For the most part, each week of the semester will be devoted to a specific work. On Tuesdays we shall follow a lecture format; on Thursdays, a seminar-discussion format. To prepare for the lectures, you should have completed your reading of the relevant text for that period. To prepare for the discussions, you should have completed the relevant entries in your Interrogative Notebook (see "Written Assignments, below).
Inasmuch as class discussion periods will follow the contours of your specific interests, each student is asked to prepare for each Thursday session by formulating no less than five (5) questions, the consideration of which s/he regards as suitable for initiating insight into the text at hand. In order to facilitate this process in a reliable manner, you are further asked to record your questions in a notebook which will be reviewed and graded by your instructor. Roughly twenty-three percent of the final grade will reflect the quality of this notebook. Cosmetics are unimportant; notebooks will be assessed solely with regard to evidence of your ability to open avenues of insight into the course materials.
Roughly thirty-one percent of the final grade will be based on your submission of a formal essay devoted to close semantic analysis of terms or passages drawn from a single work. Not to exceed fifteen (15) double-spaced typed pages, this assignment may be completed using either of the following formats:
Roughly thirty-six percent of the final grade will be based on your submission of a formal essay devoted to a creative synthesis of your insights into a single work. Not to exceed fifteen (15) double-spaced typed pages, this assignment may be completed using one of the following formats:
The remaining ninety percent of the final grade will be based on the following division (total possible points = 200):
(a) The Interrogative Notebook: 50 pts.
(b) The Analytical Essay: 70 pts.
(c) The Critical Essay: 80 pts.