Students will be expected to participate actively. They may choose which two books they will write on but are responsible for all readings for class discussion and for the exams. The final will concentrate mainly on the last third of the course, but will have one comprehensive essay. If you do not complete any exam or major assignment I reserve the right to drop you from the course. If you miss more than one third of the course you will automatically fail.
Participation means more than just attendance, however.
It is important, therefore, that you make an attempt to say something in class discussion, preferably something to do with the class. For that reason you might want to keep up with the reading assignments which will help you think of something to contribute. There are no dumb questions or answers, I'm not going to laugh at you if you get your facts wrong, and I will listen to every point of view with an open mind. A being excellent, B being above average, C being average, D below average, and F being failure to complete assignment. I then weight each letter grade according to the grade distribution chart and compute the average grade for the semester.