Participation in class discussion. That you will have read the text at least once by the day we begin to study it will be taken as read. Being behind on the reading will adversely affect your participation grade. Learn to budget your time wisely and start work on a paper as soon as you receive the assignment. Papers rushed at the last minute will always be inferior to work composed and systematically revised over time.
Papers are to be delivered on time in class.
You will spend the rest of your life meeting deadlines of one kind or another, so consider this fitting training. I will only accept late papers if they come with a suitable, documented explanation, in which category being busy for other classes or otherwise stressed out does not apply. This applies also to the required drafts which we will workshop in class. Please bear this in mind. It happens every semester and is often surprisingly easy to detect and prove.