Policies

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:______________________

Attendance:

Attending class regularly shows respect not only for your professor, but for your peers and for the very mission of the course.  Perhaps more importantly, if you do not attend class regularly, you will not do well.  Participation–which includes commenting on the blog, engaging in class conversation, and being on time and fully engaged in class–counts for 20% of your overall grade and will be measured

After three absences–unexcused or excused, unless there is a documented reason for extended absence–your grade will go down by a single increment (B to a B-, for example). I take attendance at the start of class, so if you are consistently late I will count you absent.

Technology in the Classroom: Please be respectful of me and those around you by only conducting class business on your laptops.

Assignments and Grades:

Your grade in this course will reflect your performance in four broad categories as described below.  You can earn a maximum of 1000 points in this course:

  • Presence—20% or 200 points: measured by commenting on blog posts (10 @ 10 points each = 100 points: all comments must be over 100 words and substantially engage or extent the post) and by your course engagement in course conversations and other activities (100 points). Consistent participation in class will give you full credit, and I will let you know over e-mail if I am concerned about this portion of your grade)
  • “Extending the Conversation” Presentations–10%2 @ 50 points each = 100 points: in a course that attempts a deep look at both Whitman and his influence, the idea of coverage becomes something of an illusion: there’s much of Whitman that we cannot read, and swaths of his influence we will barely skim. Beyond the selections that I make for each day, a few students will bring in an additional poem or other item from Whitman or another figure. Each person in the course is responsible for two such presentations: one that supplements our reading with an additional Whitman poem, and one that supplements our exploration of Whitman’s influence with an additional poem from Visiting Walt or another artifact that illuminates the conversation that day.  In these presentations, you are asked to (1) explain why you selected the poem / text; (2) offer a brief contextualizing overview (what the poem/ text about, when it was published, important background info on author or context); (3) present the text in some way (if it’s a video  you can show it; it’s poetry or prose you can read a section out loud with the class; (4) relate the poem to the day’s reading; and (5) ask a pointed question of the class in relation to the poem and its relation to the day’s readings.
  • The W Blog—20 %–10 posts @ 2o points each = 200 points: Over the course of the semester, each of you will author 10 blog posts relating, in some way, to your work in this course. Though you can choose to respond to specific prompts that I offer in advance of each week’s reading and distribute on Fridays via e-mail, as the course evolves, I assume that you to explore your own interests and findings. These blog posts can range from more formal entries (close readings of poems, reflections on criticism, and so on) to more personal, creative, or contextual offerings (reflections on Whitman in popular culture, a poem of your own with a brief explanation, a polemical response to Whitman or one of his heirs, and so on).

Length: your posts should be 300-400 words (off the blog, roughly a page, give or take, double-spaced).  Comments, of course, will be much briefer, unless you choose to offer a “comment” as your blog post. In this case, your comment it should be 300-400 words, as though it were a post.

Commenting: Each week, I also require that you respond to your peers’ blog posts, thus enacting a conversation beyond the classroom.

Grading and Style: Though blog posts are naturally more informal and off-the-cuff than the writing you typically do for English courses, I expect them to be intelligent, engaging, and free of grammatical errors.  Remember: this blog will be public and searchable—it can and will be read by people outside the class.  Blog posts are worth 20 points each, and these are nearly all-or-nothing: you earn 0 points for not posting, 10 point for blogging poorly and hastily, and 20 points for a thoughtful, clean and engaging post.

All posts are due by 8pm on the evening before they are assignment; comments are due by midnight

  • Final Project—40%–400 points
  • Final Presentation–10%–100 points

Figuring your Grade: I will add up all the points you’ve earned in the course and give grades based on the following table:

  • A-Range: 970-1000 = A+, 930-969 = A, 900-929 = A-
  • B-Range: 870-899 = B+, 830-869 = B, 800-829 = B-
  • C-Range: 770-799 = C+, 730-769 = C, 700-729 = C-
  • D-Range: 670-699 = D+, 630-669 = D, 600-629 = D-
  • <600 = F

COURCE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES:

Dual Submission Policy:

The same paper may not be submitted for a grade in more than one class.

Plagiarism and the Honor Code—What follows is quoted verbatim, and reflects official CofC policy:

Lying, cheating, attempted cheating, and plagiarism are violations of our Honor Code that, when identified, are investigated.  Each incident will be examined to determine the degree of deception involved.

Incidents where the instructor determines the student’s actions are related more to a misunderstanding will handled by the instructor.  A written intervention designed to help prevent the student from repeating the error will be given to the student.  The intervention, submitted by form and signed both by the instructor and the student, will be forwarded to the Dean of Students and placed in the student’s file.

Cases of suspected academic dishonesty will be reported directly by the instructor and/or others having knowledge of the incident to the Dean of Students.  A student found responsible by the Honor Board for academic dishonesty will receive a XF in the course, indicating failure of the course due to academic dishonesty.  This grade will appear on the student’s transcript for two years after which the student may petition for the X to be expunged.  The student may also be placed on disciplinary probation, suspended (temporary removal) or expelled (permanent removal) from the College by the Honor Board.

Students should be aware that unauthorized collaboration–working together without permission– is a form of cheating.  Unless the instructor specifies that students can work together on an assignment, quiz and/or test, no collaboration during the completion of the assignment is permitted.   Other forms of cheating include possessing or using an unauthorized study aid (which could include accessing information via a cell phone or computer), copying from others’ exams, fabricating data, and giving unauthorized assistance.

Research conducted and/or papers written for other classes cannot be used in whole or in part for any assignment in this class without obtaining prior permission from the instructor.

Students can find the complete Honor Code and all related processes in the Student Handbook.

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