Assignment Guidelines

Comparative Literature 30C fulfills a writing requirement; here are the assignment guidelines for your written work.

Daily Discussion Questions
For this daily assignment, you are responsible for bringing one discussion question to class for each of the day’s assigned reading. For the second day of class, for example, you should have six questions: one each for Kant, Galvani, La Mettrie, Rousseau (”Social Contract”), Rousseau (on women), and Buffon. Your questions should be well formulated and should engage specifically and critically with each text under consideration. I will collect your questions at the end of each class. You will be graded both for your ideas and how well you articulate them. Questions should be typed and single spaced.

Weekly Forum Response
For this weekly assignment, you are responsible for contributing in some manner to the course forum. There are a number of ways to fulfill this assignment. You could respond to one of the questions I will suggest or, alternatively, you could respond to a question that we did not get to discuss in class–or you could elaborate further upon a discussion question that interested you. You are also welcome and encouraged to start your own topic, as long as it relates somehow to the class. Your responses should be well formulated and should engage critically with whatever it is you decide to discuss. You will be graded both for your ideas and how well you articulate them. Your weekly forum response is due each Sunday by midnight.

Response Papers
From time to time I will ask you to do a more detailed response paper in lieu of the discussion questions. Guidelines for response papers will be handed out when that time comes.

Quizzes
From time to time you will be quizzed on the reading. Quizzes may or may not be announced.

Presentations
For this one-time assignment, you are responsible for reporting to the class about one inside or outside “reading” that somehow relates to our course. Your reading can be of a film, a novel, a short story, a work of art, or an actual technological innovation that ties into the reading. More complete guidelines will follow. Whatever you choose, you are welcome to tie this presentation into your final paper.

Midterm & Final Examinations
Exams will cover readings, discussions, lectures, and any other supplemental material introduced in class. The midterm exam will consist of one section on coverage and comprehension and one essay section. The final exam will consist of one section on coverage and comprehension and will have no essay section.  We will review carefully for each exam.

Final Paper & Project
For your final project, you are responsible for writing an 8-10 page paper that critically engages with one aspect of this class. You are additionally required to produce an alternative mapping of this project, which might include a short story, a web site, a visualization, or a soundtrack, among other possibilities. You will be graded both for your ideas and how well you articulate them. More complete guidelines will follow soon, but in the meantime you are encouraged to start thinking about your topic immediately. Complete guidelines for the final paper will be handed out during the second or third week of class.