1) Active and anlytical reading of all assigned texts and engaged attendance in class are the essential prerequisites to productive and stimulating class discussion. I will evaluate your discussion skills (listening, responding, and synthesizing others' contributions as well as offering your own analysis) twice during the term.
2) The process of writing is an invaluable means toward honing your ideas on a topic or text as well as communicating them to others. You will write two short (2-3 page) papers during the term, which will be posted to our class Caucus conference. The due-dates for these papers are staggered and will depend on which group you are part of (see #3 below). You will also respond, again twice during the term, to a set of your classmate's papers. In addition, one longer paper (6-8 pages) will be due on March 9. This paper will go through a directed drafting and peer-editing process.
3) Group work: you will be assigned by lottery to one of four groups (imaginatively referred to as A, B, C and D) during the first week of class, and will work with your group colleagues throughout the term in a number of ways. Most formally, each group will research (using the internet resources available in addition to traditional ones) a topic that they determine, and will give a 15 minute oral presentation to the class on the results of their research.
4) There will be an essay final exam of a reflective nature given during the exam peirod specified for the class.
Your grade will be computed as follows:
The quality of our class discussion will depend on a number of factors, but most important will be the degree of preparation of each individual class member. I therefore offer the following suggestions on preparing for class discussion:
The short papers will be your opportunity to begin to explore a topic of interest to you starting from the texts we have been reading in class. They are to be 2-3 pages double-spaced. I will post to Caucus two possible topics each week (ideally on the Friday or at some point during the week-end before the Wednesday that the paper is due), but you should feel free to invent your own topic if neither of these appeals to you. The goal of the paper is to draw you into a limited portion of text (or a narrowly defined aspect of a longer text) in some detail,though; keep this in mind as you think about possible topics. A good starting-point would be a question: some area of puzzlement or difficulty which struck you on your initial reading of the text.
Whether you are answering my question or one of your own invention, remember to be as specific as possible to the text. When you quote something, include some reference: a line number if your text prints one, a page number if it doesn't.
Once you have written your paper, you will need to post it to our Caucus conference. You can do this either by "uploading" it, or by "copying" and "pasting" it. In either case, have a copy of your paper on the desktop of the machine you will access Caucus from. Then follow these directions:
Print a copy of your paper to give to me; I will want it in my office by noon on the Thursday after the Wednesday evening due-date.
The following model is the one I keep in mind when evaluating papers:
An A paper:
A B paper lacks any one of the qualities of an A paper: i.e.
A C paper lacks any two of the qualities of an A paper (see above).
A D paper lacks any three of the qualities of an A paper.
If four or more of the qualities of an A paper are seriously lacking, the paper will be returned as failing to meet the assignment.
Twice during the term, you will read another group's papers (there will be 5 or 6) and respond to each of them. You will post your comments on each of these papers as "responses" to the appropriate "item" in the Caucus conference. You should write at least 3-4 sentences on each paper, trying to be as specific as possible in your reaction. Think about the following questions as you craft your responses: Are there problems with the thesis as stated? With any of the textual examples used in the argument? Are there particularly nice points? Can you add any evidence the writer did not mention for or against the thesis? You should maintain an acceptable level of civility in your responses, but constructive criticism is very valuable, and learning to give it to others will help you give it to yourself! Remember that your turn will come.
Watch this space for a detailed description of the longer paper drafting process and assignment.