Attendance

This is the easiest 20% of your grade. Just show up.

Sentences

Starting in the second class of the term you'll be expected to submit a sentence or sentences of your own composition for the professor to grade.

Paragraphs

During the term you will be given short writing assignments: specifically one paragraph at a time to a total of three paragraphs.
 The grade assigned for these works collectively will be the average of all the grades given for the paragraphs. If you fail to submit any one assignment, you’ll thus suffer in two ways: first, you'll rob yourself of the opportunity to learn, to improve your writing, and to engage in the practice of writing, and second, you’ll automatically lower your final grade by reducing your average grade in this category.

You will be told one class before you are required to submit a well-formed paragraph. A good description of paragraphing is available here.

Presentation

Between Oct. 1 and Oct. 22 we will study short stories from the course anthology. In essence, you will be expected to teach one of these stories to the class. This may be your first term in university, but it is not your first term in school. Think back to other English classes you've been in. Do here what someone else did there.
 In your presentation you can stay in your seat or get up and move around--however you're more comfortable. What you canNOT do is stay silent. Almost certainly others will choose the same story to present, so be sure to prepare more than just one or two things to teach us. Ideally we will get competing interpretations of the story that will engage the class in discussion.
 On Sept. 17 you must indicate what short story you want to present. This is the only written part of this assignment. Your grade will be based entirely on how much you have to say in class.
 WARNING: Don't over-prepare. You can't have the whole class to yourself; others will also need time to talk to us. In all likelihood the professor will ask you to "say one thing about the story that is not obvious to any casual reader." (However, this might happen to you more than once.)
 If there's anything unclear to you about this assignment the onus is on you to ask well before time.

Reading Journal

For a full description of this assignment click here.
  The first "third" of this assignment is due Oct. 2.
 The second "third" of this assignment is due Nov. 2.
 The final "third" of this assignment is due Dec. 2.

Essay

Write an Informative Essay on any of the texts we have studied this term. To learn what an informative essay is, click here.
 Do NOT include a title page. Do NOT.
 Caution: Students have been submitting work that is not their own for a lot longer than AI has been around. The professor knows how to ask the kind of probing questions that can determine whether or not you are the author of what you have submitted. So don't risk seeking the help of any online writing generator.
 Due: TBD