The Norton Anthology of English Literature, The Major Authors, 10th ed., vol 2, ISBN 978-0-393-60309-3

Participation: While this online class is "asynchronous," allowing some freedom in the timing of student participation, due dates apply and diligent, engaged participation in discussions is crucial to your success.

Late work: Threaded discussions and critical responses are not accepted late. All other late work loses 5% per calendar day. To reiterate particularly, threaded discussions must be posted prior to the deadline to receive credit.

Minimum course requirements: Regardless of your overall grade average, to be eligible to pass the course you must turn in the formal paper and all corrections assignments, submit at least five critical responses, and take the midterm and final exams.

Content advisory: This is a college class, in a State University, and even though some students may legally be minors, I will treat all students as adults. We may read and discuss material that makes you uncomfortable or that some deem offensive or counter to their personal beliefs, including matters relating to religion, race, sex, and sexuality. If you are uncomfortable with any of the material we cover in the class, I encourage you to let me know about it.

Reading quizzes: unannounced quizzes testing your close attention to the readings.

Critical response writings: informal writings of at least 200 words responding to the readings. I will post critical response topics for each unit as we proceed. Note that you are required to submit only five of these responses, meaning that you do not have to address every assigned topic, only a total of five over the course of the semester. You may do up to two extra critical responses to replace the lowest two grades among the first five responses you submit.   

The Writing Matters test covers a variety of rules, conventions, and matters of mechanics outlined in several web pages from my site: the Golden Rules are important rules of grammar and style; the Nuggets cover a variety of conventions and problems, especially in the handling of quotations; a number of common problems in spelling and diction are described in Word Problems; the Quotations page presents basic conventions in MLA-style citation and documentation of sources. 

Terminology test: a test assessing your mastery of literary terminology which we will cover early in the semester.

Exams: Both the midterm and the final will consist of two parts: 1) "short answers," or brief paragraph-length commentary on the significance of specific passages from our readings, and 2) essays on central themes and literary features of the works we cover. There will be one essay on the midterm and two on the final. You will have some choice in the short answer and essay portions of each exam: you might on one exam, for instance, select 7 of 10 short answer questions and 1 of 3 essay options.

The paper: In a carefully developed essay of 5-7 typed pages (1500 word minimum), you will explore in some depth a subject you choose from a list of paper topics I will post on the web at the appropriate time. You will turn in a topic sentence outline (a paper proposal) before the paper is due as indicated on the schedule of readings and assignments.

Corrections: For the first two critical responses you submit and the formal paper, after your work is graded you will hand in corrected drafts with changes highlighted. For specifics, see corrections instructions. 

Conferences: Conferences are not mandatory, particularly in an online course, but I strongly recommend them if you struggle with any aspect of the readings and at any stage of the paper-writing process—exploring topics, drafting, revising, or editing. My typical aim in paper conferences is to head off potential problems in your essays and to offer helpful, critical feedback on your work before you submit it for grading. Meeting face to face in my office is ideal, but for those not within easy driving distance of the Macon campus, we can videoconference or talk by telephone.

For high achievers: Tutoring, in person and online, is available in the Writing Center and in Student Success Centers (SSC) on all campuses. The Macon campus Writing Center is in TEB 226 and the SSC is in the lower level of the Library building.

To check the schedules for subjects tutored and tutor availability, visit the SSC website at http://www.mga.edu/student-success-center/. On the Macon campus or fully online, you can book tutoring sessions by visiting mga.mywconline.com/. The SSC website also posts tutoring schedules for other centers across the five campuses, including the Writing Center (in Macon, TEB 226: 478-471-3542). All tutoring centers across the five campuses are free of charge. Other services at the SSC include online academic workshops and a robust website with resources for academic assistance. The centers also have computer workstations, free printing, and Internet access.

The Bottom Line: I hope every member of this class gets an A, and I will do all I can to make this happen. Don't get me wrong—the standards for "A" work are high, and I make no exceptions in course policies on absences, missed assignments, plagiarism, or late work. The number-one key to succeeding in this class is that you take responsibility for your own success, meaning that you attend to all assignments with careful, earnest diligence, that you respond positively to any setbacks and heed my feedback on all assignments, and that you seek my help as much and as often as you need it. I guarantee you have one of the most accessible professors at Middle Georgia State: ask for help outside of class, and I'll do my level best to deliver.

Addenda to the syllabus:
English 21XX syllabus supplement.
English 2000-4000 Grades and Grading Criteria.
English 2122.01 schedule of readings and assignments.