Grading

How your coursework is weighted ⚖️

Your grades are divided into four categories. The reading and writing about the readings take the most time, focus, thinking, as well as honesty about your experience, so the Reading Activities (Discussions) have the greatest weight as a single item. Be sure to annotate your texts as you read and reflect because you will need to use quotes and specific details when you complete the Reading Activities.  There will be 2 Writing Assignments, There are four options for this assignment, and you will need to select a different option each time. One option will be a creative writing activity in which you explore the life of a character before and/or after the portion of their lives we see in the work we read. One will be rewriting the ending of a work in the writing style of the original author. One will be creating a game to capture the experience of one of the groups without much power and privilege during one of these eras. One will be a comparison/contrast essay examining power and privilege in two works. The Final Project will also offer at least two options. You will be analyzing how the elements of fiction are utilized to convey a theme/thesis about a work that you did not write about for either of the Writing Assignments or identifying the elements of your own future story. The Context Anti-Quizzes -- yeah, I know, quizzes suck. But these are not quizzes in the sense you are thinking of. Rather than assessing your learning, they are there to simplify the process of learning. In an online class, it takes longer than in a face-to-face class for you to identify which information that you encounter is critical, and which is not, as well as what in the world you are supposed to do with that information. It's very easy to read over something or watch a video, but not actually retain much of it. The anti-quizzes simply help you focus on what is important for our purposes.  You may also retake the quizzes three times. (If you don't get full credit after the second time, feel free to reach out to me or to our "Course Questions and Answers" Discussion Page Q and A and ask for help). The purpose of these quizzes is NOT to trip you up. But, rather, to help you know which information is relevant and to give your brain an opportunity to process the information, which makes it easier to remember it and connect it to the literature.

• Reading Activities (Discussions) : 50%

• 2 Writing Assignments -- 20% total -- 10% for each  

• Final Project -- 15%

• Context Anti-Quizzes: 15% (Don't be alarmed, these are easy, and you get three attempts. They simply help you process which information is most important)