PARTICIPATION (10% of course grade)
An important feature of the experience of this course will be your ongoing conversation with your peers and with the scholars whose work we will be engaging. The course schedule and assignments will, to some extent, structure the discussion that we have in this class, but how that discussion happens and the various directions it takes are determined by you, collectively. This, needless to say, requires your active presence and engaged participation in the discussion each class meeting. Don’t imagine yourself preparing to come to class to respond to my questions and prompts, but instead come prepared to influence the direction of the discussion yourself. Your texts should be filled with your notes and responses before you arrive, and you should have generated some questions and comments that you think might encourage productive conversation in class. Ideally, I should be able to participate in the daily discussion to the same extent that each of you does.
To be considered “present,” do all of the following:
Arrive on time, with the day’s work prepared in advance, be it writing or reading or a mix of the two. Preparation of all reading assignments includes annotating the text as you read, and returning to the text, after finishing, to consider further ideas that were raised for you (including questions about unclear areas) as you read.
Bring all texts that will be discussed.
Turn off your cell phone, iPod, and so on.
Give me and your classmates your full attention.
Do not text, chat, or surf the internet.
Remain in the room until the class ends.
Conduct yourself in a manner respectful to all present.
A completely optional opportunity for the class will be the three “after-parties” where those who are available and interested will head out after class for some food and drink and relaxation together, to extend our classroom experiences and relationships beyond the confines of Maybank. These outings are likely to be on 9/7, 10/12, and 11/16.
REGULAR WRITING (20% of course grade)= 15 Weekly Blog Posts (17%) + 1 Review of the Week (3%)
Your weekly writing will take the form of once-a-week blog posts and one Review of the Week that you will create and publish on the blog over the course of the semester.
Weekly Blog Posts (17% of course grade)
due by 8pm Thursday
300-400 words per post (= 1 page double-spaced)
graded 0 (missing), 1 (just adequate), or 2 (fulfills expectations)
comments on others’ posts earn you extra points
These posts may be of four types:
1. Present your thoughts on anything related to the reading or discussion for that week, connecting (as the semester progresses) to ideas and concepts addressed in previous weeks. Such posts may be formal analyses or they might be more personal and reflective. (Posts of this sort should be marked with the category “Musings.”)
2. Respond to questions I post in the “Previewing” section of each week’s “Reviewing and Previewing” post. Such posts may be formal analyses or they might be more personal and reflective. (Posts of this sort should be marked with the category “Response.”)
3. Note a challenging term, concept, or event in a literary text or secondary text that we are reading for class. In your response, you will describe the kind of challenge it presents and offer some discussion of it–even if you don’t feel at all prepared to “answer” the challenge to which you’re drawing attention. (Posts of this sort should be marked with the category “Challenges.”)
4. Draw to our attention some material that we haven’t addressed or discussed in class that you find relevant and useful to our ongoing conversations. (Posts of this sort should be marked with the category “Attention-grabbers.”)
Your main aim will be to present an observation or provocation that might encourage others in the class to enter a conversation with you. These and all posts on the blog will need to be in academic English (rather than textspeak).
To get full credit, TAG your post with relevant key words (the name of the text and, where relevant, author of the items you’re discussing in that post is a place to start; note also any key concepts or characters, etc.), so that we can make good use of the archive we build up over the semester.
You will, of course, be expected to comment on others’ posts. Each substantial, worthwhile comment will earn you extra points on that week’s blog post grade.
Review of the Week (3% of course grade)
done just once
due by 6pm Fri via email
three parts: Overview, Noteworthy Quotes, Key Terms
In addition to these weekly blog posts, you will at one point in the semester produce a “Review of the Week” in which you will generate a reflection on the week’s class discussions. This Review of the Week will include three sections: Overview, Noteworthy Quotes, and Key Terms. I will produce the Review of the Week for Week 1, as a model, and then the following weeks will be assigned.
You will EMAIL me your Review by Friday at 6 pm. Then I will post this Review, accompanied by my Preview of the coming week, on the course blog by Saturday at midnight. Where necessary, I will edit these Reviews before posting.
CRITICAL WRITING
Since the deadlines for written work are so clearly spelled out in the syllabus, late assignments will not be accepted except in very extraordinary circumstances.
Short Mid-Term Paper (10% of course grade)
due September 27 at 11 pm in OAKS
In this first extended analytical essay for the course, you will make your first object-oriented analysis of a literary text that we have read for class. Because so much of the first half of the semester will involve learning to read Middle English effectively and engaging with different critical approaches, this first essay will not be research based but instead will present your own ideas about the primary literary text you choose, in discussion with select critics and theorists. This paper will be 5-7 pages long.
Final Project (30% of course grade)
researched analysis due December 5 at 11 pm in OAKS
creative response due November 28 or November 30 during class
The Final Project for this course consists of two parts: an extended researched analysis (65% of project grade) and a creative response (35% of project grade).
The Extended Researched Analysis will be on a topic you develop to suit your interests, based on the ongoing focus of the course materials and discussion. You may find that a blog post and the comments it generates leads you toward a question you’d like to pursue in further depth, or you might investigate a particular theme or text addressed by the course, or you might make connections between medieval experiences and attitudes to something from another time and/or place, including our own.
The Creative Response is intended to encourage you to consider, beyond the confines of the traditional literary analysis or research paper, how you might express to a similarly informed audience your engagement with the texts and related concepts and ideas we are studying this semester.
A more detailed assignment sheet for both parts of the Final Project will appear on the blog after the first two weeks of the semester.
Annotated Bibliography (5% of course grade)
due November 11 at 11 pm in OAKS
This bibliography is produced as part of your research for your final extended research analysis. The bibliography must contain at least 10 secondary sources (7 of these must be critical resources such as articles or book chapters; bear in mind that if you use two chapters from one book, that counts for two sources, with each one listed separately on the Annotated Bibliography). Only 1 of your sources may be an article assigned for class discussion, and only 1 of your sources may be an unsponsored website. (Your final paper will include at least 5 of these or other such sources, 3 of which must be critical articles.) We will spend class time looking at sample annotated bibliographies.
EXAMS
Midterm Exam (10% of course grade)
October 10
Cumulative Final In-Class Exam (15% of course grade)
December 14, 7:30-10:30pm
Academic accommodation for a documented disability can be arranged through the Center for Disability Services: 953-1431, Lightsey Center, Suite 104. If you are approved for accommodations, you should let me know as soon as possible so we can organize appropriate arrangements.
A bit on academic integrity: All students, needless to say, must follow the College of Charleston’s academic integrity policy, which forbids cheating, attempted cheating, and plagiarism. Any case of suspected cheating or plagiarism (on any written response for the course) will be sent to the College’s Honor Board, and any student found guilty will receive a grade of XF, indicating failure of the course due to academic dishonesty.
“Recycled” papers written for other courses are not acceptable in this class.
College of Charleston Honor Code and Academic Integrity, from the Student Handbook:
Lying, cheating, attempted cheating, and plagiarism are violations of our Honor Code that, when identified, are investigated. Each incident will be examined to determine the degree of deception involved.
Incidents where the instructor determines the student’s actions are related more to a misunderstanding will handled by the instructor. A written intervention designed to help prevent the student from repeating the error will be given to the student. The intervention, submitted by form and signed both by the instructor and the student, will be forwarded to the Dean of Students and placed in the student’s file.
Cases of suspected academic dishonesty will be reported directly by the instructor and/or others having knowledge of the incident to the Dean of Students. A student found responsible by the Honor Board for academic dishonesty will receive a XF in the course, indicating failure of the course due to academic dishonesty. This grade will appear on the student’s transcript for two years after which the student may petition for the X to be expunged. The student may also be placed on disciplinary probation, suspended (temporary removal) or expelled (permanent removal) from the College by the Honor Board.
Students should be aware that unauthorized collaboration–working together without permission– is a form of cheating. Unless the instructor specifies that students can work together on an assignment, quiz and/or test, no collaboration during the completion of the assignment is permitted. Other forms of cheating include possessing or using an unauthorized study aid (which could include accessing information via a cell phone or computer), copying from others’ exams, fabricating data, and giving unauthorized assistance.
GRADING SCALE
A 94-100 4.0
A- 90-93 3.7
B+ 87-89 3.3
B 84-86 3.0
B- 80-83 2.7
C+ 77-79 2.3
C 74-76 2.0
C- 70-73 1.7
D+ 67-69 1.3
D 64-66 1.0
D- 60-63 0.7
F 0-59 0.0