Assignments:

All assignments must adhere to standard MLA format. All assignments, unless otherwise specified, will require a Work Cited page also formatted in MLA. Further information, instructions, and requirements for each assignment will be provided in the classes leading up to each assignment’s due date.

1. Attendance and Participation (150pts) – This includes being active in class discussions, being prepared to respond to assigned readings, participating in peer response sessions, and student/teacher conferences. Students who arrive to class unprepared or missing the material we will be discussing will be marked absent. (Just showing up and falling asleep, surfing the Internet, or sending text-messages do not count as participating).
   
   
2. Course Blog (100pts) – This includes responding to and discussing a weekly reading response question by posting to an online discussion forum. All entries must be between 300-400 words and will be graded on a pass/fail basis. Unless otherwise specified, each entry is due every Saturday on the date listed on the course Web site.
   
   
3. Team Presentations (100pts) – These will include one 50 minute presentation (25pts) where you and your team lead the class discussion and one major ten minute presentation (75pts) to the class. Further details about these assignments will be provided in class.
   
   
4. Papers and Portfolio Projects (650pts) – This includes out-of-class essays that follow MLA format. Topics, due dates, and specific assignments will be provided in class. Students will be responsible for the following: A Narrative Argument (100pts), A Visual Argument (100pts), A Critique and Analysis (100pts), a Topic Proposal (100pts), and a Portfolio Project (250pts).
   
   

Description of Grades:

Here’s the meaning behind the numbers I put on your papers (you can use these statements as clues about how you might work toward a higher grade):

Below 60% (F) –I usually reserve the F for people who don’t show up or don’t do the work. If you give an assignment an honest try, I doubt you will receive an F. If you feel you put in your best effort and still received an F, you might consider dropping this class.

60-69% (D) – You did what the assignment asked at a low level of quality. Work in this range tends to need significant revision. The content is often incomplete and the organization is hard to discern. Verbal and visual style is often non-existent or chaotic.

70-79% (C) – You did what the assignment asked of you. Work in this range tends to need some revision, but it is complete in content and the organization is logical. The style, verbal, and visual, is straightforward but unremarkable.

80-89% (B) – You did what the assignment asked of you at a high quality level. Work in this range needs little revision, is complete in content, is organized well, and shows special attention to style and visual design.

90-100% (A) – You did what the assignment asked at a high quality level, and your work shows originality and creativity. Work in this range demonstrates that you took extra steps to be original or creative in developing content and solving problems.