American Romanticism Syllabus Element

Graded Assignments & Standards of Evaluation

Percentages assigned are only approximate, indicating relative weight in considering final grades, which are not computed mathematically but decided subjectively by comparing the quality of a student's thought and writing with that of classmates and wider academic standards.

  • Presentations, participation, attendance, emails (10-20%)

  • take-home midterm (20%; due via email within 72 hours of 2 October)

  • research proposal (ungraded; due within 72 hours of 16 October)

  • research project (40%; due within 72 hours of 20 November)

  • final exam (30%;  in-class or email 4 December)

Issues such as attendance, preparation, and quality of class participation may influence grades beyond percentages indicated.

Because literature studies qualitative values, this course directs students to think in broadly constructive ways. Only letter grades will be given, and pluses and minuses may appear on component and final grades. The relative weights indicated above may change to significant degrees, positively or negatively, depending on issues such as attendance and quality of participation in class. If a student repeatedly demonstrates lack of preparation for class, as by failing to track discussions, this may detract considerably from a student’s final grade.

As in most literature and humanities courses, quality of writing on exams and papers is the most decisive factor in grading. In reading and grading your writing, I cannot separate your ideas from their expression; that is, the quality of your thought is apparent only in the quality of the writing. Grades and criticisms will often concern the style, rhetoric, and organization of your writing as much as its content. This can be intellectually liberating for you, since I read your writing less for "the right answer" than for intelligent deliberation.

Presentation(s) are graded “silently”—that is, no grade is communicated during the semester. However, your presentation grade will be figured with your attendance and participation in your overall final grade and listed in your Final Grade Report.  Judgment of your presentation will be based on the interest of your analysis, the quality of your reading, and the level of discussion.