Grading Breakdown:

paper 1:  10%
paper 2:  15%
paper 3:  15%
paper 4:  15%
paper 5:  20%
blog:  15%
participation:  10%

 

To pass this course you must complete all of the major paper assignments, as well as the smaller writing assignments. Papers must be handed in on time. Missing deadlines will make the rest of the course significantly more difficult, and it will make my life considerably more stressful, which will in turn make me much less pleasant to deal with, which will in turn lead to nuclear apocalypse. (Maybe not.) Unexcused late papers will normally be docked one full letter grade per day, unless you get my approval for an extension. Moral of the story: if you think you’re going to have a legitimate problem getting something in on time, talk to me well in advance, and we’ll figure something out. Much better than a belatedly emailed expression of desperate shame.

If you feel that your assignment was graded unfairly, see me during office hours. There we will settle the matter using the ancient Germanic law method of trial by combat. You may pick your weapon of choice from the bottom left drawer of my desk, but the broadsword is mine. We will align ourselves perpendicular to the sun so neither party has an advantage, in a quarterstave sixty feet square (somewhere behind the HUB, I think), as standardized during the Great Schwabenspiegel Grade Dispute of 1275.

Attendance: Regular attendance is required. Please come to every class, and please come on time, or I will send vengeful ninjas to your dorm room. Your grade will be lowered if your attendance is poor, down to and including “F.” This is University policy. Specifically, you are permitted two (2!) absences; after that, your grade begins to drop. Excused absences for illness or emergency are appropriate, but beyond that, let me repeat PSU policy (Policies and Rules, 42-27): a student whose absences are excessive “may run the risk of receiving a lower grade or a failing grade,” whether or not some of those absences are “excused.” In other words: don’t miss class. Don’t be That Student™. If you miss a class, it’s your responsibility to get assignments, catch up, and submit papers on time—not my responsibility to make sure you do those things.

Participation: I want to hear from you, in whatever forms you’re comfortable with—if not in class, then in office hours or via email.

(Even the occasional telepathic communique is better than nothing.) This is why participation is a major chunk of your grade. I hope you’ll feel comfortable weighing in during class discussions, and even if you’re not normally inclined to talk in class, I’d encourage you to step outside your comfort zone in this class. We won’t bite. (Addendum: please do not bite.)

Blog: In lieu of a sixth paper (the horror!), you’ll design and maintain a blog, updated consistently over the course of the summer session. Details to come later.

Plagiarism: If you have any questions about plagiarism or its consequences, please ask. Plagiarism demonstrates contempt for ethical standards, contempt for me, and contempt for your peers. If you are caught plagiarizing, you run an extremely high risk of failing the course and wasting your tuition money. You may also be referred to the Office of Judicial Affairs, and this may result in probation, suspension, or expulsion for academic dishonesty. You will be roundly mocked, your teeth and hair will fall out, your breath will start to smell. You’ll be an outcast from the community of your peers and will be unable to carry on conversations with attractive men/women. Kittens will flee from you. In other words: Bad Things Will Happen™, so avoid going down that road (if you have any doubts at all about whether what you’re doing is plagiarism, ask me—always better safe than sorry).

Academic Freedom: In English classrooms, academic freedom most frequently comes up in two contexts: charges of “offensiveness” on the one hand, “brainwashing” or “indoctrination” on the other. On the first count: while you have the right to be free of gratuitous insult, you do not have the right not to be offended. I mean something very specific by this: at a university, you do not have the right to be protected from words, ideas, values, or beliefs—whether conservative or liberal, religious or secular, putatively obscene, or any other category—that you find distasteful. A key part of any education is the careful scrutiny of received ideas, however unpalatable their content or expression. By the same token, you should feel free to disagree, either verbally or in your written assignments, with any idea expressed in class, whether by me or by any student. Your grade will not be determined by how closely your thought agrees with mine or how aptly you mimic my own views in your papers; rather, it will be the product of the quality of both your thinking and your expression of that thinking. Every semester, I happily give “A” grades to students with whom I strongly disagree, because they write and speak with admirable clarity and grace.

Penn State Sexual Harassment Policy AD-41: Penn State is committed to an open, sensitive, understanding, and responsive campus environment, and as such, sexual harassment of faculty, staff, or students will not be tolerated. Penn State’s sexual harassment policy is available in greater detail online.

Penn State Accommodations Policy: It is Penn State’s policy not to discriminate against qualified students with documented disabilities in its educational programs. If you have a disability-related need for modifications in this course, contact the Office for Disability Services at University Park (located in 116 Boucke Building) at 863-1807, preferably as early as possible.