Course Policies and Procedures

Required Texts(available in the Baruch College Bookstore)

• Aaron, Jane E. The Little, Brown Essential Handbook. 7th ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2010. Print. (companion site)
• Lopate, Phillip, ed. Writing New York a Literary Anthology. New York: Library of America, 2008. Print. (Please make sure to get the “Expanded 10^th Anniversary Edition”)
• Additional readings and handouts to be provided by me or made available on our course site—password: nyc2013

Course Requirements:

1. Two 3-5 page papers on readings to be assigned by me.
2. One 5-7 page paper on readings to be assigned by me.
3. One digital essay or story on readings to be assigned by me. This will take the form of a short video, podcast, or other multimedia presentation and will accompany your 5-7 page paper.
4. Each paper is to be typed and double-spaced, and done in multiple drafts.  For some papers, drafts will be discussed in class.  Each paper will present an argument, have a strong thesis, and use correct internal documentation.  The due dates for each of your papers will be stipulated on each of your assignment sheets when you receive them.
5. Response Papers:  Each week you will receive a short response paper assignment that relates to the readings for the week.  These papers are to be typed and will either be submitted in class or posted on our class blog.
6. Additional Writing:  in-class writing exercises, participation in a wiki, responses to your own work, peer evaluations and group work.  The shorter informal writing assignments (as well as the response papers and blog conversations) are intended to help you develop ideas and theses that will later assist you in writing your formal essays.
7. Active participation in all class activities, including the class blog.
8. Regular attendance and preparation for class.

Blogs@Baruch:

A lot of the writing and conversations that occur in this class, will continue outside of class on our course blog:

https://blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/spring2013nyc/

Joining and Posting on Blogs@Baruch:

1. Go to https://blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/ (Blogs@Baruch homepage)
2. Login using your Baruch username and password (the same credentials you use to log into lab computers and for Baruch wifi)
3. You will also receive an email from me indicating that you’ve been added to the Writing in/over/through New York English 2150 blog.
4. In order to post—login, visit your profile, click on “sites,” then select “Writing in/over/through New York,” on the top of the page, you will see a button that looks like “+New”—select “Post” and you will be taken to the right place and can begin to write.
5. Please make sure to select the appropriate categories for your posts (i.e. your class section + free response, process, etc.) and create some tags for your posts (i.e. questions, music, news, random, etc.).
6. I encourage you all to contribute to the images that appear on our blog—if you’d like to contribute a “header image”—take a photograph of an image you see and reminds you of our course theme and email it to me ([email protected])–ideally the dimensions of this image should be at least 1000 pixels wide by 288 pixels high.

Please make sure you register and add yourself as an author no later than Monday, February 4.

**Do not hesitate to email me with any questions or problems regarding the class site. It is always better to ask a question than to not complete the assignment**

Attendance Policy

Because this class will follow a sequential series of assignments that build upon one another, and because we will be establishing a class community of writers, readers, and critics, regular and lively attendance is essential.  Any absences will affect your final grade.

Departmental policy states that after four absences a student is to be dropped from the class roster.   If you do need to miss a class, please let me know in advance.

I also do not tolerate lateness.  If you are more than ten minutes late for a class, you will receive half an absence (two latenesses is equal to one absence).  Sleeping in class will also count as an absence.

Notes on Preparation for Class

All reading and writing assignments are to be completed on time.  Be sure to get the phone numbers/ email addresses of at least two of your classmates; then; if you must be absent, you can call or email someone and get the assignment.  You may also, of course, email me.  For the next session you are responsible for all work and must always come to class prepared.

All reading assignments must be BROUGHT TO CLASS, as they will be referred to for discussion.

You are expected to be active participants in all class discussions and activities.

Cell phones must be turned off when you enter the classroom.

Rewriting Papers:

If you get a paper back and are unsatisfied with the grade you received, you may always revise it; anytime a graded paper is revised, the highest grade is the one that counts and all others are dropped.  You have two weeks after receiving a paper back to revise and resubmit it.  When you resubmit a paper for grading, you must hand in the rewritten paper as well as all originals that I have already graded; when rereading your work, I must be able to see what you have done and how it is now different from your previous draft.

You cannot hand in papers, suddenly revised, at the end of the semester.

Your papers will be evaluated on the basis of competence in:

• Organization
• Development and support of ideas
• Mechanics (grammar, spelling, punctuation, citation of sources)
• Understanding and application texts discussed in class

Evaluation & Grading Policy:

• Two 3-5 page papers (30%)
• One 5-7 page paper (25%)
• Digital Essay or Story (10%)
• Response Papers/Blog Posts (20%)
• Participation and Preparation for class (15%–includes attendance, quizzes, and in-class writing and activities)