Shakespeare at Longwood

Discussion Guidelines

This is the most important area of the course. The time you spend contributing to the discussion area substitutes for the time you would spend in the classroom in a regular literary criticism course.  You can expect to spend close to three hours per "day" (i.e., per forum) here reading the comments of other students and the instructor, and making contributions of your own. The deadline for responses to each set of readings indicated on the calendar is midnight on Sundays through Thursdays. Please be sure to make follow-up responses throughout the week--especially if the instructor, or another student, has asked for a clarification about something you've said.  And after the deadlines, make sure you go back and look at my concluding responses, which will be posted by noon the following day.  After the deadlines I'll try to tie things together in each thread, and I may ask follow-up questions if I feel that the initial question hasn't been addressed adequately enough.Your responses to these follow-up questions will be factored into your discussion grade for the next day.  Please be prepared to address the following on the Discussion Board each day:

(1) Briefly summarize the critical readings. (Make sure you read the relevant editorial headnotes--they will help.) Please don't repeat information that someone has already summarized. There are plenty of things going on in all of these works--try to touch on as many key points as possible, and feel free to disagree (politely) with points that others have made in their comments.

(2) Compare to and constrast each critic or idea with the critical approaches we have discussed previously. (Be prepared to cite specifics, and be prepared to cite specific works of literature as you develop your argument.)

(3) Discuss one example of (or from) a literary work you have read that either supports or refutes the critic's claims. Please provide as much detail and anlysis as possible.

Keep in mind that the time you spend in the discussion area each day doesn't include time you spend reading.  Remember that college students are generally expected to spend 2-3 hours preparing for each hour of classroom instruction—you should expect to spend a minimum of six to nine hours per day preparing for this class (i.e., reading the assignments), and an additional 2.75 hours in the discussion area.  Please complete the assigned reading before you submit responses to the questions in the discussion area.  Some of these questions are very specific, but some address larger themes that apply to the entire reading assignment. 

You are expected to read all of the submissions made to the discussion area by other students and the instructor each day, and you will be expected to make a minimum of three of your own submissions to the discussion area each day (i.e., in each forum). Note that you don't need to respond to every question--it's three responses per forum (minimum). Your responses can be either direct responses to one of the questions posed in the discussion area by the instructor, or responses to other students’ responses.These responses should be thorough and thoughtful.  Try to be original. If someone has already made a point, don't simply repeat it--either add something to the idea, disagree with it, or move on to a thread that fewer people have responded to. You should also incoporate an analysis of specific examples from the text into your comments. Don't just make broad generalizations--construct arguments about the text that are supported by a close reading of it. Avoid responses that are brief, vague, and flippant.  Avoid Internet shorthand ("Socrates hates poets--ROTFL!! ;)"), and avoid using the discussion area to discuss things not related to the course ("Wanna go to the party at Delta house on Saturday?").  Humor and wit are welcome, but let's try to stay on topic.

Failure to submit responses to a forum by the deadline will result in a grade of zero, and will be treated as an "absence" for the purposes of attendance. The Longwood University attendance policy in the 2004-2005 Undergraduate Catalog will be the attendance policy for this course. Your grade will be lowered by one letter grade if you miss 10 percent of the scheduled class meeting times (i.e., the daily forums, each of which is the equivalent of one week of work in a regular course) for unexcused absences. You will receive an F for the course if you miss a total (excused and unexcused) of 25 percent of the scheduled class discussion deadlines. Absences can be excused, and Exams can be made up only under the most grave circumstances, and with documentation from an MD or a Longwood University official. If you foresee a conflict, I expect you to discuss it with me beforehand. Written assignments submitted late will lose one letter grade for each class day late. A technology failure is not a good excuse for missing a discussion deadline, especially if it extends beyond a single day. Have a backup plan in case your technology fails. Remember that most public libraries provide Internet access. Go here to find a wireless network near you.

When you use quotations in your response, make sure you quote verse properly if you are discussing poetry.  Please also remember that "quote" is a verb and "quotation" is a noun.  You should also underline or italicize the names of books, such as Homer's Iliad. If you are using MS Internet Explorer with Blackboard, there is a font menu in Blackboard that will allow you to do this. If you are using another browser, you may need to insert the HTML tags for underlining yourself: <u> before the title, and </u> after it.

Feel free to make more than three submissions per day. The instructor will not respond to every submission, and students are encouraged to ask questions amongst themselves rather than appeal to the instructor for clarification on each topic. The instructor will address issues that arise throughout the week, and try to tie things together as the discussion comes to a close, but you should not expect the instructor to dominate the discussion.

You will receive a grade for each day's group of responses (posted on Blackboard), and the average of these grades will account for 50% of your final grade (your lowest daily response will be dropped). This grade is based on the quality of your contributions, and will take into account the following factors: ability to understand and analyze the text, ability to generate questions that engage other students, and ability to make connections between specific passages and episodes and larger themes in a work. You will lose points if you merely paraphrase the readings, and if you make frequent errors of spelling, grammar, and usage. (See the grading rubric below for details.) You should try to balance direct responses to instructor questions with responses to other students. Abbreviations, acronyms, slang, and forms of shorthand common in other Internet discussion forums are discouraged. There will be a number of issues on which class participants disagree, but you should make every effort to maintain a civil, respectful, and constructive tone of discourse. If our discussion touches on issues of theology, keep in mind that it is unlikely that everyone in the class shares your religious beliefs.  Please be tolerant of perspectives different from your own. Uncivil, hostile, and profane responses will receive a 0, and may be turned over to the Honor Board for adjudication as honor violations. If you have questions about your discussion grades, contact the instructor.

Discussion Board Grading Rubric

Criteria	A (90-100) Superior	B (80-89) Good	C (70-79) Average	D/F (69 and below) Poor
Content, Critical Thinking, and Analysis	Rich content Focus on specific details Thoughtful and insightful Analytical (little paraphrase and summary)	Substantial information Superficial duscussion Some analysis has taken place	Minimal information or detail Information is thin and commonplace Lacking in insight and anlysis	Perfunctory and superficial Weak discussion No analysis or insight
Connections	Clear connections to previous or current content	Some connections are made but they aren't clear	Limited connections Vague generalities	No connections made Off topic
Themes and Ideas	Key ideas and themes are identified and analyzed	Some themes and ideas are identified but not addressed adequately	Miminal reference to key themes and ideas	Key themes and ideas not addressed
Timeliness	Responses are posted before the deadline			Responses are posted after the deadline
Writing Style	Extremely well organized, direct, and clear Ideas are presented carefully and thoughtfully	Fairly organized, direct, and clear Ideas presented fairly carefully and thoughtfully	Problems with organization and clarity that interfere with meaning Posts not presented carefully	Unorganized, difficult to follow, lacking in clarity Posts appear to have been done at the last minute
Responses to Peers	Frequent responses to other students--not only instructor Indication of solid understanding of other students' responses Polite and civil tone	Some responses to other students Some indication of understanding of other students' responses	LIttle effort to respond to other students Indication of incorrect or unclear understanding of other responses	No responses or attention to other students' comments
Content of Responses and Followup	Remarks are detailed and reflect substantial thought Responses often prompt further discussion and/or include additional references related to the topic	Remarks have sufficient length and detail to reflect thought Some responses prompt further discussion of topic	Short or superficial remarks that do not offer further insight on the topic Postings do not lend themselves to further discussion	Short or irrelevant remarks No participation or effort to initiate discussion Postings do not encourage continued thought or discussion
Originality and Creativity	Ideas are new and fresh New connections are made Imaginative analysis of details	Some new ideas or connections Lack of depth and detail	Few, if any new ideas or connections Summary of other postings	No new ideas "I agree with . . . ."

(Adapted from Jeannine Perry, Longwood University)