Instructions and Grading Criteria for Reading Responses

Over the course of the semester, you will submit written weekly responses to the required readings for this course.    You should submit a response every week except weeks when we have an exam.  I encourage you to consult my discussion questions as you formulate your responses, but your responses do not need to answer these questions slavishly. The best ten grades will account for one-fourth of your final grade (so your lowest grade will be dropped, or you can skip a week).

These responses should be a minimum of 250 words (about one page, double spaced, and word processed), and they should reflect a meaningful engagement with and analysis of the readings.  Please note:  it is not enough simply to answer the study questions with a straightforward factual response ("Achilles returns to his camp after Briseis is taken away"); I expect you to use the questions as a point-of-departure for your own personal exploration of the text ("Achilles returns to his tent, but I'm surprised to find a Greek hero refusing to fight, especially because of his apparent attachment to a slave girl, etc., etc.").  You should avoid, however, responses that stray from the text, and focus only on yourself (e.g.:  "I really like Achilles, especially if he looks like Brad Pitt, because I think he was really cool in this movie I saw him in, etc., etc.").  Your response should develop some kind of analysis of or argument about the text--try to connect specific episodes to larger themes we have talked about; look for patterns and motifs, and ask yourself how they are significant to the work's effect on you as a reader.  What kinds of questions does the text raise that we haven't discussed in class--or that aren't accounted for in my study questions?  I encourage you to look for conflicts and tensions in the texts we read, and to explore the motives and actions of the characters we encounter.  You may want to comment on the writing styles and literary techniques used by the poets we encounter this semester.  What kinds of metaphors and images do these poets use, how do they use them, and what is the effect on the reader?  Make sure you support your comments and questions with reference to specific details in the text.  Although these responses are informal, they should contain strong, clearly articulated ideas.  Please standard English and avoid slang, jargon, abbreviations and emoticons.

Your response should attend to the readings for the day it is submitted, but make sure I receive during the class in which we discuss the readings addressed in your response.  E.g., if we discuss Iliad 9 on Tuesday, your response on Iliad 9 should be submitted in class on Tuesday, not on Thursday (after we've already discussed Iliad 9 in class).  Please DO NOT submit more than one response per week (i.e., DO NOT wait until the last ten classes and submit a response for each class). Late submissions will not be accepted under any circumstances, including illness.  (If you are ill, or must miss class for some reason, you can e-mail your response to me--but this is the only circumstance under which I will accept reading responses via e-mail, and you should bring a hard copy to the next class meeting you are able to attend.)

If you use the study questions, you don't need to answer all of them, and you should avoid brief answers that are purely factual.  The study questions are broad and general, and they are intended to invite you to contemplate the text in relation to your own ideas and experiences--there is not a single correct answer to any of these questions, but as you formulate your response, you should support your ideas logically, and you should present them coherently.  If you have ideas about the readings that are not anticipated by the study questions, feel free to explore them.   

Make sure you follow the proper conventions for quoting verse and citing literary works. Please remember that "quote" is a verb and "quotation" is a noun.

Please conclude your responses with the Longwood Honor Pledge followed by your name.  These responses should not require you to consult outside sources, but if you find it necessary to do so, cite your material using MLA format.  If you consult outside sources, do not use them as a substitute for your own ideas.  Instances of plagiarism will be turned over to the Longwood Honor Board for adjudication.  Please read the course policy on plagiarism before writing your first reading response.

Note:  There may be study questions for parts of a work that we are not reading in class--ignore these.  If a study questions specifically alludes to a book of the Iliad that we are not reading, or if a question doesn't seem relevant, move on to a different question.

Grading Criteria:

10 Superior work.  References to specific details or quotations indicates careful reading, connections are made between specific incidents or characters, analysis is thorough, ideas are vigorous and imaginative, presentation is coherent, no errors of grammar, spelling, or usage.
9 Excellent work.  Slightly more attention to detail would improve focus and clarity.  Analysis indicates an active engagement with the text, but connections are not always made, and logical conclusions are not always attended to.  Minor errors of grammar, spelling, or usage.
8 Above average work.  Response presents good ideas, but they are not always supported with specific examples from the text.  There is a general tendency toward vagueness and summary, but the response seems to be based on a genuine reading of the text.  Response tends to answer factual questions, but does not provide an in-depth exploration of characters' motives and actions.  There are occasional lapses in grammar, spelling, and usage, but they are not tremendously distracting.
7 Average work.  Response attends to the text in a perfunctory manner, and seems rushed and superficial.  It is unclear that the response attends to the day's reading in any specific way.  Response answers questions of fact, but doesn't explore the motives or actions of the characters.  Response provides more summary than analysis, and frequent errors of grammar, spelling, and usage are evident.
6 Below average work.  Response merely summarizes the reading, and makes no attempt at analysis or meaningful interaction with the text.  Response to the text is so vague that it is not clear that attends to the day's reading.  References to the text are vague and reflections on the text reflect little curiosity or enthusiasm.  There are numerous errors of grammar, spelling, and usage, and writing style is distractingly informal and colloquial.
0-5 Poor work.  Response is vague and rambling, and makes reference to no specific details at all.  There are numerous errors of grammar, spelling, and usage, and writing style is distractingly informal and colloquial.  Response handed in late (see above).