The assignments for this class are low-stakes but plentiful so that you have a chance to practice writing regularly and get feedback on your work. All assignments build upon each other, so there is no “busy work”; you can use your blogs posts for the midterm or final, for example.
Participation 20%
Weekly Blog 25%
2 Short Close Reading Essays 15% each, 30% total (3 pages, double-spaced)—these can be rewritten for a better grade
Final Project 25% (6-8 pages, double-spaced)
Extra credit: up to 1%
Participation 20%
This is your class, and your participation is vital to its success. You must attend all class meetings in order to receive full credit for participation Come to class prepared to discuss the text in depth; this means having read the entire text before class. I expect you to speak and listen.
- Your participation grade includes engaging in dialogue in class. This means speaking and listening actively, attentively, and respectfully. (If you have fear of speaking in public, this seminar is a good place to learn to address that fear. Please come see me early in the term to discuss strategies for dealing with this fear).
- Your participation grade includes a meeting with the professor.
Grading Rubric for Classroom Participation
A= attend class regularly, prepared to participate, and participate actively (generously and generatively) in class discussion
B= attend class regularly, prepared to participate
C=attend class regularly
Weekly Blog 25%
You will write (approx. 350-500 words) blog responses to the reading (any text and any idea/section from that text) and each provide a comment on a peer’s blog each week. The goal of the blog posts is to extend the conversation and coverage of the course by allowing you to 1) express, share, and comment upon interests, questions, and concerns related to the readings and also to 2) enable the professor to address and incorporate these topics in that week’s meeting. It is also a place to draft ideas and text for use in your essays.
–Blog posts are due on Sunday at midnight weekly; late posts will not receive credit.
—Comment on a peer’s blog (due before class meeting on Thursday)
–You will be given an overall grade for blog posts, based on completion and content, not a grade for each post. Rubric for grading is available on our website and below.
Grading Rubric for Blog
Your Blog Grade is based on 2-parts: 1) a completion grade, and 2) a content grade
| The completion component of the blog grade requires you to have the following number of posts: | The content component of the blog grade is based on the following grading rubric |
| A= 11-13 posts B= 8-10 posts C= 6-7 posts D= 4-5 posts F= 3 or less | A= Post contains a focused thesis or question and close reading of a passage, B= Post contains a close reading of content but no focused question or thesisC= Post contains no analysis of text (no close reading), just summary and undirected ideasD=Post contains little substantive thinking as content |
2 Short Close Reading Essays: 15% each (30%)-– You can revise each for a better grade. See the schedule for revision deadline.
These short essays (approx. 1500 words= 3-4 pages) are an opportunity to focus on one aspect or passage from a single text from our syllabus, to provide an in-depth analysis and to practice close reading/ explication. This essay also intended as a scaffolding assignment, meaning it is there to support you in developing the thinking and writing skills to produce the final essay, to provide a benchmark for your writing (and grade).
You can revise one of your blog posts or write new content that demonstrates your ability to
1) develop a thesis, and
2) use a text to support, through textual explication/analysis/close reading, your argument.
The short essay is an exercise in diving into the formal operations of a text to see HOW it operates and develop an argument about WHY that matters.
You will
1) select a single short text or passage of a text
2) pursue a focused argument about that passage: what you see in it and why that matters (WHAT, HOW, SO WHAT)
**YOU CAN REVISE these short assignments for a better grade, and you are encouraged to do so. Revision is due before next discovery is due**
Final essay proposal–thesis statement and description of the project
This assignment helps ensure that you are on the right track for your final essay and enables me to give you feedback that can assist in your development. You will write a 150 word abstract of your final project explaining your argument, purpose, and proposed media format. The abstract should contain a thesis statement, brief explanation of your purpose, and a description of the project (including proposed media format and rationale for that design).
**Completion grade**
FINAL PROJECT:
The goal of this final project is to present the culmination of your learning by way of sharing your takeaway passion-point from the class: what most interested and inspired you? what would you like to continue to study in the future? How does this learning connect to your major and major interests?
You will write a final essay (6-8 pages) that explores a topic or text from the course through a thesis-based argument and explication (close reading). You can write a creative-critical essay that takes the form of a work of a webart, video, hypertext, etc… but whatever format your essay takes, it MUST contain the following:
- a thesis statement
- close-reading explication of the text &
- engagement with (not just citation of) at least 2 scholarly sources (they can be from our reading list)
If you make a creative artwork, you must include a short essay 3-4 pages (750-1000 words) that explains, close reads your work in the context of the course and includes the above listed elements: thesis, close reading (of your work), and framing of the art in the context of the course with secondary readings (Melville’s novel and other critical readings).
**For examples of these projects, see our website
-You can use your blogs and short essays (and you should!) to form the basis of your final essay, but the requirements listed above must be met.
Grading Rubric for essays (similar to blog posts)
A= Essay contains a strong, focused thesis and close reading that supports it in a lucid, compelling manner
B= Essay contains a thesis and some close reading, demonstrating understanding and insight
C= Essay contains little analysis of the text (close reading) and/or lacks a coherent thesis, contains mostly summary, generalizations, and unconnected ideas
D=Essay contains little substantive thinking
**NOTE: All assignments are docked 1/3 of a grade for each day they are late (for example, an A becomes an A- if turned in one day late)**