Final Grade (undergrads). Please talk with me at any time to better understand my comments on your work or to discuss your overall progress and success in the class. Success in this class depends on how well you meet all of the requirements. Your final grade will be based on the following percentages:
Class Participation: 15%
Discussion Questions: 20%
Ancient Rhetoric Study: 25%
Rhetorical Discussion: 25%
Exam: Final reflection:15%
Final Grade (grads)
Class participation, discussion questions, annotated bibs: 25%
Ancient Rhetoric Study: 25%
Rhetorical Discussion: 25%
Leading class session: 15%
Final Reflection: 10%
Grade Descriptors. To give you a sense of what constitutes an A, B, C, D, and F in this class, please refer to the following grade descriptors for participation and major assignments.
Participation Grade Descriptors
A Superior participation shows initiative and excellence in written and verbal work and an ability to work collegially with peers. The student helps to create more effective discussions through his/her verbal and written contributions. Reading and writing assignments are always completed on time, with attention to detail, and often show a high level of understanding and engagement. Contributions often provide others with better understanding or a new perspective or insight and instigate new lines of thinking.
B Strong participation demonstrates active engagement in written and verbal work. The student plays an active role in the classroom but does not always add new insight to the discussion at hand. Reading and writing assignments are always completed on time and with attention to detail. Contributions are often helpful in furthering discussions in specific ways.
C Satisfactory participation demonstrates consistent, satisfactory written and verbal work. Overall, the student is prepared for class, completes assigned readings and writings, and contributes to discussions. Reading and writing assignments are completed on time. Contributions could benefit from more attentive reading or better understanding.
D Weak participation demonstrates inconsistent written and verbal work. The student may be late to class, unprepared for class, and may contribute infrequently or unproductively to classroom discussions. Reading and writing assignments are not turned in or are insufficient. Contributions to discussions may be lacking, disrespectful, or far too brief and general to be of help.
F Unacceptable participation shows ineffectual written and verbal work. The student may be excessively late to class, regularly unprepared, and not able to contribute to classroom discussions or small group workshops. Reading and writing assignments are regularly not turned in or are insufficient. The student has a pattern of missing class, being completely unprepared, or being disruptive.
Grading for Discussion Questions. This will be done holistically over the course of the semester, so that I can look for patterns of strength or weakness rather than give you weekly scores. Please come talk to me if you'd like feedback on your discussion questions during the semester. "A good question is both a question that your fellow students can answer and a question that requires analysis, synthesis, interpretation, and critical thinking in order to answer it. Your questions based on a particular passage should both encourage and challenge us to articulate and uncover meaning in the text. You don’t necessarily have to have an answer to your question (indeed the most interesting questions often don’t have a definitive answer), but you should think in advance about the kinds of answers your question may elicit in class." (http://web.stanford.edu/dept/CTL/cgi-bin/docs/ta/pdf/Master_effective_questions.pdf).
A. Outstanding. Exceeds expectations for good questions over the course of the semester.
B. Excellent. Meets expectations for good questions very well over the course of the semester.
C. Acceptable. Meets expectations consistently for good questions very well over the course of the semester.
D. Inconsistent. Does not meet expectations regularly for good questions very well over the course of the semester.
F. Unacceptable. Does not meet expectations for good questions very well over the course of the semester.(quality or timeliness).
Grading for Major Papers. You'll receive an explicit assignment sheet for each major assignment; it will include evaluation criteria. I will apply the following grading system to the specific criteria of each assignment.
A. Writing shows little or no weakness in any of these elements.
B. Writing shows some weakness in some elements.
C. Writing shows some weakness in most elements, or great weakness in some.
D. Writing shows some weakness in all elements, or great weakness in most.
F. Writing shows great weakness in all elements.