Graded assignments have two purposes: to help you learn, and to assess–both for your information and mine–how much you are learning. These assignments will include:
- Four Position Papers. In these papers, you will have the opportunity to defend, in writing, your position on four debatable historical questions about the Civil War era. I will distribute the prompt for each paper, along with specific guidelines and criteria for grading, at least one week before each is due. Two of the prompts (the first and the third) will ask you to take positions on issues we have discussed in class. The other two prompts (the second and the fourth) will ask you to apply reasoning skills honed in class to a previously unconsidered issue or debate that I will present to you. Each position paper will receive a numeric grade on the “zero to 4.3” gradepoint scale. Papers must be turned in by email, preferably as PDF files.
- Blog Comments on Assigned Reading. Over the course of the semester, six of our classes will be devoted to discussing the five required books and an additional small group of articles distributed in advance. You should complete these readings before coming to class to discuss them. You will also be responsible for writing a brief comment on this blog in response to some questions I will pose before the discussion. For three of the discussions, you will be asked to comment before class, and for the other three you will comment after the discussion. Your commenting schedule will be set during the first or second week of class. You will be assigned a numeric grade on the “zero to 4.3” gradepoint scale for each assigned comment, but you can also make more comments.
- Text for an Omeka Exhibit Page. As mentioned in the course description and learning objectives, this semester you will have the opportunity to work on an online exhibit about a locally famous Civil War figure. As part of this project, you will be responsible for writing a brief essay that will be featured on one of the exhibit’s pages. We will work collaboratively as a class to determine the scope of the exhibit and to discuss the major purposes we want the exhibit to serve. More information about this project will be distributed in class, and a model exhibit will be provided for you. The ultimate assignment will be a piece of writing (of around 1,000 words) that will be like a position paper, but with two differences: you will be addressing a broader public audience, and you will need to incorporate references to items in our online collection in your essay to help the viewer interpret historical objects related to your essay. As part of this assignment, you will also be responsible for commenting on, critiquing, and helping to revise other students’ essays. Work on this project will not begin until after the four position papers are completed, in order to give you ample time to work.
Grades
As deadlines for each of the above assignments near, the criteria for grading will be discussed and explicitly communicated to you in class. Be aware that these criteria will only be concerned with assessing how well you are meeting the general learning objectives for the course; that is, I won’t be grading you on a “curve” in relation to other students’ performance. The point of grades is to let each student know where he or she stands in relation to the specific objectives of the assignment and the objectives of the course as a whole. Here’s how I’ll weigh assignments when calculating your final grade:
- Position Paper #1 = 10%
- Position Paper #2 = 20%
- Position Paper #3 = 20%
- Position Paper #4 = 25%
- Blog Comments Average = 10%
- Exhibit Text = 15%
I reserve the right, but am under no obligation, to bump your comments average higher if your grades on these comments trended steadily upward over the course of the semester, or if you made additional comments that showed improvement over the assigned ones. If you are unsatisfied with your performance on one of the position papers, you’ll also have the opportunity to write an optional fifth position paper, due by the end of the final examination period. You must inform me by the last day of class which position paper you want to replace. If your grade on the optional final paper is higher, it will replace the grade on the paper you specified. If the grade on the optional paper is lower, then the earlier grade will stand.
A Note on Late Assignments and Missed Discussions
You can turn only two of your position papers in late, so long as I receive them no later than one week after the posted deadline. The other two position papers must be turned in by the posted deadline. In addition, due to time constraints, be aware that I will not be able to provide much feedback on late assignments, so it’s in your interest to turn in all your papers on time so you can get more feedback from me on how you are doing in the course and how to do better. All papers will get a fair read and an honest assessment, but papers turned in on time will receive the most extensive comments from me about the paper’s specific strengths and weaknesses. If you miss a discussion, you should still complete your assigned blog comments on time. The final text for your exhibit assignment will not be accepted late.