Around the middle of the semester and again at the end of the semester, I'll ask you to evaluate your own participation on a scale of 1 to 10. I reserve the right to raise or lower your self-evaluation if I have reason to, but I'll seriously consider your own appraisal in determining this part of your grade. I value the quality of participation, not merely the quantity. I usually don't call on people, since I prefer to let people decide when and if they want to talk. Of course, the more familiar you are with the readings, the better.
Attendance is essential, as is respect and concern for the other members of the class.
It is also essential that you do the assigned reading prior to each discussion. You may often have to read a passage over and over again to understand it. Even so, we'll depart from chronological order for the first few assignments, into order to move from simple to more complex texts as the course progresses.