Syllabus

Requirements

Class Participation

Class discussion constitutes one key method for developing your analytical skills. Thus, I expect prompt, regular attendance and active participation in discussions of texts. You should come prepared for each class session, with required reading completed. During class discussions, students should plan to ask questions, make comments, summarize their electronic postings, interpret passages, or contribute to small-group exchanges. Students should also expect me to call on them, as I want everyone to earn full points for class participation. Like all skills, speaking in class becomes easier with practice. I do not expect fully polished analyses in class discussion; rather, your contributions represent ideas for further development.

The wireless classroom and presence of student laptops present the temptation of email and the web; therefore, students must follow basic ground rules:

  • Students should switch off and stow their cell phones before class begins.

  • Students will not text, check email, electronically chat, update their social networking status or surf the web during class, unless instructed to do so.

Lack of engagement in class activities, inadequate preparation, and failure to adhere to classroom rules will substantially lower your participation grade for the course.

Electronic Reading Responses

Students will use the class discussion board to post responses to readings or potential exam questions. Each week, I will pose questions about course texts. In a 250- to 300-word response, you may address one of my questions or introduce another point. Feel free to engage your classmates’ ideas as you write. The electronic postings allow us to extend class conversations, raise issues for in-class discussions, and develop ideas for the annotation assignment and exams. Your postings receive points on a credit/no credit basis, with full points granted to on-time postings that meet the length requirement and demonstrate serious engagement with the questions provided.

To complete your posting, go to the Canvas "Discussions” page, locate the question folder and select “Add New Entry.”

Annotations

The annotation assignment requires students to electronically mark up a selected passage from a course reading, adding commentary, links to relevant online resources, images, sound and/or video clips that explicate the historical, political, social, and cultural contexts key to understanding the text. Think of annotations as shorter, multimedia versions of the type of notes and resources provided in our editions of Cane and Mrs. Dalloway.

Exams

Students will complete an in-class midterm and take-home final exam. The midterm will consist of identifications and short passage analyses; the final includes multiple essay questions from which students can select. The midterm will cover modernist texts (Cane, Mrs. Dalloway, modernist poetry selections) and the final postmodern works (Asterios Polyp, Ceremony, The Things They Carried). Students may consult course readings and notes during the midterm exam.

Email and Access to Course Web Site

You must have a UW Net ID, a working email account and a way to access the course web and Canvas sites. I will frequently upload assignments and other materials to the web. You will also submit class work using Canvas’s assignments and discussion features.

Policies

Lateness Policy

Since electronic postings form the basis of in-class discussion, I will not accept these assignments late, nor will I allow students to reschedule the midterm. Annotations are due at the time indicated on the course schedule. Late annotations and take-home finals will receive a 10-point deduction per day late, including weekends and holidays. I will make exceptions to the lateness policy only in cases of documented illness or family emergency.

Technology glitches do not constitute valid excuses for lateness. To avoid computer problems, you should save frequently while working and you should back up work saved to a hard drive on a USB drive or an online file archive (Dante, Dropbox, iCloud, UW Google Docs). If the Canvas It breaks down, email your work directly to me.

Plagiarism Policy

English 213 adheres to the University of Washington’s policies on academic honesty, which prohibit unacknowledged use of another’s words or ideas. When you draw upon sources in your electronic postings, annotations, and exams, make clear to your audience that you are incorporating another’s work by placing quotation marks around exact words and citing the author’s name whenever you quote, summarize or paraphrase. Failure to credit sources may result in a failing grade for the assignment, a failing grade for the course, or other disciplinary action by the university’s Committee on Academic Conduct. We will use MLA format, which requires in-text parenthetical citations and a list of works cited.

Grading

Class Grades

Grades in English 213 will be computed by points, with 400 points equaling a 4.0, 300 points a 3.0, and so on. If your total falls between grades, I will round up if you score one to five points below the higher grade and round down if you score one to four points above the lower grade. For example, 274 points equals a 2.7 and 275 points a 2.8. Students who score less than 65 points total will receive a 0 for the course, as the UW grading system does not scale grades lower than 0.7.

Apart from postings, which are graded on a credit/no credit basis, points for each assignment will be awarded based on quality of work submitted. Each component of the course is worth the following number of points:

  • Annotations: 120 points
  • Class Participation: 40 points
  • Electronic Postings: 80 points
  • Exams: 160 points

Assignment Grading Criteria

The following links provide information on assignment grading: