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Course Assignments: Assignments will be varied. We will look at and experiment with just about all essay types, including hypertext. There will be at least one writing assignment each two weeks, with three central essays, and one longer paper scattered throughout the semester. Here are some specifics. Longer Papers: The "Tripos" System: Every seminar member will write one longer paper of ten to twelve pages. The paper topics will be discussed ahead of time, and each member's individual topic must be preapproved. The longer papers will be handled in true seminar-style. We will follow Cambridge University's "tripos" system. This system, developed in the earliest days of the university system in the Middle Ages, is named after the three-legged stool on which students would sit when being questioned by their examiners. We will dispense with the stool but proceed with the same type of system. On predetermined days we will address the longer paper of one member of the seminar. That member will be responsible for distributing his or her paper to every member of the seminar (including the instructor) at least two full days before the paper is to be discussed--this can be done either on paper or via e-mail (Microsoft Word documents only, please). Seminar members will scrutinize the paper, and, at the beginning of the class meeting, a "wrangler" will be appointed by the instructor. It is for that student--the wrangler--to begin discussion by critiquing the paper and questioning its author (for perhaps 10 minutes). The wrangler's "job" is to spur discussion by all seminar members, to raise interesting points, to debate spurious claims, to both praise and criticize inadequacies. Both the wrangler and the wranglee, if you will, will be graded on their performance. Once the class meeting is complete, the author will have three weeks to revise the paper and resubmit it along with the original to the instructor. For more on possible longer paper topics, click here.
Central Essays: These papers--three in total--will address specific issues of the course; essay 3 will address Calvino's, Eggers' or Queneau's book (depending upon which text you choose to read). Specific topics and guidelines for all three essays will be announced and posted here, and papers are expected to be of five to seven pages in length. They may use (or perhaps "should use") some secondary materials; whether those materials be books, articles, websites, videos, or other media is up to the author's discretion. Internet and multimedia can certainly be parts of the papers as well. As we will discuss in some detail, the inclusion of secondary materials in any essay lends strength to the essay's argument and, oftentimes, fodder for the author's point-of-view.
Weekly Writing: Writing is a job best done often. The more you write, the better your writing will become. To that end, you are expected to submit one written piece (no longer than one page in length) at least once each six class meetings (or once every two weeks); every member should have submitted at least five such pieces by the semester's end. These brief pieces can address any topic you'd like, but you should avoid the merely creative (no fiction or poetry, please). Possible topics can be gleaned from television, the news, current events, campus events, or your personal experience. These are, really, "think pieces"--and they should not only display your thinking process but encourage the reader himself to think. That's a lot of stuff! What about grades? What about grades? If you took this course to get a grade, drop it now. College is about more than grades; it is about enriching your life and expanding your horizons. Nevertheless, grades are a necessary evil of the American education system. It should be obvious from the above that the longer paper will carry the greatest weight of all your work this semester. In fact, it probably counts for as much as 40% of your final grade (that includes your job as wrangler on another's paper). The three central essays each count for about 15 or 20%; and the weekly writing another 10%. That leaves 20% for class participation and other sundries. Obviously, this does not add up to 100% because these numbers are estimates. If your longer paper is particularly superb, it will carry a little more weight--the same goes for the central essays. However, if you come in during the semester and ask "what would my grade be at this point?" I'll probably shrug my shoulders. If we have good communication (and I hope that we do), and we both hold up our ends of the seminar responsibilities, you should know how you are doing at any given time without having to ask. There are no formal examinations or quizzes in this seminar (that is what a seminar is and should be); so how will you be tested? Daily. It will be apparent to the entire seminar whether you have absorbed and processed the information into knowledge. |