Passing the class requires meeting the following minimum expectations:

• Miss no more than two weeks worth of class.
• Earn no less than 60 percent of assigned journal points.
• Submit all essays on time, including drafts for review, drafts for grading and drafts for revision.
• Participate fully in your book club.
• Participate fully in seminars.

You will fail the class if you do any of the following:

• Earn less than 60 percent of assigned journal points.
• Fail to submit an essay for peer review, grading, or a required revision.
• Miss more than two weeks of class, no matter the reason.

To Meet these Goals

The above criteria is about as specific as I can get, but it applies only to either failing, receiving a 0.0, or passing by the barest of margins, earning a 0.7. I wish there were specific criteria I could lay down that, should you follow them, you would earn an 'A' for this class. However, such is not the case, primarily because so much is tied to the writing you will do in this class and the work you put into the class. There are, however, a number of things you can do to ensure that you learn as much as possible, and if you do that, you should come away with a reasonably satisfying grade, though no promises can be made.

My Obligations to You

1. Be as clear as possible about my expectations for success in this class and what they look like.
2. Come to class prepared each day, having done the reading you were assigned and having read as many of your blog entries as possible to see where attention is needed.
3. To challenge you intellectually, academically, socially and culturally.
4. To hold you to high standards and expectations, partly personal and partly departmentally determined. 
5. To treat you with the respect you deserve, which is often in corollary to the respect you show me, the class and your classmates.
6. Return work in a timely manner.

Your Obligations to Me and the Class

1. The key requirement is to participate at all class sessions and to do all of the assigned work on time. You are responsible for all information presented in class, whether or not you attend. As this is a 'W' writing intensive course, missing even one of the essay assignments or receiving less than 60 percent credit on your journals means you will fail the course. If you do not post a blog on any given day, you do not receive credit for responses on that day. How do you do this?
• Be here daily having done the reading, thought about the reading, written about the reading and having read, thought about and responded to what your classmates have written about the reading.
2. You are ALL expected to have questions, concerns, and opinions about the assignment just read. To help yourself with this, you should read material that you find difficult at least two times, if not three. The first time through, just read for the general sense. After that, with subsequent readings look up words and ideas that are new to you. Take notes as you read; if nothing else, write a one-sentence summary of each page you read. Once you are done reading, type up those notes, filling in whatever gaps come to mind. Should you actively choose not to participate, or if I believe you have not read the day’s assignment, you may be counted absent. I will give pop quizzes if I believe the reading is not being completed or if discussion lags. Pop quizzes cannot be made up.
3. Because group work is an essential feature of the course, promptness and participation are a must. Missed group work results in a lower quality work that harms your understanding of the material, and because of that, your grade. Because one focus of this course is writing as process, not participating in group work makes your assignment incomplete regardless of the reasons.
4. Throughout the semester you will keep a reading journal that will respond to the journal prompts. Journals are a good source of ideas for essays. There is a sliding scale for journal credit but you will receive credit only on the day journals are due. Late journals receive no credit. Journals that do not fulfill the assigned text will receive no credit. There will be no flexibility about this. Receiving a score of less than 60 percent on your journals over the course of the quarter may result in your failing the class.
5. You’ll write two or three revisable essays during the class. Any final draft may be revised if turned in for credit within one week of being returned with a response. Essays learning less than a 'C' on the first submission MUST be revised. With essays receiving a "C" or greater, revisions are optional. We’ll talk about this in greater detail later. Not submitting even one of the essays means you will fail the course. Not submitting mandatory revisions means you will fail the course. Please do not overlook this requirement of the course as there will be no flexibility about this.
6. Turn in all work on time because late papers may be graded down one full grade. Late essays will not be accepted any later than the revision due date for that essay. Particulars will be given with each assignment.
7. Be sure that your work is original. Plagiarism and collusion are strictly prohibited in this course as acts of academic dishonesty. Plagiarism, along with submitting essays not written by you, is the direct quotation, summary or paraphrase of another's work without giving that person proper credit for their work, thoughts, and/or ideas. Collusion is the unauthorized collaboration with others. Acts of academic dishonesty are regarded by the College as very serious offenses. In the event that academic dishonesty on the part of a student is discovered, each incident will be handled on an individual basis as deemed appropriate in accordance with College policy. Dismissal from/failure of the class will be the starting point. I'll distinguish "collusion" from "collaboration.” I will also distinguish sloppy citation from out-and-out plagiarism, which tends to be pretty clear.
8. See me before problems arise.

Reading Journals: Journals will be posted in the class blog space. You musty create an account for yourself in order to participate. For each week of the class, there will be several reading assignments. Each assignment may contain a number of distinct readings itself. There may be a brief quiz on assigned readings at any time during the week. After each reading assignment, you are to write a journal in response to the assigned prompt and post it in the class blog for other students to read. You must also respond to at least three other journals to complete the assignment. All journals/responses are due before the start of class the day they are due if you want credit.

Journal Points

• 4 points: Posted before class accompanied by attendance
• 3 points: Posted after class accompanied by attendance
• 2 points: Posted before class with no attendance
• 1 point: Posted same day after class with no attendance; attendance but no journal
• 0 points: No journal, no attendance or journal posted after the day it is due.

Each of the journal points will be tallied and your final journal grade will be based upon the percentage of points earned. Particular directions will be posted in the blog prior to each journal being done. Generally speaking, you will have an assignment requiring you to respond to some element of the reading and you will also be required to respond to at least three blogs that address an element of the reading different than what you responded to. If you do not respond to the expected journals, you will not receive credit for your journal having been completed which can ultimately result in failing the class.

Exams: We will NOT have cumulative mid-term and final exams. Coming to class every day, paying attention, taking notes, and participating in the discussion is the best way to prepare for these exams because as much as is possible, the questions will be based upon what is emphasized in class activities and journal discussions. We will discuss this further as the quarter progresses.

Reading: You read this and you probably think, Duh! However, I just want to take this time to emphasize you will be reading works aloud in class on a regular basis (poetry especially). When it comes to poetry, you should spend time reading aloud to yourself, a mirror, a roommate, friend, spouse, sibling, or anyone who is willing. Practice reading poetry aloud as part of your reading them in general so you can gain a greater appreciation of what they contain. You should also be prepared to read assignments more than once. Good readers are re-readers. No one "gets" it all the first time they read a text.

Book Clubs: (Some variations will apply to online classes) Each student will participate in a book club that will meet throughout the quarter, sometimes in class but often you will need to meet out side of class. Books will be selected from the provided choices. After reading the book together, the students in each club will do a presentation to the rest of the class about their particular novel and the experiences they had reading it. The purpose of the presentation will be to show other students what they missed by not picking your book. The mid-term presentations will be about ten minutes long. Your final book club project will also be a presentation of about 50 minutes. Expect to engage in dramatic readings of other works along the way as well. We will discuss this more in class.

Essays: In order to pass the class, as in receive anything other than a 0.0, you will need to complete essays in addition to other writing assignments. I'll provide more information on this as the class progresses.

A NOTE ABOUT THIS COURSE STRUCTURE: A large portion of your grade comes at the END of the course with your book club presentation, your final paper, and your final exam. The course is structured like this to take advantage of your best work; that is, I expect that you will know more leaving this class than you did coming in and I want to grade you based more on that deeper, fuller knowledge. There is a danger in this, however. This format makes it easy to procrastinate. Don’t get trapped by this. You’ll save yourself sleepless nights and miserable days in class if you keep on top of the work. Additionally, missing even one of the major writing assignments, no matter the reason(s), will result in an ‘F’ and that is non-negotiable.

Above all, keep in mind that we should have something of a good time in this class looking at and discussing literature. My hope is that you have chosen to take this class because you have some desire to read and discuss American literature and all that goes with such a class. (Even if that's not the case, I won't be welcoming of complaints about the course content and delivery. You're here of your own free will and you're expected to act as such, which means dropping the class if it's not for you.) That’s the reason I’m teaching this class and I want it to be enjoyable for all of us. This enjoyment comes at a price, however, and that price is doing the reading and writing that is expected of you when it is expected of you. When we are discussing the material, please feel free to challenge my perspective, the perspective of others (considerately of course) but also be ready to do the necessary leg-work to back up your contentions and ideas. And please understand that you have an open invitation to drop by my office and discuss any aspects of the class.