Course Requirements

Required Texts/Materials:

  • This semester, all course materials will be supplied by your instructor and will be free of charge to you.  
  • Optional, but encouraged: A college-level English Dictionary: You can use reliable dictionaries on the web, e.g., Merriam Webster (http://www.merriam-webster.com), Oxford, and/or a dictionary that you already own.

Grading Policy and Breakdown (taken from Professor Sears Syllabus)

Your grade will be assessed based on two primary components.

  • Homework and Participation (40%), which will include all class posts, peer review activities, homework assignments, student conferences and basically everything else you post online.
  • The Final Portfolio (60%), which will include revisionsof the major essays.

Participation/Homework- 40%

  • Your participation and homework count for 40% of your grade in this class. In this class, you’re graded almost as much on your weekly low-stakes assignments (which include the response posts, class discussions, informal assignments, student conferences and/or peer review activities) as you are on your high-stakes essay assignments. This is because in this class, you’re not learning how to write one particular paper or how to do one particular thing, you are learning about the process of writing (and reading—and researching) and all of these are the behind-the-scenes work, the homework. The process is also learned through online participation with others in this class. Many of these activities are designed to help you get your thoughts and ideas down in words. Still more will focus on ways to organize your papers, read and effectively take notes, conduct research, and read thoughtfully the papers of others in peer review.
  • More or less, if you complete the required class Participation/Homework activities before the designated deadlines, you’ll get full credit. Keep in mind that this is a writing course, grammar is as much as important as organizing your ideas on paper. Nevertheless, you should aim to write in a manner that you feel proud of sharing. Approach these assignments thoroughly and thoughtfully, and in a timely manner. Writing is largely about discipline and routine, so this is a good way to learn that– and to earn 40% of the credit for this course.

The Final Portfolio- 60%

The assignments in your Final Portfolio will be worth 60% of your final grade, with the grade breakdown as follows:

  1. Essay= 20%
  • Draft One- 10%
  • Revised Draft One- 10%
  1. Annotated Bibliography- 15%
  2. Final Research Paper: 20%
  • Draft One- 10%
  • Final Draft- 10%
  1. Reflection paper: 5%

Please note that while your revised drafts are considered mandatory papers, they serve as a way for you to improve your grade from your first draft.  Additionally, drafts and revised drafts, serve as opportunities for self-evaluation with your written work.