Presenting material to your class and coordinating a discussion about the Decameron may seem a daunting task to the uninitiated, but the approach is fairly straightforward.
Begin your presentation by clearly introducing your topic (such as a Day's stories, a particular theme, or even a profile of a particular brigata member). Your subject should be something you are interested in researching and discussing at length. Explain why you believe your topic is important and what you hope to achieve by discussing it with the class. Once you have provided your audience with a brief introduction - as all of the brigata members do before they begin narrating their own tales - you can begin with the main body of your presentation. Be prepared with specific textual references and secondary materials on any information you might need to refer to during your talk, and try to present your material clearly and logically, so as not to fall prey to criticism like that of Madonna Oretta?s in VI.1!
After you have finished presenting the body of your argument, summarize your observations/comments in a concise manner. Finally, you may want to open the topic up for discussion by the class, restating your original theme and asking one or two leading questions at the end of your presentation. This will prompt interest on the part of your classmates to express their own opinions regarding the subject at hand. While every member of the class, just like every member of the brigata, has the right to speak their mind, remember that you are in charge of steering the discussion in an appropriate direction. Straying from the topic may provide for an interesting discussion, but your instructor would probably rather see you guide the students? commentaries to some conclusion relevant to your original topic.