Course Requirements
1- Close Reading paper
2- History/Contextualizing paper
3- Literary Criticism paper
4- Choose-A-Book Project
5- Presentation
6- Five blog post entries
7- In-class participation
8- Attendance
9- Completion of readings, including postings by peers
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For details on 1-6, see assignments page.
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Class Participation Includes:
Class discussion:
I expect you to both read the readings AND have questions and ideas for discussion. Inevitably some people will be quieter than others, but you should know the difference between an active and prepared listener and someone who is hiding because they have not done the work. If by midterm, I suspect you are in this latter category, I will email you about my concern. I expect then for you to improve your class participation and/or meet with me to discuss your relevant concerns. Failure to do so will affect your grade.
Reading Blog Posts:
Even when it is not your week to post on the blog, I expect you to read all of the posts, to think critically about the ideas and questions your classmates have raised, and to come to class ready to continue the discussion began in this forum.
Random Exercises:
I will ask you from time to time to participate in in-class writings or exercises or to bring an object to class. These are “low-stakes” activities. I do not expect perfection in these exercises (or even competency); I expect only that you will do them. If you do them you will receive full credit.
Grade Distribution by Percentages:
Blog Posts -10 %
Presentation -10 %
Class Participation (includes attendance, discussion, response to others post, and participation in random exercises) -20%
Papers (close reading paper, history paper, scholarly analysis paper AND choose-a-book project even though it doesn’t necessarily have to be a paper) – 60 %
Ranges for letter grades:
92-100—A
90-91—A-
87-89—B+
82-86—B
80-81—B-
77-79—C+
72-76—C
70-71—C-
60-69—D
<60—F
On Grading Papers:
Each paper is worth 25 points. I use four assessment categories for papers:
1) thesis: Do you have a thesis? Is it articulated clearly? Is it logically sound?
2) argumentation and structure: Is your paper organized and presented in a manner that effectively present your argument? Do you have a clear and purposeful outline? Do you have topic sentences and transitions that facilitate the communication of your argument?
3) explication of evidence and sub-point: Do you provide relevant examples? Do you describe your examples and your particular points about each example in a manner that relays the fullness of your thinking and convincingly proves your point or illustrates your paper’s overall thesis?
4) grammar and style: Does your language usage aid or hinder your ability to communicate your ideas? Is your usage of punctuation, prepositions, and other parts of speech keeping with the standard writing rules as detailed in Aaron, Jane E. The Little, Brown Essential Handbook, 7th edition. Longman, 2010you’re your drafts and revisions address the specific language issues highlighted in class and/or on comments given by instructor on previous work?
Reflective of my personal goals for your writing each section is weighted as such:
1) thesis -6
2) argumentation -7
3) explication -7
4) grammar- 5
Total: 25 points. Each paper & project is 25 points, for a total of 100 possible points.
The number of total points you receive is your grade for the papers and project section. That grade is 60 percent of your total grade.
Attendance :
Attendance is essential. If you are absent without excuse more than four times, you are going to be dropped from the course and/or given a failing grade. Grounds for excused absence are documented cases of illness or family emergency, observance of religious holidays, and attendance at scheduled college sports competitions. The sports exception applies only to matches and games; practice and preparation are not covered. On the occasion of your third unexcused absence, you will receive a warning letter.
Once your total absences (excused + unexcused) exceed 5, though, you will be asked to withdraw.
Tardiness:
If you are consistently more than a few (3) minutes late, I will send you an email. If the pattern insists, it will affect your grade. Please note: if you are ever faced with the dilemma of being late or not coming to class, then be late and come to class.
Late Paper/Project Policy:
Except for extreme circumstances (with prior permission), in class presentations cannot be made up.
All deadlines in this course are firm. Except in the case of medical/family emergency, or religious observance, I give no individual extensions. Deadlines are designed to 1) make sure your progress in the class is evenly paced (i.e. you’re not stuck in a situation where you have to turn in two papers and a journal in one week) and 2) -to be perfectly frank- the deadlines are also for me as an instructor. In order to give timely feedback and assessment, I need to receive work on time.
If an emergency occurs and you cannot meet a due date, please contact me as soon as you can so that we can set a new due date and re-work your schedule in the course. Email is the best way to contact me. Please make the subject to your email reflective of your overall concern/request.
When there are no extenuating circumstances, the following policies will apply:
1st time: loss of one-third of a grade (i.e., from A to an A- or A- to B+ or B to B-) per 24 hours (or portion thereof) late.
2nd time: loss of two-thirds of a grade per 24 hours (or portion thereof) late.
3rd or 4th time: loss of one grade per 24 hours (or portion thereof) late.
Cheating and Plagiarism:
Plagiarism, cheating, lying, cutting corners, and unethical behavior in your comportment towards anyone in particular or the class as a whole is just not a good idea It undermines the purpose of the class, and you will not be fooling anyone but yourself, so please do not waste your time or mine. If you are overwhelmed or confused about how to cite or acknowledge your sources for some reason and feel a temptation to cut corners, you should talk to me or your academic advisor. Cheating and plagiarism are serious offenses. The following definitions are based on the College’s Academic Honesty website:
Cheating is the attempted or unauthorized use of materials, information, notes, study aids, devices, or communication during an academic exercise. Examples include but are not limited to:
- Copying from another student during an examination or allowing another to copy your work
- Unauthorized collaborating on a take home assignment or examination
- Using unauthorized notes during a closed book examination
- Using unauthorized electronic devices during an examination
- Taking an examination for another student
- Asking or allowing another student to take an examination for you
- Changing a corrected exam and returning it for more credit
- Submitting substantial portions of the same paper to two classes without consulting the second instructor
- Preparing answers or writing notes in a blue book (exam booklet) before an examination
- Allowing others to research and write assigned papers (including the use of commercial term paper services)
Plagiarism is the act of presenting another person’s ideas, research or writing as your own:
- Copying another person’s actual words without the use of quotation marks and footnotes (a functional limit is four or more words taken from the work of another)
- Presenting another person’s ideas or theories in your own words without acknowledging them
- Using information that is not considered common knowledge without acknowledging the source
- Failure to acknowledge collaborators on homework or laboratory assignments
Please Note: In the event of cheating and/or plagiarism, I am required by Baruch College policy to submit a report of suspected academic dishonesty to the Office of the Dean of Students. This report becomes part of your permanent file.
In-Class Expectations
Please bring the text under discussion to every class. Make sure that you have read the material assigned and have done the writing required for a given day. If you don’t volunteer, I will call on you in class, so be prepared to have something to say. But please be aware that I am not trying to embarrass you or put you on the spot; rather, I am trying to involve you in the conversation, get some of your ideas out in the open, and explore the subject matter. A significant part of your grade will be based on class participation, on how well you present yourself orally in class discussions and workshops.
Discussions:
Our discussions will center around the assigned texts, your writing, and your peers’ writings. I expect you to come prepared. You cannot participate fully if you are not prepared, meaning you have read the reading and you have completed any other assignment due for that particular class.
Scholar Eve Sedgwick wrote in her Epistemology of the Closet “People are different.” This will be our number one axiom in dealing with each other. We will assume that we are all different but that we are all committed to the class, the discussion and each other. This is to say, we will actively give each other the benefit of the doubt. This does not mean you cannot challenge someone’s ideas or disagree with what someone has said. On the contrary it means just that: you will challenge others’ ideas and refer to their argument or their work not the person. We will not make assumptions about where people are coming from or why they appear to think a certain way.
Additionally I believe in games, exercises, and learning by movement and doing. This means sometimes I will have you doing things that seem silly. A sense of humor is really helpful but not required for this class. What is required is that you participate in all activities
Attention:
If you have any different learning styles, needs, or circumstances that might affect your work and participation in this class, please let me know within the first week of class. If you have not worked out any alternative work plans within the first week of class, you will be held responsible for the same requirements listed on this syllabus as everyone else.
Paper Rewrites:
With prior permission you may submit a revision for any of the three written paper [Not the presentations, project, or blog posts].
Generally speaking I work on the assumption that writing is revising. As such, I do not believe in averaging grades. If your revision gets a better grade than the first paper, you will have that grade (no averaging). However I will not penalize you for trying to revise (meaning I will take the higher grade regardless). You are required to do one revision, but you should feel free to revise two or three papers as well.
You will be graded on quality of improvement. So I will use the same four general categories of assessment as I do in the other papers (i.e. thesis; argument/structure; explication of evidence; and grammar and style). In each category I will assess how this revision has changed from original. I will also include a fifth assessment category “over all revision.”
Note: Revision is different from editing. Revision involves more than fixing a few commas and changing two words. A revision is a major overhaul of structure, argumentation, and/or presentation of evidence. You actually have to delete and write again. If editing is like cleaning the kitchen and maybe hanging some new dish towels, revision is somewhere between getting new counter tops or appliances and a total gut renovation. I expect revisions to seriously reflect any feedback from your peers or myself.