Category: Uncategorized

Argument Paper 1 is due on Brightspace on Monday, 11/18 by midnight. This paper should critique some claim made by Locke in the short section we outlined in Analytical Outline 3 on 11/4. If you were not present in class and so did not do the analytical outline, you may critique any of the claims made by Locke in the assigned reading for 10/30.  You can see instructions for the Argument Papers on the assignment page.

Please do not include your name on your submission, I prefer to grade anonymously.

The Academic Integrity Quiz is due before class on Monday 11/11.  Please read Dr. M’s academic integrity policy on Openlab and then take the academic integrity quiz on Brightspace (under “Quizzes”). You will have only ten minutes to complete the quiz, so make sure you are ready before you begin.

Midsemester marks have been posted.

These scores are based on a calculation of the percentage of points you have earned on the total points available so far, to this point in the semester. This includes half of your participation grade for the year, grades on two analytical outlines and two four-sentence papers, and the midterm exam. You can see the marks and their meaning below:

P: Passing. 65-100%

BL: Borderline. 55-65%

U: Unsatisfactory <55%

SA: stopped attending

These grades reflect your performance on only the 46% of the course that has been graded so far, so that means that 54% of the grade is still to be determined. If your grade is not where you want it, please note that there is still time to make major improvements. Also, if you have outstanding assignments, submitting them as soon as possible may significantly help your grade.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Best,

Dr. M

You should be able to see your midterm grades on Brightspace. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Our next analytical outline exercise will occur next class (this coming Monday, 11/4). You will have to outline a section of the assigned reading:

• Locke, John. “V. Of property,” from Second Treatise of Government, ss. 25-51. 

Familiarity with the reading will be immensely helpful to you in completing this in-class assignment. I will assign a smaller portion from this reading for you to outline in class.

You can find instructions for the analytical outlines on the Analytical Outline page. You will also want to take into consideration my comments on previous submissions.

Because this is an in-class assignment there is no way to complete it if you are not present. In cases where a student has an excused absence (generally only for medical reasons or bereavement), students should talk to me about how to make up for the missing grade.

Please disregard the last message. I have disabled the Respondus Lockdown Browser on this test, so please don’t  worry about it this  time. 

Best, 

Dr.  M

This is just a reminder that the midterm will become available today the minute that class usually begins. You can find the exam by navigating to “Quizzes” near the top of the class homepage in Brightspace. I thought that Brightspace would send out an email to you, but it appears it will not. Let me know if you have trouble finding the exam for some reason.

Please note that I have Respondus Lockdown Browser enabled. This means you will have to take the test in Respondus Browser. Respondus will prevent navigation to other sites or even using other apps during the test period. Please prepare yourself for this in advance. You can see more about this feature by visiting the Respondus page or watching the short video. You should be able to download it and install it in just a few seconds. It will also work on an iPad.

Good luck. You may email me (dmacdougall[at]citytech.cuny.edu) with any questions during the normal class period and I will try to respond promptly. 

Four-sentence paper #2 is now graded and you can see my feedback on Brightspace. I’m not planning to announce this every time but I wanted to share that you can view my comments and marks by clicking on “Turnitin Online Grading” (or something to that effect–I can’t see what this looks like from a students’ perspective). Everyone should have had a comment or two.

Please note, you can and should submit these papers late if you did not submit on time. The sooner the better.

Dr. M

The test will be will be administered on Brightspace and will be available from 6-8:30pm. You can take the test on any computer—you can take it in class, but you don’t need to come to class. You should receive an announcement to your email at 6:00pm when it becomes available. You can also find it by navigating to “Quizzes” in Brightspace after 6pm.

The exam is open book and open notes. I recommend that you study carefully for it by filling out the study sheet ahead of time. Most of the questions require understanding concepts, not simply repeating answers from the study sheet.

Do NOT plagiarize from the internet. Utilizing answers from class materials and lectures is acceptable. Plagiarism from the internet is grounds for a zero score on the test.

You can start it any time within the normal class period (6-8:30pm) and will receive a full 75 minutes to take the test. It is possible to pause the test and come back later, but the clock will keep ticking and you only have 75 minutes total to take the test. You will not be able to resume after 8:30pm.

If you need a special exception you need to contact me. If for some reason you don’t contact me and also don’t take it at the appointed time, you will need a documented excuse (either medical or related to bereavement) for permission to take it at another time.

Don’t forget to download the review sheet and fill it out before the test! And let me know if you have any questions.

Dr. M

4-sentence Paper 2 is due on Brightspace on Tuesday, 10/15 by midnight. This paper should critique some claim made by Scott Shapiro in the short section we outlined in Analytical Outline 2. If you were not present in class and so did not do the analytical outline, you may critique any of the claims made by Shapiro in the assigned reading for 10/7/24. 

You can see instructions for the 4 Sentence Paper on the assignment page.