Assessment

ASSIGNMENTS

  • Weekly course blog entries, responses to readings, and comments
  • 4 short quizzes: questions based on course blog entries
  • Group project and presentation
  • Midterm: short (50 min) critical essay
  • Final examination: ± passages for rapid identification ±short commentary + longer (2h) essay

Weekly advance preparation and passages for close reading will be posted on this present UBC Blogs site in advance of each class, as will be assignments: in THE COURSE menu on your right. Outlines for each class will appear after the event. (There will also be a link to this site from the WebCT Vista one.)

GRADING

Weekly blog entries 20%
Quizzes (in class) 10%
Group project and presentation 20%
Midterm (in class) 20%
Final examination 30%

GRADING CRITERIA

  • Grading Guidelines for Content-Based Courses (Department of French, Hispanic and Italian Studies, UBC)
  • Critical analysis: grading criteria (O’Brien)
  • As this is a literature/culture course, most of your grade is for
    • content (your own idea and interpretation) and
    • structure (good choice of examples, relevance, an intelligent reading, well-reasoned, solid argument, acceptable conclusions with regard to all of the above).
  • Style, syntax, grammar, and spelling will contribute to the grade, insofar as they contribute to the communication of content and structure: bear in mind that this is an exercise in EXPLANATION which will be assisted by clear EXPRESSION.
  • While some critics, theorists, etc. may make occasional passing appearances in our course: note that this course’s focus is on primary texts and YOUR close reading of them. There will never be a pop quiz, vocabulary test, or “who’s who” multiple-choice exercise on this sort of thing (which is a good thing, but just not our present business).
  • Please don’t cheat. It’s not good, it’s not nice, and it’s no fun for anyone.
  • Proper citation is of course permitted, and a different beast from plagiarism. Do consult University policies further on this point; if in doubt, contact your professor and discuss.
  • See further: RESOURCES CRITICAL
  • See even further still: NBBB optional… to see matters from the other side, for examples of what not to do, and out of sheer mischief:

SEE ALSO: