Welcome to My Course Policies & Related Issues Page

All reading and writing assignments are due on the day specified in the appropriate Reading Syllabi , at the time the class meets.

Since a literature course is a participatory endeavor, students are expected to attend classes faithfully and come prepared to engage in a significant discussion based on sufficient understanding of the assigned material. Prolonged and/or frequent absences and lack of preparation only hurt the student's performance and grade (participation is graded; see below), and may result in the student's failure. No more than three unexcused absences from class will be allowed.

All students are also required to spend time participating in E-Forum, as described on a separate, linked page.

Student success in my classes depends greatly on self-discipline; it is by far easier to succeed in the course by being consistent and persistent, studying each day, than by cramming for threatened quizzes or scheduled examinations the night before.

Evaluation

Student work in my English courses which have been awarded "W" status will be evaluated based on
(a)significant participation in in-class discussions and E-Forum,
(b)the quality of the assigned required critical essays in all courses that carry a "W"--of which only two may be revised (; when I receive a revision, the grade for the assignment derives from splitting the difference between the original and the revised version); and
(c) the success on the examinations. My First Term Seminar is subject to its own, different writing requirements and revision policies. These are spelled out on a separate FTS Policies Page. If you are enrolled in Human, Like you & Me?, please, make sure to read the information published there.

Criteria for evaluation of Courses sporting the "W" designation are broken down as follows:

• Class participation (attendance, preparation, significant contributions) 20%
• E-Forum( which requires disciplined effort [time deadline], thought, and perseverance) 10%
• Three Short Critical Essays, ca. 4 pages each in EN 15 30 %
• Two short critical papers and one Term Paper/Project in EN 82 30%
• The Spring, 1998, "W"-courses all follow the pattern given above for EN 15.
• Midterm Examination (which tests both knowledge of specific passages and the ability to synthesize information) 15%
• Final Examination (comprehensive test) 25 %

Note: In a non-"W" course, like EN05b, Masterworks the constituents of the Semester Grade are as follows:
• Class participation (attendance, preparation, significant contributions) 20%
• E-Forum( which requires disciplined effort [time deadline], thought, and perseverance) 10%
• Of the three in-semester examinations, a student must select Two 30%
  ( If a student elect to skip the first exam, he or she must write on the first essay option, so I will end up with one graded piece from each student by midterm time!)
• One Short Critical Essay (ca. 4 pages) in lieu of of the opted-out examination 15%
• Final Examination (comprehensive test) 25 %

Grading

Grades are figured as percentages of each student's achievement on a scale of 1 to 100. I do not believe in bell curves or other modifiers. In theory, each student in a class may end up earning an "A"!
The letter grade equivalents are based on the following scale:

95-100	A		74-76	C
90-94	A-		70-73	C-
87-89	B+		67-69	D+
84-86	B		64-66	D
80-83	B-		60-63	D-
77-79	C+		-below	F