clarification of attendance policy

For those of you who I did not see today in class: I announced a further clarification of the attendance policy. You are allowed three unexcused absences, and you are also allowed two excused absences - for any reason - as long as you tell me as soon as possible, so that you can make up the classwork for that day. Beyond the first two, you will need to tell me in advance and provide documentation (ie Dr's note, program for funeral, etc)in order to have an absence excused.

Some of you already have three or more unexcused absences. Each of these after the first three will subtract 20 points from your participation grade. So, since there are a total of 800 points available, if you had 4 additional unexcused absences, that would be 80 points off, which is the equivalent of 10% off. That's right, that means the highest grade you would be able to get would be a B, and that would be if you had received full points on everything. SO, try to come to class. Ok, lecture over. See you all Wednesday with papers in hand!

Jenni Lovato

Grading Rubric for Papers

I wanted to give you some idea of how your papers will be judged. There will be a maximum of 80 points awarded for the paper, to which I will add the points for your close readings, as well as one point for each grammar exercise turned in, to come up with your total paper grade.

PS - Don't forget, it will reflect poorly on your grade if I cannot read your paper - please use a printer cartridge with enough ink :-)

An “A” paper (72 - 80 points):
Will have few, if any, grammatical/spelling/punctuation/capitalization errors.
Will have a clear and well defined thesis statement, which controversial, provable, and suitably concentrated in focus.
Will use textual evidence and detailed close of multiple passages to conclusively prove argument presented in the thesis statement.
Will not digress or wander off topic. Will stick to discussing the text in body paragraphs. Will not only cite numerous details in specific textual reference, but will also carefully explain relevance of details to thesis argument.
Will be at least 4 double spaced, typed pages.
Will include a correctly formatted works cited page.
Will be in well written, logical, and persuasive prose. Language will be interesting and engaging, not artificially elevated or repetitive. Effectively uses appropriate vocabulary for literary analysis ( i.e. occasional mention of “tone“ as opposed to “feel,” Animal imagery” instead of just “animals,” “Visual or textual medium” instead of “pictures or words”.) Will often use parallel structure in sentence construction.
Will be written in mostly, if not completely, active voice. Will use first and second person sparingly, if at all.

A “B” paper (64 - 71 points):
Will have a relatively small number of grammatical/spelling/punctuation/capitalization errors.
Will have a clear thesis statement, which will be provable, but may be less than controversial, or somewhat too broad in focus.
Will use evidence and close reading to effectively prove argument presented in thesis statement.
Will not digress or wander off topic. Will stick to discussing the text in body paragraphs. Will not only cite details in specific textual reference, but will also explain relevance of details to thesis argument.
Will be at least 4 double spaced, typed pages.
Will include a works cited page with all pertinent information.
Will be in well written, persuasive prose. Language will be interesting, not repetitive. Uses some vocabulary of literary analysis. Will sometimes use parallel structure in sentence construction.
May have some instances of passive voice, but will try to remain in active voice most of the time. Will avoid first and second person, for the most part.

A “C” paper (56 - 63 points):
May have some repeated grammatical/spelling/punctuation/capitalization errors.
Will have a discernible thesis statement, which will be either provable, controversial, or
suitably concentrated in focus.
Will use evidence and close reading to attempt to prove argument presented in thesis statement.
May occasionally digress or wander off topic. Will stick to discussing the text in body paragraphs most of the time. Will cite details in specific textual reference, will attempt to explain relevance of details to thesis argument.
Will be at least 4 double spaced, typed pages.
Will include a works cited page with all pertinent information.
Will be in persuasive prose. Language will be mostly interesting, not artificially elevated, and not repetitive. May misuse some terms, but attempts to use some vocabulary of literary analysis. Will use parallel structure in sentence construction at least once.
May have repeated instances of passive voice, but shows effort to try to remain in active voice some of the time. May use first or second person immoderately.

A “D” or “F” paper (less than 56 points):
May have many repeated grammatical/spelling/punctuation/capitalization errors.
May have no discernible thesis statement, or thesis statement is neither provable, controversial, nor suitably concentrated in focus.
May not use evidence and close reading to prove argument presented in thesis statement.
Often digresses or wanders off topic. Often fails to stick to discussing the text in body paragraphs. Fails to cite details in specific textual reference, fails to explain relevance of details to thesis argument.
Is less than 4 double spaced, typed pages.
May not include a works cited page with all pertinent information.
May continually use language that is artificially elevated or repetitive, or repeatedly use language inappropriate to literary analysis. May repeatedly neglect to construct sentences in parallel form.
May have repeated instances of passive voice, or have repeated use of first or second person, or both.

poetry schedule

Poetry schedule
Week 5
M 25 Sept
Introduction to Poetry:
“The Red Wheelbarrow” (135)
“This is Just to Say” (135)
“At the Hospital” (169)
“In a Station of the Metro” (522)
“Buffalo Bill ‘s” (272)
“Listening to the Moon“(349)
“Fog” (http://www.bartleby.com/104/76.html)

W 27 Sept
“To Autumn” (305)
“That Time of Year Thou Mayst in me Behold” (159)
how to do a close reading of a poem, poem - Appendix, A3 - A24, “Writing about poetry”

F 29 Sept
“At a Bach Concert” (314)
“Jazzanatomy” (215)
“Ode on a Grecian Urn” (303)
“My Life has stood--a Loaded Gun--” (287)
“in Just-” (138)

Week 6

M 2 Oct
Hibl, Peter “La Migra” (80)
Wright, Meghan “Elena” (49)
“Theme for English B” (502)
“The Negro Speaks of Rivers” (365)

W 4 Oct
“To His Coy Mistress” (100)
Pasquale, Diana “The Flea” (89)
Hueber, Eva “She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways” (72)

F 6 Oct

Walia, Neal “ The Tyger” (452, 472)
“The Lamb” (340)
“Holy Thursday” (Both Versions) (103)
"Sick Rose" (180)

Week 7

M 9 Oct
No Class! (Columbus Day, pretend fall break)

W 11 Oct
Smolensky, Eric “The Poison Flower” (79)
Emanuele, Allison “To a Daughter Leaving Home” (91)
Behzadi, Bijan “The Lake Isle of Innisfree”(553)
First Poetry Close Reading Due

F 13 Oct
Lane, Mathias “Paradise Lost” (143)
“I Hear America Singing” (540)
“I Celebrate Myself” (83)
“A Supermarket in California (490)


Week 8

M 16 Oct
Preston, Andrew “Dulce et Decorum Est” (386)
Kavanagh, William “Lessons of the War” (879)
“Ulysses” (534)
“On the Late Massacre in Piedmont” (92)

W 18 Oct
Conigliari, Anna “Light Shining Out of Darkness”(476)
Brittany Malan "Dancing with God" (182)
Sharkey, Christian ”Clock” (38)
Second Poetry Close Reading Due

F 20 Oct
Lilly, Jessica “Love: Youth” (155)
Rancis, Adele “The Road Not Taken” (489)
Poetry paper workshop - thesis statement, Appendix A26 - A46, “Writing About Poetry”

Week 9

M 23 Oct
poetry paper workshop

W 25 Oct
poetry paper due - See syllabus for short story reading assignment

assignment reminder for Friday

Just to reiterate, so that there is no confusion like today, for Friday, please bring one copy of your conclusion paragraph (read Hacker pages 15-17), and two more paragraphs of your choosing for your peers to edit (for example: your introduction and one body paragraph, or two body paragraphs.) Also, to turn in to me, please bring one of the above paragraphs which you have edited to be ALL in active voice (no passive, so look out for forms of "to be", like is, was were, am, are, etc.) This paragraph should also contain a transition sentence as it would appear in your paper (read Hacker, 33 - 35 for transitions). Finally, don't forget that the grammar worksheets are due by Friday.

The Man Himself

Art Spiegelman

Crafting a Thesis Statement

See links on the right for various thesis statement writing resources. This is one of the hardest parts of paper writing. I know you all can do it, though. Good luck!

Jenni

readings

Don't forget to check the syllabus (also available on this site) before we meet every time to see what the reading assignment is. For tomorrow, it is chapters three and four of Maus I. There is always a reading assignment, and I may not mention it in class the day before.

Jenni