Attendance/Lateness: Attendance and punctuality are mandatory. Since our work will largely consist of group discussion, missing (or arriving late for) a class can have serious and detrimental effects on your overall performance. You will automatically fail the class if you exceed four absences, though any missed classes will likely have adverse affects on your final grade. Please note that absences are absences—sick days (with or without a doctor’s note) are no different than days that you don’t feel like getting out of bed—and the only exception to this rule will be when classes are officially canceled due to inclement weather. The attendance policy for this class will be strictly enforced. Please show respect and courtesy to your peers by arriving to each class on time.
Participation: Because so much of our work this quarter will be collaborative, participation—both in the classroom and online through Facebook and the course blog—is vital and necessary. Freely and comfortably sharing your insights, opinions and perspectives (as well as your questions) will be an invaluable part of our fuller understanding of the texts we’ll examine. For this reason, class participation constitutes 10% of the final grade. Do not underestimate the importance of this percentage: a zero can have disastrous effects upon your performance.
Course Blog: In lieu of Blackboard, I’ll be using this blog to make announcements, distribute handouts as PDFs, and share supplementary materials — including useful links, podcasts and MP3 recordings, as well as YouTube videos—which will help to broaden your class experience this quarter. It’s in your best interest to check the blog on a daily basis, and to simplify that process, I’ve added links in the sidebar which will allow you subscribe to the blog’s xml feed through your preferred feed aggregator (iGoogle, Google Reader, etc.), or sign up to receive e-mail updates via FeedBurner when new posts are added.
I've also created a Facebook group for our class — there's a link to the right in the sidebar — which will serve as another venue for announcements, as well as a forum for discussion outside of class. Please note: this group is private, so while your wall feed will show that you belong to the group and/or that you've posted to the group, the content of those posts will be shielded from your friends.
Both our Facebook group and our blog will also be used for an number of online response assignments throughout the course of the term. These assignments — which will be graded on a check/check-plus/check-minus scale — will count for 10% of your final grade.
Presentations: In lieu of a midterm paper or bluebook exam, each student will be required to sign up for one day on which you'll iniatiate our class discussion, giving a relatively brief presentation (5 minutes or a little longer), in which you will analyze several key points in the day's reading (i.e. the continuation of plotlines, introduction of characters, readings of the narrative through the frame of race, gender, sexuality, etc.). On days when we're reading poetry, your presentations will take the form of a close reading of one particular poem. In both cases, I'm likely to provide a leading question or two to assist you. In conjunction with your presentation, you'll write up a short (3-5 page) response paper, which will be due on the same day. The paper should essentially be a model for the presentation, and in addition to analyzing the readings themselves, any connections you can make to other works that we've read (either by that author or others) or the general themes we'll be investigating will be greatly appreciated.
Students will sign up for their slots on the second day of class and each presentation/paper will count for 25% of your final grade. Some modicum of merciful consideration will be shown to those presenting during the first two weeks of class. Students who are not prepared to go on the day of their scheduled presentation will be skipped and their grade for the assignment will be docked accordingly.
Quizzes: Over the course of the quarter, you can expect a number of short, unannounced quizzes, which will serve as a measure of your reading comprehension and retention. Missed quizzes cannot be made up, and will adversely affect your final grade. The aggregate score of your quizzes will count for 15% of your final grade, and ideally, there will be at least five quizzes, all of which will have opportunities for bonus points. A hint: we’re far less likely to have a quiz if the class is having a lively and engaged conversation about the day’s readings.
Technology: In theory, technology is a wonderful thing, but in the classroom, it can be a distraction. Please make sure that your cell phone is turned off (or at the very least in silent mode) before class begins, and keep it in your bag throughout. Texting during class will not be tolerated. Laptops may only be used by students with appropriate paperwork from Disability Services explaining its necessity—otherwise, a notebook or binder will have to suffice (even if it's terribly old-world).
Communication: Please make use of my posted office hours, the time before and after class, Facebook and/or e-mail to discuss your performance in the course, pose questions you might have, etc. If you're having trouble, doing poorly on quizzes or just not getting the readings, it's better to ask for help sooner rather than later. Unofficially, you should meet with me at least once during the quarter.
Plagiarism: You are probably well-acquainted with UC’s Academic Honesty Policy and Student Code of Conduct, however it might be advantageous to re-orient yourself with those policies now, as classes begin again this quarter.
Plagiarism, defined as “the appropriation of information, ideas, or the language of other persons or writers and the submission of them as one's own to satisfy the requirements of a course,” can take many guises, including cheating on a quiz, cutting-and-pasting information found on the web, failing to properly cite sources or fabricating them entirely. Any student found guilty of plagiarism, in any form, will automatically fail this course. Disciplinary action will also result, including an official record of this offense, potentially affecting your academic future.
The Writing Center: The Writing Center is a valuable and free resource available to all UC students. Writing Fellows are available to help students at all stages of the writing process from brainstorming to drafting, as well as with editing essays. I strongly encourage you to have a tutor review all the writing you do for this course. Please visit their website for hours of operation, writing resources and more information.
Special Needs Statement: If you have any special needs related to your participation and performance in this course, please speak to me as soon as possible. In consultation with Disability Services, we can make reasonable provisions to ensure your ability to succeed in this class and meet its goals.
Final Grade: Your final grade will be calculated according to the following rough percentages:
Participation: Because so much of our work this quarter will be collaborative, participation—both in the classroom and online through Facebook and the course blog—is vital and necessary. Freely and comfortably sharing your insights, opinions and perspectives (as well as your questions) will be an invaluable part of our fuller understanding of the texts we’ll examine. For this reason, class participation constitutes 10% of the final grade. Do not underestimate the importance of this percentage: a zero can have disastrous effects upon your performance.
Course Blog: In lieu of Blackboard, I’ll be using this blog to make announcements, distribute handouts as PDFs, and share supplementary materials — including useful links, podcasts and MP3 recordings, as well as YouTube videos—which will help to broaden your class experience this quarter. It’s in your best interest to check the blog on a daily basis, and to simplify that process, I’ve added links in the sidebar which will allow you subscribe to the blog’s xml feed through your preferred feed aggregator (iGoogle, Google Reader, etc.), or sign up to receive e-mail updates via FeedBurner when new posts are added.
I've also created a Facebook group for our class — there's a link to the right in the sidebar — which will serve as another venue for announcements, as well as a forum for discussion outside of class. Please note: this group is private, so while your wall feed will show that you belong to the group and/or that you've posted to the group, the content of those posts will be shielded from your friends.
Both our Facebook group and our blog will also be used for an number of online response assignments throughout the course of the term. These assignments — which will be graded on a check/check-plus/check-minus scale — will count for 10% of your final grade.
Presentations: In lieu of a midterm paper or bluebook exam, each student will be required to sign up for one day on which you'll iniatiate our class discussion, giving a relatively brief presentation (5 minutes or a little longer), in which you will analyze several key points in the day's reading (i.e. the continuation of plotlines, introduction of characters, readings of the narrative through the frame of race, gender, sexuality, etc.). On days when we're reading poetry, your presentations will take the form of a close reading of one particular poem. In both cases, I'm likely to provide a leading question or two to assist you. In conjunction with your presentation, you'll write up a short (3-5 page) response paper, which will be due on the same day. The paper should essentially be a model for the presentation, and in addition to analyzing the readings themselves, any connections you can make to other works that we've read (either by that author or others) or the general themes we'll be investigating will be greatly appreciated.
Students will sign up for their slots on the second day of class and each presentation/paper will count for 25% of your final grade. Some modicum of merciful consideration will be shown to those presenting during the first two weeks of class. Students who are not prepared to go on the day of their scheduled presentation will be skipped and their grade for the assignment will be docked accordingly.
Quizzes: Over the course of the quarter, you can expect a number of short, unannounced quizzes, which will serve as a measure of your reading comprehension and retention. Missed quizzes cannot be made up, and will adversely affect your final grade. The aggregate score of your quizzes will count for 15% of your final grade, and ideally, there will be at least five quizzes, all of which will have opportunities for bonus points. A hint: we’re far less likely to have a quiz if the class is having a lively and engaged conversation about the day’s readings.
Technology: In theory, technology is a wonderful thing, but in the classroom, it can be a distraction. Please make sure that your cell phone is turned off (or at the very least in silent mode) before class begins, and keep it in your bag throughout. Texting during class will not be tolerated. Laptops may only be used by students with appropriate paperwork from Disability Services explaining its necessity—otherwise, a notebook or binder will have to suffice (even if it's terribly old-world).
Communication: Please make use of my posted office hours, the time before and after class, Facebook and/or e-mail to discuss your performance in the course, pose questions you might have, etc. If you're having trouble, doing poorly on quizzes or just not getting the readings, it's better to ask for help sooner rather than later. Unofficially, you should meet with me at least once during the quarter.
Plagiarism: You are probably well-acquainted with UC’s Academic Honesty Policy and Student Code of Conduct, however it might be advantageous to re-orient yourself with those policies now, as classes begin again this quarter.
Plagiarism, defined as “the appropriation of information, ideas, or the language of other persons or writers and the submission of them as one's own to satisfy the requirements of a course,” can take many guises, including cheating on a quiz, cutting-and-pasting information found on the web, failing to properly cite sources or fabricating them entirely. Any student found guilty of plagiarism, in any form, will automatically fail this course. Disciplinary action will also result, including an official record of this offense, potentially affecting your academic future.
The Writing Center: The Writing Center is a valuable and free resource available to all UC students. Writing Fellows are available to help students at all stages of the writing process from brainstorming to drafting, as well as with editing essays. I strongly encourage you to have a tutor review all the writing you do for this course. Please visit their website for hours of operation, writing resources and more information.
Special Needs Statement: If you have any special needs related to your participation and performance in this course, please speak to me as soon as possible. In consultation with Disability Services, we can make reasonable provisions to ensure your ability to succeed in this class and meet its goals.
Final Grade: Your final grade will be calculated according to the following rough percentages:
- Presentation / Response Essay: 25%
- Quizzes: 15%
- Online Responses: 10%
- Class Participation: 10%
- Final Essay: 40%
Paper Format: All worked handed in for this class must be typed, double-spaced, and MUST be stapled. Use 12-point, Times New Roman font for each assignment, and be sure to use the MLA header. Late work will be penalized, losing a full letter grade for each class missed.
Any divergence from these policies will be done solely at my discretion.
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