Course Requirements

You are expected to attend and participate in all classes and complete all readings and written assignments. Please note that if you have more than 4 absences you can be failed or dropped from the course (department policy). If you have more than 2 absences, you can expect your grade to drop by one third, i.e. a B becomes a B- (ditto). Absences for religious holidays will not be counted against you if you tell me in advance.

Each week, you will be required to post a response paragraph (around half a page or so) on the class web bulletin board (can be found in ACIS directory of classes with "CUB Boards"). You may analyze a particular passage that strikes you, describe your overall reaction to the text, discuss a particular image or symbol, etc. I will try to suggest possible ideas and passages to explore, although you are free to write on whatever topic you choose, provided it is closely related to the text in question. The idea is to make your reading more active and engaged. These paragraphs are to be posted before 2 p.m. every Monday so I (and your fellow students, if they like) will have time to read them before class. Please also bring me a hard copy of your work so that I may refer to it in class. You may skip up to 5 of these assignments without penalty. If you skip more than 5, your semester grade will be lowered. (In other words, since there are 14 Mondays in the semester, you are expected to turn in response paragraphs for 9 of those 14 Mondays. Please make an effort to keep up with how many you have handed in.)


Grading

Class participation: 10% (including response paragraphs and occasional quizzes)
Midterm: 20% (identifications and commentary)
Final exam: 30% (identifications and essays)
Papers: 40% (2 papers, 5-7 pages each-topic suggestions and details to follow)