward to finding out our grade for all our hard work. I've really enjoying ranting my opinions about all different aspects of the Ripper. He's a few links for the musical clips we used in the presentation, because i haven't pasted them on here before




http://www.rippershow.com/video.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pYIZvP5Qn4 Jack the musical (opera)

Take care everyone x

Well Done

Hey,
Just wanted to say a big well done to everyone. Thought the whole presentation ran smoothly and no one messed up even though we thought we would. Just wanted to say a big thank you to Emma for making sure everything was prepared and doing the handout.

Will see you all soon x

Post-presentation...

Well the presentation is all done and i think it went extremely well!!

Everybody did their bit and from initial reactions i think we've managed a good grade

Just wanted to say well done and thanks to everyone for pulling together and doing their fair share of the work..

Happy holidays

Raj x

Update : I have just finished the handout for tomorrow and two of the quotes...not sure if they came Kat or Kiri have no references its just the quote on there! I really need you to send me the reference for them...or if not change the quote you're using, as it's going to look rubbish if we hand in quotes with no references. I have emailed everyone and left a message up on here yet not everyone's sorted it which has knarked me a bit as i have been left with the handout to finish and the majority of the conclusion to write on my own...and now I am out to work at 8pm. So what's done is done if you don't send it me before tonight, what else can i do but to keep it how it is. Sorry to rant but come on.

The night before and victorian britain.

Okay, its the night before the presentation, im a little nervous, but i'm sure it will go well. Since not everyone has bothered to email Emma back, shes got the final copy of the power point and i will have one too.

Instead of everyone switching and messing on the pc, Emma is going to be in control of it. Hope thats Ok. If its not tough, you should email back! lol.

Its not about our presentation, but i thought i would share some details on my history module Victorian Britain lecture, last week. Lecture topic was on Victorian Underworld, and of course heavily concentrated on Jack the Ripper. It was mostly discussed that the murders became a symbol of social, cultural and political anxiety. Strangely enough the respond to the murders during the time actually made more women vulnerable. Social purity groups and police response to prostitution in the area was to actually close 200 brothels in the East End in 1887. This had the opposite affect, instead of creating safe area for women, it made hundreds of them homeless and result in working on the street hence making them more venerable to attack! This was done by the police who should of had the attitude of safety and protecting, but all this really shows is the attitude of 'not in our area' and pushing them elsewhere. Mainly due to the fact the victims were seen responsible for their own fate!

What also interested me in the lecture, was the fact prostitutions of the time were considered a social evil and asylums were actually set up to deal with the problem. In 1880 there were 20,000 prostitutions in the city of London, and instead of them being seen as a somewhat Victim, to be so desperate to sell their bodies. It was their clients who were seen as the victim, as prostitutions were perceived as sexual contaminators. Sometimes Women were humiliated by being arrested and forced into an examination to see what 'diseases' they had. Whilst men was left scot free.

The Ripper murders articulated the fears pf the Victorians, concerning gender, class and ethnic relations. The Murders were often used to denied women access to public space and to reinforce the image of the 'angel of the house'

I thought the lecture was quite interesting, because it concentrated on the Ripper and the consequences at the time, not just in terms of the Ripper in popular culture we know and what a presentation is based on.


See you all bright and early tomorrow. I'm looking forward to our work being finally shown, and in a way to be over.

x

Thursday

Hey all.
Hope everything is on track for you all. Just one question tho, are we meeting for a run through before Thursday or we just going through it before we go on???

See you thurs if not
Kate x

Hi,

If everyone e-mails me their concluding line (emma.robins@wlv.ac.uk)I don't mind sorting it out on the powerpoint. I had a bit of crisis today when I lost my memory stick :s Luckily I have it all saved to my desktop. I can save it all up on my memory stick if everyone wants?

Also need a source each for the bibliography so if you can email me that. Then I will sort it out and e-mail the completed powerpoint to everyone so you know when/ where you are in the presentation

+ anyone decided who is going to control the powerpoint?

Emma

Random things...

Hey all

First things first... there's only one Ricky Hatton!! was gutted last night (or rather early this morning 4.20am start = not good for my sleeping pattern). On the plus side Amir Khan KOed his opponent in 72secs.. crazy stuff!!

Anyways.. just thought id check in to see if everyone has their conclusion liners sorted?! Group meeting was kinda random this week lol but main thing is we more-or-less sorted with the presentation.. just wondering who has the final setup of the slides cuz there was something said about, i think charlene, changing something on hers...?

Hope everyone is well..
See y'all on thursday

p.s. charlene if you still got a cold have a shot of whiskey with honey and hot water.. its magic!

presentation and christmas looming... what about the Ripper?

Hey all,

I have not received email with everyone’s slides. I have just changed basic stuff such as background and font etc. I haven’t messed with anyone’s section. However Raj’s and Kiri’s slides look a bit full, however I assume by your previous post you have changed this. Emma your pictures finally work yay!

I have typed up what I’m going say in my part, it’s a page and half (opps). Don’t worry it is mostly bulletin points. I think I might go for good old-fashioned flash cards in the presentation. Kate your idea of a voice recorder in terms of being able to play it back is good. Unfortunately I don’t have one, and I don’t like hearing back my own voice!

After a lot of researching for my section on musicals, I have decided to concentrate on four very different musicals. The strangest one being a VERY JACK THE RIPPER CHRISTMAS is set Christmas in a Music Hall in Whitechapel during the Ripper Murders of 1888. It is a burlesque show, and setting the murders around Christmas, which is meant to represent a time of birth and joy, shows how varied the use of the ripper has become. How extreme his representations are, and how far people are willing to exploit the use of the Ripper.

Another interesting musical I have included is JACK’S HOLIDAY set in 1920’s, where Jack has escaped; he’s across the Atlantic killing people in America. This musical represents two main important points. One being that the Ripper is feared years later. The second being the Rippers worldwide exploitation, and importance. The Ripper’s murders in London, our known throughout the world as people are exploiting the ripper as a somewhat ‘brand’.

To some extend the Ripper is seen as an iconic figure, can it be jealously that this attention and media focus even 120 years later is on London. Are other countries somewhat jealous that Britain had the first modern famous serial killer?

Jack the Ripper Progress Update

I have now finished my slides for the presentation. I agree with Cat and Raj when they say that we should keep the bullet points on the slides brief so that we have more to talk about. Else we will just be relaying the same information, which would be pointless.
Just thought I would give you all an update of where I'm at.
See you all Thurs!

Slides and voices

Hey all I doubt I'll be adding anything to my slides unless people think I should? I'm also wondering if any one has a good voice recorder to bring in on Thursday, that way we can record ourselves (not that I like my own voice) and see how others will hear it as we will probably be concentrating on our own bits to be worrying how it sounds altogether. Although if any one thinkg this is a saft idea, speak up as I'm not afraid of criticism. See you all soon x

Hey,

I have finally finished my slides woo! I only have three slides and they're all mainly pictures as I thought it would be easier if I had anything to change in terms of what I am going to say (still am a bit wobbly over what to say) I've emailed everyone a copy of my part so let me know what you think and also if the pictures are actually working! I agree with minimising the presentation down in terms of text as I think we're gonna end up running over the time if we try and fit everything in.

See you all on Thursday @ 11

x

Hey hey

Yeah I've got the room slip thingy.. We got same room as last week so its MD027 and its booked from 11 till 1pm.

Thanks for mailing the presentation, it's coming along nicely hope it goes ok on the day though! I agree with Cat about maybe having less text and possibly using less slides but we could always see hoe it goes when we run through. I'll need to re-arrange the layout on my first game slide as some of the text is overlapping and the picture needs to be scaled down a little. Also the bibliography sounds like a good idea.

I'll have a copy of the links for the games so if we do have time we could show them.

Righty, happy essay writing/presentation giving.. see ya thursday
xx

Presentation Work

Thanks for your last blog about the presentation.

I have got your email but for some reason the powerpoint won't save to my usb so will have to use someone elses for the actual presentation. Hope that's ok.

I like the slides, although I would suggest that Charlene might try and use fewer slides and Kiri could put less text on hers. Up to you guys though, just a suggestion.

Raj, the games you found are wicked! Hours of fun killing people. :P

I booked a room in the learning centre for next week. It's the same one I think. Raj has got the slip to keep safe. Hope we don't have to eject anybody this week. Lol.

Take care all, see ya soon. :)
X