Grading and Assignments

Daily Discussion Questions

For class every day (except on peer review days), you will prepare and upload to Google Drive two discussion questions about our reading for that day. We will use these in our class discussion and activities, so be sure to ask things that interest you. These also provide nice little seeds for you to grow into paper topics. You'll benefit most from a thoughtful, researched, and specific question than a slap-dash, superficial, or vague question—I'll select the strongest and most intriguing questions (along with popular concerns) to guide discussion.

Your questions can focus on a number of elements, but here are a few recommendations.

• Ask about something (a plot element, a character trait, a poetic element, a cultural/historical oddity etc.) that confuses you. Try to do a little research on your own and include your findings to enrich our discussion.
• Ask about a phrase or word that intrigues you. Think through how that phrase or word resonates with the rest of the text and its themes, context, or genre.
• Ask about an element that disturbs you. Is there a pattern, plot point, character trait, or phrase that you find jarring? Quote and cite it, explain what you're feeling, and provide some thoughts on why it feels that way or what purpose that feeling serves.
• In one of your questions, posit a wild and crazy theory about the text. Provide a little textual evidence (with page/line numbers), and explain how that might work. Then, ask the class to consider its strengths and weaknesses.
• Make a connection to another idea, genre, cultural moment, or text we've covered this semester and ask the class to build on it in some particular way.
• Make a connection to a current cultural event related to gender, sexuality, racial, or class identity. Posit (through cultural and historical context) what this connection demonstrates about the text, that event, or those identity constructs.
• Argue against a popular critical perspective (or my perspective) on the text. Provide solid text evidence! These discussions can be great fun!

See the discussion question folder below:

Peer Review Sheet

Synthesis Papers

Term Paper and Proposal

These are two separate assignments.

Final Project

This may be an exam, or it may be a project and presentation. More information will come later.

Departmental Rubric

All essays for this class will be graded using the department's approved rubric:

Grading

Your work will be graded on a 1000-point scale. At the end of the course, I will convert your total points to produce a percentage that will translate into a letter on the CAS scale. Here’s the breakdown:

College of Arts and Sciences Grading Scale

Your final percentage will be translated into a letter grade according to this scale:

A 100-94

A- 93-90

B+ 89-87

B 86-83

B- 82-80

C+ 79-77

C 76-73

C- 72-70

D 69-60

F 59 and below

Participation

I do not count the of comments per class period to achieve a certain participation grade. Rather, I am looking for your genuine engagement in topics of discussion and a sincere effort in all activities. Obviously, you should not spend class time texting, pulling up Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites on the lab computers or on your personal laptop. Some criteria for your participation grade are below:

• A: Prepare readings thoroughly; find and be prepared to discuss connections among them and among your writing projects. Take a leadership role in class discussions, going out of your way to involve others. Enthusiastically engage group activities, bringing something innovative to the group from your own interests and abilities.
• B: Prepare assigned readings and initiate discussions about them by asking good questions or suggesting ways to interpret and incorporate readings into the writing process. Make interesting and meaningful contributions to our group activities. Participate regularly in class discussion. Offer thorough responses and comments in peer review sessions.
• C: Read and prepare assigned readings so you are never at a loss if you are asked a question, but volunteer infrequently. Do sufficient but ordinary work on in-class writings, quizzes, and small group activities. Provide peer review comments that show a basic understanding of the assignment’s goals and criteria.
• D: Do the minimum: speak only when called upon. Pay attention, but without taking an active role in discussions, group work, and writing workshops. Provide scanty or superficial peer review feedback.

The work for this course is carefully sequenced and will grow out of ongoing class work as well as your homework assignments. Staying on top of your assignments, doing them diligently, and turning them in on time are all crucial for your success in this class. If you have questions about a grade you received, or if you would like help improving your writing, please speak with me. We can meet during my office hours, which I have posted above, or schedule a different time to meet. Make sure to speak with me as your concerns arise, not during the final weeks of class.