While you can technically miss some assignments and not hurt your grade, sometimes one assignment is the only time a concept is talked about. Every small assignment concept will need to show up in your final essay for the semester. So you can be doing decently but if you don't learn the concepts and show me them in the final essay, it can drop your grade quickly at the end. The good news is I teach you each concept I need you to learn, so if you're learning as you go, you probably don't need to stress over it.
**Also note that because I want to teach you to use the best academic sources, we will only be using peer-reviewed articles and university press books through the SUU library databases and Google Scholar. They must be 10 years old or less.**
Discussions 10%
Discussions are completion-based assignments that allow us to explore course ideas and readings in depth. If you do this reasonably well, you get full points. One discussion grade will be dropped.
I have two identical sections in this Canvas shell. In order to comply with FERPA, I need students to sign a waiver saying if it's okay with you to do discussions across the two sections instead of just one. You'll see it as an assignment.
Workshops 10%
Workshops are low-stakes activities designed to help you practice skills and explore ideas (easy points that will help your other assignments, too)--they also let your professors check in on how your research is developing. They are designed to help with your Major Writing Assignments, so feel free to reuse and recycle the writing you do for them when appropriate! If you do this reasonably well, you get full points. One workshop grade will be dropped.
Quizzes 10%
These are open-book quizzes just to make sure you have some basic information under your belt.
Major Essays:
The bulk of your grade in ENGL 2010 will come from these interconnected assignments which culminate in a substantial, 10+ page Persuasive Argument Essay. The Rhetorical Analysis, the Topic Proposal, and the Thesis Statement are all part of the process for this final essay.
These are graded by skill (not time it took to write or perceived effort) so follow the directions and rubrics meticulously.
Rhetorical Analysis 15%
3 pages
Analyzing a peer-reviewed journal article about the arts for academic rigor.
Proposal 20%
5 pages
Proposing what you want you want to write about and organizing your potential Persuasive Essay about some aspect of the arts.
Thesis Statement 5%
This is part of your persuasive essay, but is pivotal enough to have its own assignment as well.
Persuasive Essay 30%
10 pages besides the Works Cited
This argumentative essay is a step up from a high school essay that argues a point about the arts.
A minimum grade of D- in the class is mandatory to meet the SUU core Integrated Learning General Education requirement.
Excellent (A, A-) | | Average (C+, C, C-)
A | 100% | to 94% | | C | < 77% | to 74%
A- | < 94% | to 90% | | C- | < 74% | to 70%
Above average (B+, B, B-) | | Below average (D+, D. D-)
B+ | < 90% | to 87% | | D+ | < 70% | to 67%
B | < 87% | to 84% | | D | < 67% | to 64%
B- | < 84% | to 80% | | D- | < 64% | to 60%
Average (C+, C, C-) | | Fail (F)
C+ | < 80% | to 77 % | | F | < 60 % | to 0 %
Neat trick! Hypothetical grades: You can plug in hypothetical grades into assignments in the Grades section of Canvas to see how this would affect your overall grade. I can't do it on my end but you can do it for yourself.
Dropped grades: I will drop the grade of one Discussion and one Workshop.
Late Policy and Revisions:
- You can turn work in late for full points! But late work on major assignments won't get notes from me, which can inadvertently affect your grade. (You can still get notes if you come in for office hours).
- You can do revisions for most assignments for full points, too! In writing, it is very common to have to revise. That's what the writing process is. I'll say it again: it's not a failing on your part when you need to revise- all good writers do it! I want you to learn, so if you miss the point of an assignment or you don't like your grade, come see me so we can see what needs to be done for your next attempt.
- There are exceptions to late work and revisions being allowed:
- Oct 10 and Dec 5 are hard deadlines. No work or revisions from Weeks 1-7 can be turned in after October 10. No work or revisions from Weeks 9-13 can be turned in after Dec 5. There are no exceptions.
- Your final draft of your final essay cannot be turned in late. There are no exceptions.
**Please, contact me asap if you need extra time or are struggling in some other way! I can't help you after the fact.**
Please remember:
1. You have to learn the skill to get the grade. Even if you work really hard, if you don't fulfill the assignment, I can't give you full credit.
2. The minor assignments are the lessons for the class, so don't skip them.
3. You earn grades; I write them down. Students don't get to decide what they've earned. Neither do I, really. I just follow the rubrics.
4. I can care if you'll be on probation, not be able to play for your team, lose your scholarship, have to go to home (all things students have told me, ), etc. I worry about all of you all the time, but I ethically can't give you grades you don't earn, add extra assignments for your personal benefit, or bend the rules just for you.