| Drops | Attendance | Papers | Late work | Reading response papers| Presentations| Websites | Web resources
Drops: The College drop policy will be strictly enforced. In order to drop on the 15th day of classes, you must have attended all classes, turned in all work, and have made a good effort to succeed in the course. Attendance: Participation in class discussion represents about one quarter of your grade. Any unexcused absences will lower your class participation grade. Excused absences include illness that precludes your presence in class and require that you submit extra work. See me in advance if you know you must be absent. Do not arrive late to class. Papers. See syllabus. Papers are to be on texts read in class or on texts within the scope of the class, with both text and subject to be agreed upon with the instructor. I welcome office visits for this purpose. When you write your papers, observe scrupulously the formats described in the MLA handbook and in the handout ``FRE and Literature Courses: Style Sheet for Research Papers.'' Staple the paper, please. Papers must represent clear thinking, excellent writing, and hard work. Careless errors are extremely rare or non-existant. The Writing Resource Center can help you with the difficulties of writing. You can get any available tutor to help you with such general matters as documenting sources, time management, how to write a conclusion, or talking out the ideas you have about a given text. If you'd like to have someone read your paper, there may be someone there who can read French. Tutors appreciate being consulted in the early stages of a paper; proofreading is far less satisfying than dealing with ideas. A grade of F will be assigned to any paper that does not scrupulously acknowledge all ideas not the student-author's own, or that in any other way constitutes academic dishonesty as set forth in the Compass. There is entirely too much of this happening. Most is unintentional; the penalties are nevertheless quite stiff. Please re-read the "Honesty in Academic Work" section of the Compass now. If you have any questions about acknowledging your sources properly and gracefully, I suggest that you consult the handout "Style Sheet for Research Papers," the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, the Writing Resource Center, their MLA handout, Purdue's "Avoiding Plagiarism" website (disregarding the section on common knowledge, which is too broad), or your professor. Daily reading response papers. (Not required for French 303). You will write at least 12 of these over the course of the block, including your first one on day 2. They may be in either English or French. I encourage you to write as many in French as you can. The purpose of these written responses is to help you to read and understand the text to be discussed the next day and to help you organize your thoughts on it before coming to class. The minimum standards include the following: typed, at least one hundred words, and well-organized enough to communicate effectively to me. It is helpful if you indicate the number of your response: "Réponse 9" for example. It is necessary to say what work you read and what that work is about. Include good bibliographical information and proper citation. Those are necessary but not sufficient. If is also good to say whether you liked the text or if it reminded you of something. You must go further, however. Some ideas for pushing you to engage the text: Use the questions in the book. Indicate is difficult and then push yourself to say why. Trace out all the religious vocabulary. Find a sustained metaphor the most important discussion question for class and say why. Say that the text. How does the text mean? What is not in the text? Here's how I will be evaluating your daily response papers. If you turn in all 12 papers and they each receive a grade of A, B, or C, you will receive 20 points. Papers not turned in or D papers will earn proportionately less credit. The purpose of the A-B-C grading, then, is not to put pressure on you, but rather to give you some clear feedback on each paper relative to the other work you have done. Students who make dramatic progress and/or consistently put forth an admirable effort will find this reflected in their class participation grades. They will also find that their hard work will pay off in good ideas for papers, in greater ease in speaking in class, and in higher exam scores. Presentations (exposés oraux): Good presentations are good teaching. They are not read. They often have visual aids. The class's interaction and participation are encouraged. Pronunciation is good, but communication is even more the focus. Websites. (Sites de Toile): If a website is assigned, you will need at least
Beyond the minimum:
Start early. Consult frequently with your professor and colleagues. When you deem it suitable, e-mail your professor with the URL of your site so that she can offer comments. When the website is in presentable shape, it will be posted on the class's website.
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