Here are a couple of sample papers to guide you as you think about constructing your conference papers (I don't have any samples of papers that are more geared towards Communications, but you may find that one of the Communications faculty has such a creature in their files):
This one is the conference paper version (it was nine-pages in double-spaced Times New Roman 12-point font):
http://www2.potsdam.edu/mausdc/class/601/conferenceversion.htmlThis one was the article-length version (25 pages in double-spaced Times New Roman 12-point font):
http://www2.potsdam.edu/mausdc/class/601/publishedversion.htmlAnd here is another pair:
Conference version (11 pages -- too long, I might add...this went about five minutes over the time limit):
http://www2.potsdam.edu/mausdc/class/601/Tolstoyconference.htmlPublished version (28 pp, plus 6 pages of notes not included):
http://www2.potsdam.edu/mausdc/class/601/Tolstoypublished.html:As you look through them and compare them, don't worry so much about the content of the papers as the form.
1. Look at the kinds of things that are omitted or altered in the conference paper version (for example at how lengthy quotes are omitted or changed into much more condensed paraphrases).There isn't really a set form for writing conference presentations, so if you just think of them as a more concise (it terms of the depth to which examples are explained and claims justified), but still logically complete version of a full-length (18-30 pp.) seminar paper, you're on the right track.
2. Look at the way in which multiple examples that support a particular point are limited to simgle examples.
3. Look at the way that footnotes and other potential digressions are removed or shortened considerably.
4. Look at the way references to sources are incorporated into the body of the text itself (since your audience does not have the text in front of them, parenthetical references and other things that link to the bibliography -- which they, of course, also don't have -- don't do any good, so you have to attribute sources much more explicitly).5. Look at the way the introduction to the conference paper sets out the methodology of the presentation very explicitly and in the order that it occurs in the presentation so that the listener knows exactly what to expect and when to expect it.
6. Look at how the logical connections between ideas are made more explicitly in a text designed for oral -- rather than written presentation -- to give the listener a clue that a new idea has been begun.
Basically, you need to state and defend your position and you need to explain the context of your idea fully and clearly to an audience that you can presume is in the general discourse community of literature and language studies but may still not necessarily be familiar with the specific texts or topics you're dealing with. The difficult task of the conference paper for is being thorough and concise at the same time.
Some things to make sure you address to insure clarity for your listeners in the orally-transmitted medium of the conference paper:Bring a complete draft (8-10 pages) to class on December 2nd for collective workshopping and preliminary discussion. Those who wish to get some practice doing an oral presentation on front of peers may do so both that day and on the 9th, when the final versions of the papers will be due.1. ANY context your reader might need to know to understand your points absolutely must come first and should be explained clearly and thoroughly before beginning your interpretive comments.
2. You need to have an explicit summary of the structure of the presentation near the front in order to give your audience a clear idea of what's coming up so they can follow you effectively.
3. You need to have frequent and concise summations of important points to reemphasize the main ideas you want your listeners to take with them through the remainder of the presentation.
4. You need to have explicit transitions that allow you to both bring a previous idea to a clear close and demonstrate how and why you'll be building on what's come before in your next section. Explicit logical operators (therefore, moreover, however, on the other hand, etc.) are of great benefit in this process.