Evaluation

Out-of-class, formal writing (40% of total grade)

  • Literature Circle Handouts (20%) (Cumulative)
  • Molly Bang Picture Project (10%)
  • Koch Poetry Project (10%)
Revision
You may revise any formal, out-of-class essay ONCE after it is graded. See the Revision Policy in the Coursepak

In-Class and Informal Writing (40% of total grade)

  • Quizzes (5%) (Cumulative)
  • Midterm Exam (20%)
  • Final Exam (15%)

Attendance and Participation (20% of total grade)

  • I count into your participation grade: speaking regularly in class, being attentive to others' points, showing interest in what people have to say and responding verbally to others' comments, doing the reading and being prepared to talk about it, asking questions.
  • By definition, participation means that you must communicate with others. It also means you share with the class (private conversations conducted among your friends do not count!).
  • In your participation grade, I take into consideration your performance on pop quizzes, since you cannot participate well without having read attentively.
  • You also gain credit for participation by posting comments and responding to discussion on the electronic bulletin board (see Coursepak 2.1 for details).
  • Regular attendance is expected. If you have more than 3 absences, your attendance and participation grade will begin to be affected. Because if you are not here, you cannot participate in a particular day's class, you cannot "make up" participation or attendance points. Please use your absence allotment wisely.
  • Except in extremely unusual circumstances, more than 7 days of absence (cumulative absences) will result in failure of the course.

Other

Reading assignments. Assume that you should read the entire work or works by the first day it's discussed.
A cautionary note about plagiarism: Be inordinately careful to acknowledge the sources that have influenced your work. Should you incorporate the ideas, general phrasing, or exact words of any other source without properly crediting the author(s), you are guilty of plagiarism. The penalty for plagiarism can be severe: you may fail the course and the Dean notified of the reason for your failure. University policy advises that you may be expelled after two such incidents. See also the University website about K-State's Honor Code.
Tardiness. I expect you to turn work in at the beginning of class the day an assignment is due. Work turned in after the beginning of class is automatically docked 1/2 grade. Work turned in more than 12 hours after the class is docked 1 full grade, and then 1 more grade for every 24 hours turned in past the due date. If you know you will be absent, turn work in BEFORE it's due, rather than afterwards. I accept work turned in via e-mail.
If you turn your work in late, you cannot revise it for a higher grade.
Late Literature Circles. Because this exercise gives you crucial practice for reading and focusing and because it is a group project, this is not an optional assignment--if you complete it, you will receive full credit for participation, but if you fail to complete it at all, your handout and your participation grades will go down one full grade for each incident.
If you get your handout to me within 24 hours of the meeting, you will only be penalized on your handout grade, not on your participation grade.

All work must be completed to earn credit for this class.


This page was last updated Wednesday, August 18, 2004
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