ASSIGNMENTS
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 Discoveries or Close Reading essays 15% each, 30% total (can be revised for a better grade)
Final Essay proposal 1%
Final essay 24%
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 at 3:30)
–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.
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 Discoveries or Close Reading essays: 15% each (30%)
This short creative-analytical assignment prompt you to practice thesis and close reading by engaging in “discovery” beyond our syllabus OR reading a text from our syllabus.
DISCOVERY:
There are 2 parts to this assignment:
1) make or find a “mermaid” text not on our syllabus (short story, film, meme, poem, artwork, etc.) or a work of scholarship (scholarly article, book, etc.) that expands our classroom learning. Post this item (or a link to it) into your blog and describe the object.
2) explain and analyze how this discovery matters and extends our learning about literature and the environment in a short (2 page, single-spaced) essay with a thesis that focuses on 1 aspect of the object and articulates the importance of your discovery. Analyze and close read the object or scholarly text to explain its relevance and relation to the class.
CLOSE READING:
These short essays (2 page, single-spaced, 1000 words) 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 PROJECTS:
Final essay proposal–thesis statement and description of the project 1%
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. We will learn about Thesis Statements (and you can work with me (by email and office hours) to develop your argument.
Final Essay (5-6 pages, single-spaced): 24%
You will write a final creative-critical essay project 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 (can be from our course)
-You can use your blogs or discoveries (and you should!) to form the basis of your final essay, but the requirements listed above must be met.
Extra Credit: up to 1%
**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)**