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GRADING
Essays are graded with letters (A+, A, A-, etc.). The
grading scale for the course is: A= 93+, A-=90-92, B+=87-89, B=83-86, B-=80-82,
C+=77-79, C=73-76, C-=70-72, D+=67-69, D=63-66, D-=60-62, F=59 or below. (F's on
individual assignments are recorded as 50.)
For each essay type, I will describe criteria/basic features on a
handout. I will remind you of these criteria on assignment sheets, first draft
check sheets, peer review sheets, and the grade sheet I use to evaluate the
essays. Throughout the semester I will emphasize the important criteria for each
assignment in our class discussions and as we evaluate sample essays. If you are
uncertain about how I grade, please ask. I follow these grading policies:
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If you do not provide copies of your draft for group
members to evaluate for peer review. I will automatically
deduct one letter grade from your final essay. If you do
not complete peer reviews for your teammates, your essay grade will
automatically drop two letter grades.
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You will receive an overall grade on your work for peer
review for each unit.
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All essays will be collected at the beginning of the
period, and essays submitted after that time are late. You may submit one
paper late (one class meeting) without penalty. After that, late
papers lose three letter grades per day late.
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I will deduct points from essays not submitted in a
complete
portfolio.
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Essays that contain an excessive number of
major
grammatical errors like fragments, comma splices, fused sentences; and
problems in subject/verb agreement, pronoun/antecedent, verb tense, and
tense shift may fail automatically.
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You may re-write one essay for a brand new grade
if
you confer with me and substantially revise it. This re-write is due one
week after the original is returned to you.
Format Guidelines for Essays and
Portfolios
1. Out-of-class essays should be typed.
Save your
work-in-progress often and print a hard copy every time you shut down the
system.
2. See Chapter
6 of Bedford for
guidelines on manuscript form.
3. The top of your first page should look
like this (DO NOT USE A COVER SHEET): Your Name
English 110
Hale
Assignment Name
Date
Title of the
Essay
4. Include your last name and the page number in the
top right-hand corner of each page (including works cited page). See
Bedford 122-23 for models.
5. Portfolios will vary slightly depending on the assignment, but this is
the basic structure, with lower numbers nearer the bottom of the stack:
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Left Side
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Right
Side
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1. Pre-writing/invention (bottom)
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1. Final draft (bottom)
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2. Copies of outside sources
(if used)
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2. Writing goals
sheet
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3. Labeled/numbered drafts with earlier drafts nearer
the bottom.
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3. Unit evaluation
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4. Individually stapled Peer Review packets (one
packed for each critic) with critic summaries stapled to top of
each draft that has been commented on5 .
(top)
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4.
Conference Summary
(top)
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5. Plan for revision--a summary of what your critics told you and how you
will respond in your final draft. |
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7. After essays are graded, you should correct and return them the
following class meeting. You will receive a quiz grade if the
corrections are done correctly and in a timely fashion. You will receive a zero
if they are not submitted. You will not receive credit for the course unless
all essays are returned and corrected. SAVE ALL OF YOUR MARKED ESSAYS AND
GRADE SHEETS THROUGHOUT THE SEMESTER.
Self & Unit Evaluations
For the unit evaluation answer the following questions:
Answer these
questions: 1. What was the most helpful part of the instruction/teaching
for this unit? 2. What would have made the instruction better? 3. Other
comments or suggestions.
Conference Summary
Write a few
sentences describing what we talked about in your individual conferences. Include
the time and date of our meeting. If you missed your conference, say so
on the conference summary. If I did not require a conference,
then you do not need to include this piece in the portfolio.
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In order for an academic community
to thrive, members of that community must be able to trust the honesty and
sincerity of communication between members. The very integrity of a college
is grounded in academic honesty. One form of academic dishonesty that can
undermine this integrity is plagiarism, intentionally or
unintentionally copying the words or ideas from another source without
giving that source credit. Because of the serious harm plagiarism causes an
academic environment, I have zero tolerance for it: students who
plagiarize will likely fail the class. There are other forms of academic
dishonesty (including but not exclusive of cheating and inappropriate
collaboration) that may result in a zero on an assignment up to failure of the
class based on my discretion. One form of academic honesty that
sometimes happens in writing courses is double submission which occurs when
students submit work from a previous course. Students who double
submit will also fail the course. Do not hesitate to consult
with me if you have questions about academic honesty. (For more
information, see also "Academic Dishonesty" in the
Scot's Guide or college catalog
and chapters 52 & 54 in Bedford.) |
CORRECTIONS
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Read over the comment back page of
your essay and make sure you understand all my comments. If you don’t
understand them, you should talk to me during office hours so I can explain.
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Check the grammar, mechanics,
punctuation, spelling/diction, and sentence errors that I have marked on the
essay with handbook numbers and symbols. Look up the numbers and symbols on
the inside back cover of Bedford Handbook (you'll have to look up
particular chapters in some cases), and make sure you understand the
mistakes. If you don’t, come and see me during office hours. Correct all
of these errors
in a
different colored ink on the actual essay.
MAJOR ERROR NUMBERS ARE CIRCLED.
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Staple the corrected essay on top
of the writing goals sheet and return them to me by the due date. Keep
the portfolio materials and the folder for yourself.
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On a NEW writing goals sheet make
three goals for improving your next essay based on problems you had with the
present essay (Save it for next time). For example, you might have neglected
to use specific examples to improve the present essay, so your goal for the
next essay might be to use specific examples to develop your argument. Maybe
you had several comma errors in the present essay, so your goal might be to
eliminate the comma errors in the next essay. In each set of writing goals
try to have at least one stylistic/mechanical goal and one content goal.
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