Classics 220: The Classical Tradition (Part 1)

GRADING

Grading for the course will be based on the following breakdown:

• Attendance/Quizzes (20%): I will not take attendance for CLAS 220, but will instead administer five pop quizzes over the course of the semester. Your attendance grade will be the average of your best four of these five quizzes. These are not intended to be difficult, but rather to keep you on track with course lectures and readings. As long as you come to class regularly and do the assignments, you will do fine on the quizzes. Please note: you cannot make up a missed quiz.

• Short Papers (30%): Two 3–5-page papers based on course readings and lectures will be assigned. The topics for each paper will be posted on the D2L website (see the "Paper Topics" area of the "content" section) within two weeks of each due date. The first short paper is due at 10 a.m. on Friday, September 12; the second at 10 a.m. on Monday, November 17. Both papers should be turned in in class. Any paper not handed in by the beginning of class on the due date is considered late. Late papers will lose one letter grade for each day late, and should be delivered to your TA or placed in your TA's Classics Department mailbox.

• Hour Exams (30%): Two hour (well, 50-minute) exams based on course readings and lectures will occur in CLAS 220. The first is scheduled for Wednesday, October 1; the second for Friday, November 7. Exams are intended to assess the student’s capability to integrate and critically assess facts, source materials, and the modern interpretations of both. On the content of the exams, see below (under "OTHER COURSE POLICIES"). Do not miss the exams.

• Final Exam (20%): The 2-hour final exam for CLAS 220 will take place on Friday, December 12 from 11:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. Do not miss the final.

TEACHING ASSISTANTS AND OFFICE HOURS

There are three teaching assistants (TAs) for this course. Each student enrolled in CLAS 220 will be assigned to a TA alphabetically (see breakdown, below). Your TA will help with classroom management, will answer your questions about course policies, readings and assignments, and will be responsible for grading at least some of your written work over the course of the semester. ***Your TA is your first point of contact for all questions about the course.*** You should not come to me with questions or complaints until you have first spoken with your TA and have been unable to resolve your issue with him/her.

TAs for CLAS 220, Fall 2008:

• Yi Chen (yichen@email.arizona.edu), last names starting with A–Gre

office hours: Tu/Th, 2:30–3:30 p.m.

• Lauren Dreyfuss (lsd@email.arizona.edu), last names starting with Gri–Pea

office hours: Tu/Th, 9:30–10:30 a.m.

• Greg Dzara (gdzara@email.arizona.edu), last names starting with Peb–Z

office hours: M/W/F, 11:00–11:50 a.m.

Unless otherwise specified by your TA, all TA office hours will be held in the Classics Department, which is located on the second floor of the Learning Services Building (LSB), which is itself located at the corner of First and Vine (i.e., here).

In addition, I will also hold weekly office hours for CLAS 220: Tu/Th, 10:00–10:50 a.m. in my office, LSB 215. These times are reserved for honors students, those with issues that they have been unable to resolve with the TAs, or students with general questions about the course. Michelle Burton (mburton1@email.arizona.edu) is also available by appointment to discuss graded assignments with students.

OTHER (IMPORTANT!) COURSE POLICIES: READ CAREFULLY

• Course Content: Course lectures and readings will regularly contain brutally violent, sexually graphic and/or otherwise potentially offensive material. I assume that all students enrolled in CLAS 220 are mature enough to handle such material and suggest that anyone easily offended by such material not take the course.

• Honors Contracts: Students wishing to earn Honors in CLAS 220 must maintain at least a "B" average in the course (i.e., 81–90%). They must also write their two short papers exclusively on topics of their own design and may substitute a research paper for the final exam. Students who decide to seek honors in CLAS 220 will be required to make use of both the library and the electronic resources available on campus for their papers. These papers are expected to reflect close study of the source materials and modern scholarship and will be graded by the instructor.

• Make-Ups: As noted above, there are no make-ups for pop quizzes under any circumstances. There are also no make-ups for tests (the hour exams and the final). Exceptions to this rule will only be made when notification of an absence is submitted with documentation 24 hours before the scheduled test, or when a valid medical emergency is documented within 24 hours after the test. In the case of such exceptions, only one particular day and time will be arranged for all those taking the make-up test.

• D2L: As mentioned above, students in CLAS 220 will be expected to be familiar with D2L ("Desire2Learn"), the University's online course content management system. Our use of D2L in CLAS 220 will be extremely limited, however: we will use D2L solely as a repository for course documents (additional readings, PowerPoint presentations, lecture and reading guides and course handouts) and as a place to post grades. We will NOT use D2L for quizzes, discussions, paper submissions or anything else, though students should check their D2L email regularly for updates about the course. If you are unfamiliar with D2L, see the D2L homepage.

• Grades: Grades will be posted approximately two weeks after a quiz or test has been administered or a paper has been handed in. You will be able to see your grade(s) on the D2L site for CLAS 220. Written work will be made available for pickup in class or outside of class by special arrangement with your TA. There is no curve, nor are there options to earn extra credit in this course. Work hard throughout the semester to achieve the grade you want. Students with special learning needs who require extended time or other test-taking accommodations should inform the instructor and their TA in writing.

• Grade Values: In CLAS 220, grades have the following values:
  
  on tests and quizzes (number grades):
  
  

  98–100 = A+	94–97 = A	91–93 = A-
  88–90 = B+	84–87 = B	81–83 = B-
  78–80 = C+	74–77 = C	71–73 = C-
  68–70 = D+	64–67 = D	61–63 = D-
  58–60 = F+	54–57 = F	0–53 = F-

  on papers (letter grades):

  A+ = 99	A = 95	A- = 92
  B+ = 89	B = 85	B- = 82
  C+ = 79	C = 75	C- = 72
  D+ = 69	D = 65	D- = 62
  F+ = 59	F = 55	F- = 52

  Papers not handed in will receive a letter grade of F- and a number grade of 0.

• Papers: These are exercises in analytical thinking and will not require additional research and/or reading. Papers should be concisely and persuasively written essays based on careful and critical analysis of the source materials or visual evidence. Hard copies of papers are due in class at 10 a.m. on the days scheduled. As noted above, late papers will lose one letter grade for each day late.

• Paper Grading: The following rubric will determine your grade on papers in CLAS 220:

  An “A” paper contains clear and cogent arguments, strong examples to support those arguments, good use of grammar and correct mechanics (i.e.: paper length, margins, etc.).

  A “B” paper contains arguments that are good, but not fully developed, with supporting examples, minor grammatical errors and minimal problems with mechanics.

  A “C” paper contains unclear arguments with weak or unsubstantiated examples, substantial grammatical errors and problems with mechanics.

  A “D” paper is missing major components in both its arguments and examples, and contains major grammatical and mechanical problems.

  An “F” paper is missing arguments and examples altogether, and/or contains plagiarized content.

  ***Graders will assign “+” and “-“ to letter grades at their own discretion.***

• Writing: If you would like help with your writing, the University’s Writing Skills Improvement Program (http://wsip.web.arizona.edu/) may be a valuable resource. The Program offers professional individual tutoring in writing for students referred by faculty. If you are interested in such tutoring, please inform your TA and it can be arranged. The program also hosts weekly writing workshops. These are free, open to the public and require no advance registration. This semester, the workshops will be held on Monday evenings, 5–6 p.m. in Modern Languages 413. The first session is on September 8.

• Exams: Each of the two hour exams and the final will consist of three components:
  

  
  (a) a set of short questions testing analytical and basic factual knowledge (30%)
  (b) questions focusing on the student’s critical assimilation of assigned readings (30%)

  (c) a choice of two or three essay questions from which the student selects one (40%)
  
  Answers should be logically structured and should demonstrate the student’s capability to integrate and critically assess facts, source materials, and the modern interpretations of both.

• Cheating: Surprise! Cheating is not allowed. If you cheat, and I find out, you will receive a grade of 0 for the assignment and other bad things will happen. (See the U of A's code of academic integrity.)

COURSE SCHEDULE

What follows is a sketch outline of the Fall semester. Assignments are due on the dates specified. Numbers in (bold parenthesis) refer to class number.

Check this page often. Readings and assignments are subject to change. I'll try to give a heads-up in class if a major shake-up is imminent. I'll also try to have readings posted on the D2L site at least a week before the due date.