The exams will be composed of a subset of these questions chosen by Professor Joyce. Paper topics will appear on the course web page about three weeks before the papers are due. It is very, very unlikely that a student will be able to do justice to the topics in less than four full pages, and papers of more than eight pages probably contain extraneous material. Except in very special circumstances, papers submitted after the day of the first section meeting will be graded down one full letter grade for each week they are late. You should try to express yourself as clearly and directly as possible.
Jargon is to be avoided.
All efforts should be made to present one's argument in a straightforward and concise manner. In the event that a paper is so badly written that it does not rise to the general standard for college work, section leaders have the right to return it to the student ungraded and to ask for a resubmission. Direct quotations must appear within quotation marks. The professor and GSIs for this course will actively seek to root out plagiarism by, e.g., comparing papers across sections and surfing the web for material relevant to this course. Section leaders will grade papers and exams.