Assignments
All written assignments will be graded with attention to style, grammar and spelling in addition to content and argument. Students who receive 60% or less on an assignment are encouraged to attend a writing workshop. However, all students, regardless of ability, can benefit from further instruction in academic writing.
Every assignment will be graded out of 100. Late assignments will be penalized at a rate of 3 points per day late, beginning at 10pm on the date the assignment was due. All assignments must be handed in as hard copies. Email or other digital formats will not be accepted.
Participation every week
Blogs as chosen
Essay proposal February 10
Leading discussion various (sign up second class)
Final Essay March 31
Participation: To be successful, the course requires the active participation of all students. Active participation means more than simply coming to class. It means coming with notes on the assigned readings and ready to contribute to the discussion by outlining the main points of the readings, asking questions, commenting on the issues raised by readings, objects and discussion, bringing in examples and engaging in discussion with classmates. Commenting on other students’ blog entries will also count towards participation.
In order to participate you must be present. Students who miss more than three classes without documented medical reasons will have difficulty completing the course. Attendance will be taken every week. You will not, however, receive a passing participation grade for attendance alone.
Blog entries: I have created a blog for this course, which will enable all of us to comment on issues that arise in discussion, on objects that we look at and on texts that we read. The blog address is http://modernityseminar.wordpress.com and in our first class you will be given a password to access the hidden parts of the site. Items under copyright are password protected.
Your blog entries are to be like a short response paper or journal entry, about 250-500 words in length. In each you should respond to an issue, idea, image or reading presented in class. This is to be your considered opinion. It is more than a reaction; it is thoughtful, well-written, grammatically correct reflection. Be as creative as you like and feel free to post links, images, etc as part of your entry. The topics are open, although you should focus on the topic of modernity. The last blog will discuss what you have learned in this course. When you post your entries, they will first go through me so that I can be sure we are not infringing on any copyright laws. Keep it clean — this is public.
Essay Proposal: this is a two-page document in which you propose your object(s) of study (the texts and the ideas) and the course of action you plan to use in your paper. It should a paragraph or two that describes a topic, research/analysis question, tentative thesis, possible arguments and possible evidence. The second page will be a properly formatted bibliography, using Chicago or MLA style.
Final essay: Your final essay will be a 100-2500 word thesis-driven analysis of a text or group of texts that we have not studied in class and that falls within the period under study. You are to explicate and analyze the central idea or ideas in relation to the theme of modernity. This is to be a considered discussion of ideas, not a book report or summary. You should begin thinking about this immediately. You must clear your topic with me in the third week of class.
This will not be a long essay, but it will be a good essay.
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