Required Course Work

          Assignments marked [ALL] are required for all students; assignments marked [CWP] are required for CWP candidates only.  If you are a sophomore, junior, or senior and have not yet met the College Writing Proficiency requirement, you have to ask me at the beginning of the semester if you wish to work with me on your writing to meet the requirement.  Freshmen ordinarily will not be allowed to use the course as a substitute for English 104 or English 105, but they are encouraged to take it as an introduction to Anglo-European literature.  Students at the sophomore level and above, especially if they are English majors, will be expected to engage the readings at a more challenging level than first-semester freshmen.  Think of it as any 200-level literature course, and read and write accordingly.  Freshmen should talk with the instructor early in the semester and as frequently as needed to set reasonable goals for their performance in the course. 

         Unannounced quizzes will be given on the literal content of the reading (who did what to whom, when, where, and why).  They will contain 3 questions and an extra point question.  Questions will relate only to the reading to be completed that day.  IF the class is doing really well on the quizzes by the end of the first month, I will suspend them and we can get to discussion so much sooner!  If you miss a quiz, you may not make it up.  I  will  drop your lowest quiz grade and your average will be graded  by  comparison with the class average (i.e., "curved"). [ALL]    

            Class Participation is required.  If you are not comfortable speaking in a large class, make up this component of the course by posting to the GoucherLearn discussion forum, and by talking with me in conferences, by phone, or during office hours.  If you do not discuss your reading with me or your colleagues during the semester in some manner, you might as well be studying this literature on your own.  Why take a class and not participate in it?   [ALL]    

            If  you are taking this course for College Writing  Proficiency (CWP),  your Midterm Paper must interpret a short  passage from one literary work  we've read by mid-semester in a 3‑5 page paper.  Explain why the passage is important to the work. Look for passages which  explain characters' motives, identify the  author's interests, reveal artistic techniques (narrative  or dramatic  structure, themes, images), or link with other works.  Required rough draft  due the week before mid-semester and final draft due before mid-semester break. [CWP only]  If you fail to turn in any draft or final revision on time,  I will not evaluate your work for CWP, but the paper still can count toward your final grade.

     The Midterm Exam (before mid-semester break) will consist of 2 parts: short   passages from works we've read, which you are to identify and explain; and essay topics from which you must choose one to write an explanation of some issue or concept relevant to works we've read.  During the semester, watch for passages I might use in the exam‑‑they show up on quizzes and we often talk  about them in class.  There will be a review session.  [ALL]

     Your Final Paper (due on the Monday after classes end) should compare and contrast parts of at least one work from the first (Greek) half of the semester with parts of at least one work we've read in the second (Roman) half of the semester.  This does not necessarily mean that the entire paper must be a "comparison and contrast" process.  Whatever you write should at least demonstrate en passant some reasonable ability to analyze individual Greek or Roman works as they relate to works in the other culture as part of the "Classical Tradition" in the course's title.  Also, do not imagine a thesis first and then try to make the textual evidence conform to it.  Reread the most interesting texts, consult your notes, and think about the evidence you see there.  Develop your thesis about patterns or pattern breaking in that evidence.  Take seriously my offer to respond to preliminary paper theses and supporting evidence described in an email or conference.  I want to help you avoid problems and develop your thesis.  No specific number of secondary scholarly sources are required, but ordinary scholarly practice indicates that any student writing on a literary text should be interested in and should take assistance from scholars who have written about it before them.  Just make sure you have your own thesis based on primary source evidence before looking for secondary sources.  If you have difficulty finding useful scholarship on your topic, please tell me so that I can help you.  That is an important kind of teaching which only you can initiate.   [ALL]

     The Final Exam will be like the midterm, only longer.  The passage identifications will cover only the second (Roman) half of the course, but the essay will require you to write on works from  both  halves of the course (Greek and Roman).  [ALL]

Evaluation: if not CWP...                  if CWP...

        Weekly Quizzes‑‑20%                Weekly Quizzes‑‑10%

        Class Participation--20%             Class Participation--10%

        Midterm Exam‑‑‑‑20%              Midterm Paper‑‑‑20%

        Final Paper‑‑‑‑‑20%                 Midterm Exam‑‑‑‑20%

        Final Exam______20%               Final Paper‑‑‑‑‑20%

                                                           Final Exam‑‑‑‑‑‑20%