Assignments
GRADING
Final Grade Percentages15% Sounding Shakespeare! Project
15% Re-Citations Paper
10% Final Recitation
20% Final Research Paper
20% Final Exam
20% Participation and Preparedness
Accessing Grades:
Grades for major assignments will be posted on ICON under “Grades” approximately two weeks after the due date. Your participation grade and your grades on informal assignments will be posted at the end of the semester.
If you have a question or concern about a grade on a particular assignment, please observe the 24/7 rule: wait 24 hours to contact me about the assignment, but do not contact me any later than 7 days after I returned the assignment with a final grade.
Grading Rationale:
Final grades will be determined on the University’s A-F grade scale, with A as the highest possible grade.
A: To earn an A in this course, you must excel consistently, producing polished, well-crafted work that demonstrates mastery of new techniques and skills. You must use the revision process strategically to shape your work for your audience and take an active thoughtful leadership role in the classroom.
B: To earn a B, you must exceed all of the requirements of a C by producing proficient work that shows good evidence of revision and attention to audience considerations. You must be an active and constructive participate in the classroom and complete all activities thoroughly and with care.
C: Earning a C in this course signifies an average performance. To receive a C, you must produce competent, college-level work, completing all projects satisfactorily and on time, contributing positively to the classroom environment, giving basic attention to revision, and showing improvement.
D or lower: Earning a D or lower indicates that you have not shown consistent effort, have not met the minimum class standards in some way, or have hurt your grade by plagiarizing, not turning in work, or failing to participate.
ASSIGNMENTS
Sounding Shakespeare! Project (15%)In completing this project, you will record yourself reciting a passage from Hamlet according to the instructions of a recitation/elocution manual printed from 1750-1950. Research the manual, its author, and—if you would like—other relevant historical context. Write a reflection (2-3 pgs double-spaced) on how your recitation and research informed your understanding of the passage, as well as the play as a whole.
Re-Citations Paper (15%)
This assignment asks you to select a poem popular for recitation in the nineteenth century and create a short version of what Catherine Robson calls a “life cycle” for that poem. Your paper (3-4 pages in length) will consider how recitation of this poem affected its legacy. Which famous authors have read this poem or mentioned it? Where are lines of your poem cited in books, speeches, poems, etc.? Is it ever mis-quoted? Are the lines taken out of context? Which lines are cited more frequently than others? Why do you think that is? You can use the Google Books and NCCO databases for your research (we will go through research and structure for this paper in class).
Final Recitation (10%) and Research Paper (20%)
Around Week Nine of the semester, you will want to begin perusing my list of nineteenth century poems (on course website) in order to select at least ten lines of one poem that you will recite, research and analyze.
In your recitation, you will deliver your ten lines from memory in front of the class with emotion, enthusiasm, and a demonstration of your knowledge and interpretation of the poem.
You will also craft an argument about the poem that is informed by close reading and, more specifically, your unusually acute attention to the sounds of the lines and your experience reading the poem aloud. Using the MLAB, you will select 2 outside articles concerning your poem and you will discuss, in your paper, how your argument agrees, builds on, and/or challenges those articles. Stay tuned for more on strategies for research, theses, and paper structure in class.
Final Exam (20%)
During final exam week, you will take an exam (multiple choice, short answer, and essay) on the lectures, authors and works, critical readings, and overarching themes and terms of this course. Time, location, and date TBA.
Participation and Preparedness (20%)
Participation
Students are expected to be present each class, on time, and engaged in the fullest sense. This means that students should listen actively and respectfully while also making helpful, substantive contributions to workshops, peer review, in-class activities, and discussion.
This class is on reading ALOUD and consequently will involve a fair amount of performance, acting, gesturing, reading with emotion, wearing togas, and doing many other activities that may feel out of your comfort zone. Remember: you don’t have to be good. You just have to give everything a try. We will work hard to make this an environment where everyone feels comfortable, respected, and willing to get a little weird.
Preparedness
I expect that you come to class each day having read the material required for the day, that you have taken notes on that reading (either in the text or in another document), and that you have a couple of topics in mind to discuss in class if the opportunity arises.
We will have occasional quizzes and these will contribute to this portion of your grade, along with the quality of your in-class participation more generally (see above).
