· Attendance or Do I need to come to class?Attending is compulsory for 5 out of 7 seminars but only optional for the lectures. However, I strongly suggest you come to the lectures as well in order to get a better grip of the critical framework and of some of the primary texts for this class. (If you come for less than 5 seminars, you will fail the first exam session. Also, note that the grade for your seminar performance will be based, among other criteria, on your attendance score.)
· Seminar requirements or What do they want from me?
1. WRITTEN ESSAY (+PRESENTATION). Other than having to attend most seminars, all students have to write a 3-to-4-page academic/critical essay.
-All essays are to be delivered as Word documents. One page is 2000 characters with spaces. (Use the Word Count function in the Tools menu in Microsoft Office Word.)
-Failure to apply the critical format to a presentation, an essay, or the mid-term test will be graded as 2 (see Critical methodology for seminar assignments immediately below).
-All forms of plagiarism will be graded as 1 and will result in a FAIL (possibly in a recommendation for the culprit to be expelled).
-Failure to meet the deadlines (deliver the presentation/hand in the written essay/take the mid-term test at the exact scheduled times) will result in up to 2 points deducted from that particular mark.
-Most students will make a 10-minute in-class presentation based on their written essay. The presentation is to be delivered (not read !) in approx. 10 mins. and then discussed in/by the class.
-Students will receive bonus points for in-class presentations to be added to their mark in the written essay: 2 points if they volunteer, 1 point if they are appointed by the seminar instructor.
-Students must contact their seminar instructors and enlist for a presentation not later than the second week of the semester.
2. READING NOTES FOR PRIMARY/LITERARY TEXTS, AS WELL AS FOR THE MANDATORY SECTIONS IN THE CRITICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY.
All reading notes are to be delivered as a single file.doc (Word), .pdf (Adobe) or .zip (WinZip or 7z) archive files.
N.B. SENDING IN YOUR ASSIGNMENTS (1+2).
Deadline for emailing your written essays and reading notes: before your last seminar.
a) - LOAD YOUR ESSAY ON THE TURNITIN PLATFORM ! Essays will not be considered unless they are mounted on the Turnitin platform!
Create an account at http://www.turnitin.com/ro/home.
For Andreea Paris Popa's groups: Class ID: 23946390; Class Key: SemLit2A2020.
For Bogdan Ștefănescu's groups: Class ID 24714611; Class Key: LIT20. When asked for a title write 2020 [LAST NAME] [FIRST NAME].
Create an account at http://www.turnitin.com/ro/home.
For Andreea Paris Popa's groups: Class ID: 23946390; Class Key: SemLit2A2020.
For Bogdan Ștefănescu's groups: Class ID 24714611; Class Key: LIT20. When asked for a title write 2020 [LAST NAME] [FIRST NAME].
Find more details at Turnitin Guides (link).
b) Email your assignments to your seminar instructor's institutional address (e.g., bogdan.stefanescu@lls.unibuc.ro).
State your name and class both in the subject line ([LAST NAME], [FIRST NAME], ENG LIT 1A Assignments) and sign your email. Attach the essay and the reading notes file. These 2 files should be titled “[LAST NAME], [FIRST NAME], Critical Essay” and “[LAST NAME], [FIRST NAME], Reading Notes”, respectively.
Expect a brief confirmation email. Should one fail to reach you in a few days, resend your material and ask for confirmation.
3. Apart from these assignments, students will also be assessed for their PARTICIPATION IN CLASS DISCUSSIONS.
4. ALL STUDENTS (not just those on assignment) MUST READ CLOSELY THE SELECTED TEXT(S) for each seminar. Quizzes should be expected as well as verification of personal reading notes ["conspecte"] for each seminar.
5. STUDENTS CANNOT PROCURE A PASS IF THEY HAVEN'T SUBMITTED A VALID WRITTEN ESSAY.
· Critical methodology for seminar assignments or How do I write a successful critical essay? The presentations and essays have to use a particular critical approach of the student’s choice (after consultation with the seminar instructor). Anthologies of critical approaches are available at the Pitar Mos Reading Room where most of the course material is stored (ask at the Librarian’s Desk for R. Surdulescu & B. Stefãnescu - Contemporary Critical Theories. A Reader and David Lodge - Modern Literary Criticism and Theory).
Here is the required format for such assignments:
1) Main Assumptions (what literature is in his/her selected critical perspective);
2) Objectives (a. what that critical perspective aims for, generally speaking, and b. what the student’s particular assignment sets out to do within the range of the general objectives of his/her critical approach);
3) Means (what critical instruments - i.e., methodology, concepts, techniques etc. - will be employed to achieve the Objectives);
4) The Argument/Analysis proper (the main body of the presentation);
5) Conclusions (a concluding statement on the result of the analysis and a brief self-evaluation of the benefits of the critical endeavour).
All seminar presentations must use HANDOUTS (at least one for every two participants).
You can find useful hints for successful academic essay style at Nuts and Bolts of College Writing.
1) Main Assumptions (what literature is in his/her selected critical perspective);
2) Objectives (a. what that critical perspective aims for, generally speaking, and b. what the student’s particular assignment sets out to do within the range of the general objectives of his/her critical approach);
3) Means (what critical instruments - i.e., methodology, concepts, techniques etc. - will be employed to achieve the Objectives);
4) The Argument/Analysis proper (the main body of the presentation);
5) Conclusions (a concluding statement on the result of the analysis and a brief self-evaluation of the benefits of the critical endeavour).
All seminar presentations must use HANDOUTS (at least one for every two participants).
You can find useful hints for successful academic essay style at Nuts and Bolts of College Writing.
MAKE SURE YOU DO THIS FOR THE WRITTEN ESSAY:
- Design a solid argument and a clear structure (headed argument) for the essay starting with the initial justification of your choice of theme and approach and leading to relevant conclusions.
- Identify and clearly state in the introductory section what is the problem that you aim to tackle in the essay and provide a brief explanation of your methodology and specialized critical terms.
- Use elegant and nuanced language (no colloquialisms or slang terms) without becoming pedantic and affected. Demonstrate that you can use the critical idiom of your approach.
- Strictly adhere to the MLA academic style in quoting and indicating sources, inserting notes and compiling the list of cited works. (Purdue.edu or http://nutsandbolts.washcoll.edu/mla.html )
- Do not forget to run a computer spell & grammar check and to double check it yourself.
- Insert all elements of identification (full name, year and group, course name and seminar instructor, date). We handle hundreds of essays each semester and it is not easy to keep track of them when there is missing info.
- Send your essay be email to your seminar instructor before the deadline and keep a copy of your essay in case it gets misplaced or fails to reach him/her.
· Computation of grade or How should I balance my efforts?The seminar grade will reflect:
1) the assignments (the critical essay/presentation) = 33% of seminar grade;
2) participation in the seminar debates = 33%;
3) attendance = 33% [5 attendances and over = 10; 4 att. = 8; 3 att. = 6; 2 att. = 4; 1 att. = 2].
The seminar grade will count as half of the final mark, the other half is the final exam assessment.
1) the assignments (the critical essay/presentation) = 33% of seminar grade;
2) participation in the seminar debates = 33%;
3) attendance = 33% [5 attendances and over = 10; 4 att. = 8; 3 att. = 6; 2 att. = 4; 1 att. = 2].
The seminar grade will count as half of the final mark, the other half is the final exam assessment.
· Final exam format or How will I be examined?The final exam is oral. (Should you fail or miss the first exam session, all subsequent re-examinations will be written.) The exam ticket will consist of one subject to be prepared for about 20 mins. and discussed in about 6-8 mins.
A student may change the ticket only once, in which case 2 points will be deducted from the exam grade. The student may not refuse the alternative subject and revert to the original one.
A list of subjects and compulsory bibliography (readings) will be provided at the beginning of the semester. The primary (literary) texts have to be read in order to get a pass. Studying criticism instead and passing it on as your reasoned interpretation of literary texts you have never read will not be tolerated.
A student may change the ticket only once, in which case 2 points will be deducted from the exam grade. The student may not refuse the alternative subject and revert to the original one.
A list of subjects and compulsory bibliography (readings) will be provided at the beginning of the semester. The primary (literary) texts have to be read in order to get a pass. Studying criticism instead and passing it on as your reasoned interpretation of literary texts you have never read will not be tolerated.
· Malfunctions or What if something goes wrong?Should any problems arise regarding the bibliography and its availability to students, please notify the course director or your seminar instructor immediately. Excuses (such as not having found the texts in the bibliography) will not be accepted unless a solution has been attempted with the course team previously. All other malfunctions should be reported ASAP (as soon as possible) to the seminar instructors or to B. Stefãnescu.
· AVOID PLAGIARISM ! or Can I take the easy way out?
-Any form of plagiarism or cheating in exams, mid-term tests, seminar assignments etc.--whether enacted or attempted, fragmentary or integral, deliberate or accidental--will be punished severely (that is, a fail in the course for minor transgressions and a formal suggestion that the culprit be expelled for more serious offenses).
-Make sure that what you say or write are your own ideas and words. Whenever they are not yours, make that as clear and explicit as possible using quotations, references, citations in the bibliography, footnotes/endnotes.
-You will find clarifications and advice at http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/plagiarism.html or http://www.plagiarism.org/ or http://www.wpacouncil.org/node/9
-Stay away from non-academic sites like Sparknotes, Answers.com, GradeSaver, Wikipedia, ready-made essay banks/data bases etc. Use only authoritative (serious) sites where articles are signed, such as academic encyclopedias or the web pages of academics, university departments, scholarly societies etc.
-Do not recycle your essays. Write new work, do not use older essays that you've submitted for another class.
