Blog Details

We will have a course blog this semester which we will use to carry on the bulk of our discussion of class discussion and secondary texts.  Each student is responsible for (1) posting at least 3 entries of at least 200 words (a long paragraph) during the course of the semester, (2) posting responses of at least 100 words to other people’s posts at least 4 times during the semester, and (3) reading the blog weekly.  You are welcome to make additional posts.

Content of the posts: The posts should respond to class discussion or the secondary texts. In those posts, explain what you found most interesting and insightful about the essays and/or how they helped you better understand the primary texts.  I don’t mind if you criticize the secondary texts, but your criticism should be thoughtful, insightful, and respectful of the author’s intelligence.  Responses should respond to the posts.

Schedule of Posts: In order to insure that there will be discussion each week, everyone will be assigned  2 weeks when they have to post, and two weeks when they have to respond.  You can choose when to make the remaining posts.  I will post the schedule in the upcoming week.

Grading: Posts will be graded on a scale of 1-20 points.  You can earn up to a total of 60 points for posts.

20 points will be awarded to substantive posts of at least 200 words that demonstrate an accurate and insightful understanding of the material and raise significant points for discussion.

15 points will be awarded to posts that are at least 200 words and show an accurate understanding of the material, but do not raise significant issues for discussion. (In other words, these posts are mostly observational.)

10 points will be awarded for posts that are at least 200 words and demonstrate only a cursory familiarity with the material or that significantly misunderstand the material.  (For example, such a post might only refer to an issue raised in the first paragraph or two of an essay, rather than the main argument of the essay.)

1-5 point will be awarded for posts less than 200 words.

Responses will be graded on a scale of 1-10 points.  A student can earn up to 40 points for responses.

10 points will be awarded for substantive responses of at least 100 words.  These are responses of 4 or more sentences which demonstrate a solid understanding of the material.

5  points will be awarded to brief responses, provided they contribute to the discussion.

Note: Any posts or responses made more than a week after the reading it refers to is scheduled will suffer a 5-point penalty.