All assignments build upon each other; there is no “busy work”– just exploration and experimentation. You can use your blog posts and commonplace entries to serve your end of year reflection. Again, you CANNOT use AI for any part of these assignments.
NOTE: **Should personal challenges arise that impeded your ability to complete assignments, please let me know ahead of time.**
***Late assignments are docked 1/3 of a grade for each day late***
Participation 15%
Weekly Blog 25%
Commonplace Entries 45% (3 entries, 15% each)
End-of-term reflection—Scrapbook aesthetic 15%
Extra credit: up to 1%
Participation 15%
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).
Grading Rubric for Classroom Participation:
A= attend class regularly, prepared to participate, and participate actively (generously and generatively) in class discussion. You cannot miss more than 3 classes
B= attend class regularly, prepared to participate. You cannot miss more than 6 classes
C=attend class regularly. You cannot miss more than 9 classes
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 provide a comment on a peer’s blog each week (due before the next week’s class meeting).
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) practice your analytical writing and thinking skills
3) 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.
– A comment on a peer’s blog each week is due before Thursday class-time
–You will be given an overall grade for blog posts, based on completion and content, not a grade for each post.
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 thesis C= Post contains no analysis of text (no close reading), just summary and undirected ideas D=Post contains little substantive thinking as content |
Commonplace Book Entries: 45% (3 entries, 15% each)
**A Commonplace Book is a personal collection of quotes– poetry, recipes, etc.—but also personal reflections on the reading. Different than a journal, which is introspective writing, a commonplace book documents an active reading practice and represents the fact that reading and writing, thinking and growing are entangled processes. Commonplace books were central parts of 19th Century (and later) American reader-writer culture, so we will pick up this practice.
You can use a blue book or any kind of blank journal, but I want you to have a separate, specific book for this assignment. You WILL turn it in; it WILL be read publicly in class.
Each Entry (3 entries, 15% each)
1) Select a quote from one of the readings, and transcribe it into your book.
2) Explain the quote in its context— the context of the larger reading and also our learning process in the class (reading schedule, discussions, etc.)—and WHY you chose it. Articulate a thesis about this quote: WHAT you see in it, WHERE/HOW you see that, and WHY that matters. These assignments should be at least 500 words.
We use as an example the practice performed in Caleb Smith’s Thoreau’s Axe; Smith, a Professor of English at Yale University.
*You can revise the first entry for a better grade, but only the first entry.
Final Reflection 15%:
You will turn in your commonplace book along with a short reflective essay (3-5 pages, double-spaced/ approximately 1200 words) focusing on what you learned from our class—from our readings, in-class conversations, and writing assignments. You will make an argument for WHY this learning outcome and/or experience matters to thinking about our current moment and culture. You must engage with (and cite correctly) at least two of the readings from our READING LIST. This reflection can be pulled from and built upon your commonplace book reflections and/or your blog posts.
Graduate Students: Your final assignment should be longer and more scholarly in scope– 5-10 pages, double-spaced/ 2000-2400 words– that incorporates engagement with at least 4 scholarly sources. Consult our Additional Reading page for support.
**For examples, see our website**
Extra Credit: up to 1%
I offer extra credit throughout the term for attending events related to our learning. To receive credit, you need to attend the event AND write a short blog post about what you learned.
*These posts are due on/by the last day of class*