Course Requirements and Policies

Paper 1, due October 27, 1500 words maximum: 20% of final mark
Fall Term Test, 2 hours, in class December 8: 25%
Paper 2, due February 16, 1500 words maximum: 25%
Spring Term Test, 2 hours, in class April 13: 20%
Class participation: 10%

Papers are due at the beginning of class on the dates indicated; they should be double-spaced and printed in 12-point font. Late papers may be penalized up to 5% per day late. No extensions will be granted.

When documenting sources in papers, students should use the MLA style of documentation, an overview of which can be found here. The authoritative guide to MLA style is Joseph Gibaldi, MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th edition.

Participation: Students should come to class having read the texts assigned for that date and prepared to engage in informed discussion of those texts. To facilitate discussion, I have also set up an online bulletin board for the course. Each week, a number of students will be asked to post brief responses (no more than 200 words) to the week’s reading by 5 p.m. the day before class. (Each student will be asked to post at least twice each term.) These responses should focus on some specific element or part of the text that particularly interested you, rather than giving a general response to the text as a whole; they may also take the form of a response to another student’s post. All students should read the bulletin board before each class meeting and are encouraged to post their own comments and responses. The online discussion will serve as a basis for in-class conversation.

Academic integrity is expected from all students. All students should familiarize themselves with the University Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters. The Code defines plagiarism as a student’s knowing representation as “one’s own any idea or expression of an idea or work of another in any academic examination or term test or in connection with any other form of academic work.” The “Writing at the University of Toronto” website contains useful advice and resources on academic writing, including a document on “How Not to Plagiarize”.

Cell phones and pagers should be turned off or set to silent mode and should not be used during class.