CLASS POLICIES

1.

Papers, at-home exercises, etc. are due at the beginning of the class period on the due dates indicated above; arriving in class even two minutes late will mean zero credit for an exercise or a half-grade reduction for the final draft of a paper.  I will help by evaluating preliminary drafts of Paper #2 submitted after the deadline, but no "preliminary draft credit" will be given for them.  Since late exercises will receive no credit, if you must miss class on a due date, be sure to fax or e-mail me me a copy of your exercise before the beginning of class.  (See Class Policy #9, below.)  Late final drafts of the paper will be subject to the following reductions: work turned in after the beginning of class but before the end of class on the due date will be penalized 5 points (on a 100-point scale).  For each day or portion of a day thereafter, the penalty will be 10 points per day, with 4:30 PM as the cut-off time (because that is when the secretaries lock up the English office).  If you must turn in a late paper, be sure to have one of the English Department secretaries initial it after recording the date and time.  Do not slip your paper under my door, since it will not be counted as received until I find it there.

2.

Papers shorter than the assigned minimum length will receive grade reductions of 5 points for each unit of 100 words by which they fall short..  Please do not try to evade the length requirement by fooling around with large fonts and margins.  A page using proper MLA format should have 1" margins on all sides, 1/3" line spacing, 27 lines to the page (unless over-ridden by widow and orphan control), plus a page header.  Properly formatted MLA templates are available at http://www.wright.edu/~martin.maner/rptemp.htm.

3.

I will not give a make-up quizzes.  I will not reschedule examinations for times other than those specified in the syllabus.  I will not give "extra credit" assignments.

4.

Assistance on written work should be limited to the instructor, library reference personnel, and Writing Center personnel.  Automatic penalty for any form of plagiarism (defined as passing off the work of someone else as if it were your own): F for the course, written notification of the English Department Chair and the Wright State University Office of Judicial Affairs.  Your papers for this course must be exclusively your own and exclusively for this course.  You may not submit a previously submitted paper, nor a paper simultaneously submitted for another course. Recommended reading: the Office of Judicial Affairs guide to the WSU "Code of Conduct."

5.

I normally do not grant "I" grades, since they usually cause more problems than they solve.  If you miss an assignment, your grade will be computed on the basis of the work you completed, with the missing assignment counted as a zero.

6.

A preliminary draft is not a "rough draft."  The preliminary draft should represent your best effort; it should be a paper ready to hand in for credit in a regular literature course, even though in this writing intensive course it will receive further revision.  If a preliminary draft is substantially below this standard, you may receive zero "preliminary draft credit" for it.

7.

Mid-course changes in the syllabus (assignments, readings, grading policies) are sometimes necessary, though I will always try to provide sufficient advance notice of such changes. If a sudden class cancellation or other change becomes necessary, I will send notification via WSU e-mail.  WSU requires you to check your e-mail account regularly.

8.

My office is 441 Millett, telephone 775-2639.  Another convenient way to have individual conferences is via e-mail.  My e-mail address is listed at the top of the syllabus.  I check my account daily.  Note, too, that this syllabus is posted on the Web at http://www.wright.edu/~martin.maner/08w300.htm.

9.

Sending a fax copy to meet a deadline is acceptable. The departmental fax number is 775-2707.  However, it is your responsibility to follow up the fax transmission by calling 775-3136 to confirm that the fax copy was received.  You should always "chase" a fax copy with a regular printed copy as soon as possible, since fax copies are flimsy and often only semi-legible.  Never hand in the only paper copy or disk copy of a paper.  Always make a full disk backup of your work.  Last-minute printer failures, disk crashes, etc. are not valid excuses for late work.

10.

You will have accumulated only a few percentage points of graded credit by the time the last drop date arrives. Probably the best way to estimate your likely performance in this course is to ask yourself the following questions:  a) Has the diagnostic exam indicated that I am likely to receive a grade lower than C?  b) Have I attended every class and done every assignment?  c) By the time the last drop date arrives, have I received low grades on the first paper and the first two quizzes?

11.

Due to the continuing decline of courtesy in American life, it is necessary to mention some things that should normally go without saying.  a) It is rude to e-mail someone anonymously, using only a screen name.   b) It is rude to leave voice mail messages without identifying yourself.   ("I am a student in your morning class" is not adequate self-identification.)  c) It is rude to bring a beeping watch, or cell phone, or other digital device to class without turning it off first. In the event of an emergency, please ask for permission to leave your cell phone turned on.  d) It is rude to bring a child to class with you, especially if you have not asked for the instructor's permission.

RESOURCES

Online Research Tutorial (in two parts): 
         http://www.wright.edu/~martin.maner/eval01.htm (Finding and Evaluating Sources) 
         http://www.wright.edu/~martin.maner/act06.htm (Gathering Information Online)

Guide to Essential Tools for Research in English Literature:
         http://www.wright.edu/~martin.maner/essential_tools.htm

Using Search Engines to Find Web Resources:
         http://www.wright.edu/~martin.maner/search_engines.htm

Online Resources for Research Writers:
         http://www.wright.edu/~martin.maner/eng344.htm

Links to Resources in Literature and the Humanities:
         http://www.wright.edu/cola/Dept/eng/lit_links.htm

Voices and Visions Spotlight: Elizabeth Bishop [with links to other poets]:
         http://www.learner.org/catalog/extras/vvspot/

Templates for Research Papers (in MLA Format): 
         http://www.wright.edu/~martin.maner/rptemp.htm

E-Mail Links:
         Martin Maner
         Erica Clay (Humanities Reference Librarian)