Home Prospectus FAQ Staff Schedule Style Guide Grading Marks Project Instructions Office hours

Paper

Semantics of Spatial Expressions (from Semantics and Cognition), by Ray Jackendoff

WRT: 1 hour

Assignment

If you discuss the paper or the assignment with another student—which we encourage—indicate whom you have talked with in your submitted composition. Of course your submitted composition must be written entirely by you.

On a total of one side of one sheet of paper, using 10 pt type or larger, with standard interline spacing and margins, respond to all the following:

Imagine that you are a graduate student working in Artificial Intelligence at MIT. Your research supervisor, Patrick Winston, says, roughly, “I would like you to go to this conference to see what this stuff is all about and whether it is relevant to my work on story understanding. Put together a little trip report for me when you get back.” Because the conference is to be held in Sveti Stefan, a beautiful medieval town, converted into a resort, on the Adriatic Sea, you instantly agree.

Sveti Stefan

Unfortunately, you end up partying a lot and sleep through the talks, all of which are presented in the morning so attendees can get to the beach unimpeded. Fortunately, a friend tells you that you didn't miss much, because the talks were all incredible pistareens, except for the talk given by Jackendoff, which closely followed the material in the assigned paper.

Produce the requested trip report. Start with something like “The conference involved little of interest, except for the talks by Jackendoff.” Use what you have learned about presentation in the way you structure your report.