College Learning Outcome: The reading and writing assignments for this course are designed to help you achieve Defiance College's general education outcome 5B: Develop an appreciation of the importance of history, literature and the arts for understanding the diverse and complex world in which we live. B. Demonstrate an understanding of how literary forms and works help us to understand the human experience (updated 2010).

Helpful Resources:               

• Academic Resource Center (link): Located in the lower level of the Pilgrim Library. Phone: 419-783-2389
• Pilgrim Library (link)
•  Please see additional links on the class website

Grades:

Note about submissions: I have many students and this can easily lead to confusion. Please provide me with hard copies of your assignments on the day that they are due; do not trust me to keep track of email submissions. Secondly, do not turn your assignments in early.

Minithemes: You will write a minitheme(s) on every novel we read together. A minitheme, simply defined, is a short argumentative piece in which you analyze some aspect of a novel or film while providing evidence to back up your claims. A minitheme should be at least 250 words and no more than 350 words. It must also include parenthetical page citations following MLA format. You must submit a significant rough draft minitheme in order to get a passing grade on your final minithemes. Each minitheme is graded pass/fail. If you write a minitheme at the 75% level, you receive full credit (100). If not, you will receive no credit (0). In the absence of documentation from a doctor, no homework may be turned in late. Email your work to me (and group members), if nothing else, and provide submit a hard copy in the next class.

Critical Response to MT: You will provide feedback to each person in your workshop group. Feedback must be supportive, constructive and critical in nature, including concrete suggestions for improvement.

Participation: Physical presence alone is not enough; you must come to work, not to watch. You must engage in conversation on class topics to receive any credit in this grade category. You must give your full attention to the demands of class discussions and collaboration. To make this as as concrete as possible: if you add only two comments to our conversation during the entire semester, you will earn a 0.0 in this grade category. If you talk fairly often (once a week at least), you will normally receive full credit. Participation also means the willingness to thoughtfully and respectfully discuss your own writing, that of your classmates, and any other class readings. You need not always agree with others' responses and evaluations (in fact, disagreement is often useful), but you must be willing to take everyone's opinion seriously and try to understand it on its own terms. Participation is not however solely in-class conversation. Participation may also include one-on-one conversation with your instructor, WebCT discussion, as well as your group participation.

Class Decorum: The following activities are inappropriate in any classroom: text messaging, talking off-topic, listening to music, not listening to others, carrying on separate class conversations, checking email, sleeping, and/or studying for a separate course. Such rude activities annoy your classmates and professors. Keep in mind that your professors love what they do. Rude behavior is particularly frustrating in that light. Your participation grade will be severely penalized for such activities.

Attendance Policy: Regular class attendance is required. You are allowed one absences; save it for illness, religious observances, funerals, court dates, job interviews. For each additional absence, your final grade will be lowered ten points. Four absences constitute immediate failure of the course. You must be present for the entire period (tardiness will count as half an absence). Should a medical or family emergency arise that will require your absence beyond four classes, please notify me as soon as possible. You will be expected to provide documentation from a physician or hospital and to make up missed work. If a conflict arises between your obligation to attend class and an obligation to the college community, it is your responsibility to see me in advance, to hand in all assignments on time, and to make up work missed during your absence. Consistent tardies will also count against your participation grade. In the absence of documentation from a doctor, no homework may be turned in late. Email your work to me (and group members), if nothing else, and provide submit a hard copy in the next class. 

Accommodations Policy for Students with Disabilities: Defiance College is committed to providing educational opportunities for qualified students with documented disabilities through the provision of reasonable accommodations, in compliance with the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504). The purpose of accommodations is to provide equal access to educational opportunities without altering essential elements of programs or courses. All requests for accommodations are evaluated on an individual basis after review and evaluation of documentation. It is the responsibility of the student to request necessary accommodations and the student should do so as early as possible, as some accommodations may require time to implement. Students with a documented physical, psychological, or learning disability must be documented with Defiance College’s Disability Coordinator, Diane Kaiser in Defiance Hall Room 123, in order to receive special accommodations. Contact information for Diane Kaiser is Extension 2453 or email kaiserd@defiance.edu. Students may also contact Randi Lydum, Director of Retention at Extension 2336 or rlydum@defiance.edu or Robin Kratzer, Director of Academic Resource Center at Extension 2332 or rkratzer@defiance.edu. Please refer to pages 20-21 for Defiance College’s Accommodations Policy for Students with Disabilities which includes the documentation required for accommodations.

Academic dishonesty: Academic dishonesty is a serious violation of the integrity of the educational process and community. As the Defiance College Academic Integrity Policy states (see your student handbook), "All members of the DC community are expected to engage in their academic tasks with integrity and respect for others. A major part of the learning accomplished in college is the development of critical thinking skills, and these skills are only developed when each person’s work reflects his or her own original thought. Defiance College is committed to helping each student to understand and practice the highest degree of integrity in his or her academic work, and to take from that work the greatest intellectual and ethical benefit." Furthermore, "The basic rule for academic honesty is that a student’s work should always be his or her own." Plagiarism, a form of academic dishonesty, occurs when students use the ideas and/or language/wording of another without proper citation or quotation, regardless of a student's intent. Students who recycle work from another course, passing it off as new work are also guilty of academic dishonesty. Students who commit academic dishonesty will fail the assignment, if not the course, and have their actions formally reported to the Academic Dean's Office. A lengthier description of plagiarism can be found in your writer's handbook and online on my website. Please reference this page and/or talk with me if you have any doubts whatsoever about your use of sources.

Final Procedural Note: I make heavy use of email and the class site for announcements. Check both of these daily.

Schedule: Readings are due on the day they are listed. Several online readings (poetry and short stories) are not listed. In addition, the instructor reserves the right to alter the schedule and will notify students of any changes. Naturally, neither grading criteria nor major assignments are subject to change.