Your grade will be computed on not only your ability to read accurately and to assimilate the material, but also on your ability to convey that knowledge on paper, to express yourself clearly and effectively. With that understanding, your final grade will be computed based on the following:

25% (or 25 points out of a possible perfect course grade of 100 points): Adetailed poem analysis of approximately 1000-2500 words (approximately 4-8 printed pages, double-spaced on 8½ x 11 white typing/printer paper), choosing for your analysis one of
the first fifteen poems at the beginning of the photocopy packet, starting with "Self-deception" and ending with "Adam's Curse." For this exercise you may write on no other poem except one of those fifteen.  To give you a blueprint for writing a poem analysis, a "Helpful-Hints" checklist has been included in the photocopy supplement, as have two good sample analyses by students from a 2000-level course.  This poem-analysis paper is designed mostly to confirm that you have the basic critical-reading skills which you should have already acquired in more elementary courses (or to enable you to learn those skills, if you haven't).  Therefore, if the analysis you submit is not reasonably accurate and technically solid, then you will be required to rewrite that paper until it is (the grade recorded for this assignment will be the average grade of all the papers you need to write to satisfy the assignment). A checklist grading sheet, giving you an idea of what is expected in all papers, is attached at the back of this syllabus.

25%(or 25 points out of a possible perfect 100 course points):   Your average score on intermittent "pop quizzes" [Points on individual quizzes will be recorded as earned (80 = 80, etc.), except that any "A" quiz scores between 95 and 160 points--i.e., including credit for added bonus questions--will be converted to and recorded as a fixed-point value, as follows: perfect score = 105; high A = 100; lower A = 95.].  I GIVE NO MAKE-UP QUIZZES.  However, you will be permitted to drop from your record the lowest 20% of your quiz grades, if you have not exceeded the cut limit (explained below);

10%(the equivalent of one letter grade):  Your degree of active class participation and general preparedness during each class session. [Total points for class participation over the entire term will be awarded as follows (based on a 10% share of a perfect 100 course points):  A = 10 points; A- = 9; B+ = 8.5; B = 8; C+ = 7.5; C = 7; D+ = 6.5; D = 6; E = 5];

5%(or 5 points out of a possible perfect course grade of 100 points):  A group project and presentation, including a 2-4 page analysis of the topic related to some subject pertaining to one of the major theme-areas in the course and a 2-4 page data sheet supporting your presentation; and

35% (or 35 points out of a possible perfect course grade of 100 points): A comprehensive final exam.

Final course grades will be awarded on the following scale:  A = 90-100; B+ = 87-89; B = 80-86; C+ = 77-79; C = 70-76; D+ = 67-69; D = 60-66; E = 0-59.

Students wishing to earn extra credit may arrange (prior to submission) to write an analytical review of a relevant work of literary or cultural criticism of the period.  First, read one of the books in the Possible Secondary Readings list at the end of this syllabus (or another book that I approve).  Then write a response paper to it.  The first page or so of the response paper should summarize the main argument of the book.  The remaining 6-8 pages will be your responses to specific points in the book (indicated by page number).  This extra-credit paper need not be an organized essay; just interact intelligently with the material.