Reading Journals (25%, collected several times throughout the semester)
For EVERY item on the syllabus (every reading, film, or internet site), you will write a separate, typed/printed summary highlighting its key ideas and the most important points (a paragraph to a ½ page, single-spaced, for each). Please number your pages. You will put your name on the top and title each of your summaries with the author’s last name & title and staple them together. At various points throughout the semester, I will collect your journals (I will give you a short warning so keep up with them!).
Often, you will want to clearly explain the author’s principle point or argument, particularly if the work is scholarly. If it is a short story or film or part of a novel, you will probably want to discuss both the subject matter and the way it is presented, or framed.