English
1301
Monday
P.M.
Tuesday
and Thursday A.M.
Angryverbs.blogspot.com
Week
of 22- 26 October 2012
Research Papers and
Mid-Term Exams
1. Research writing
The
next few weeks are dedicated mostly to your research paper. Please note that budgeting so much time in
class for one short paper is a freshman construct for instructional purposes;
in the future an instructor or professor in your professional discipline will
expect you to write your research papers entirely on your own outside of class,
to a very high standard, and with minimal oversight.
Your
reading assignments were made on the first day of class in August, and all our
work so far this semester has been a preparation for your research paper; thus,
a statement such as “I don’t understand research papers” is a clear indication
that the speaker has not read the assignments, has not listened to the
instructor, and has not connected the metaphorical dots as directed. College is not a passive experience; if you
wish to succeed you must demonstrative initiative in resisting a culture that
tempts you to idleness.
Please
note the due-dates for progress checks.
Complete duplicate notes in your copy of the time line and in mine, and
have me check your progress and sign off on it.
You can easily dodge this; you can also easily fail the class.
For
the duration of this project you may bring your appropriate electronic gadget
on/in which to keypad your work. You
should set high standards for yourself. You
can cleverly manage to sneak time to look at Honey Boo-Boo and exchange
vacuities with your 2,432 BFF; you can also cleverly manage to fail the class.
Bring
all of your research paper impedimenta to class every meeting. “It’s on my computer at home” translates as
“I don’t need a professional reference from my instructor for a scholarship or
a job.”
Both
classes are quite large, and so the time available for one-on-one is
minimal. The two extremes to avoid are
(1) clinging, that is, expecting the instructor to spend hours proof-reading
every sentence and correcting every mistake, down to misspellings, and (2)
never seeing the instructor at all for a general look-see-discuss regarding
your progress.
Remember
that I am on campus almost always by 5:00 P.M. on Monday nights and usually by
8:15 A.M. on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.
I will happily stay late for genuine needs, but not for remediation.
Remember
that your research paper is 25% of your final grade, that due-dates are not
suggestions, and that your paper will be processed through a programmed
plagiarism search. Don’t download, and
don’t turn in a paper your ol’ buddy at SFA gave you – where do you think he
found it?
2. Your Semester Exam
I
will return your semester exam to you at the end of your first class meeting of
the week. As always, you are welcome to
see me and argue a point, but only after you have taken it away and read it
carefully. Since this test is 25% of
your final grade, don’t be shy! Argue
from your assigned book and handouts, not from feelings. You must prove your point from authority. If any part of a response has ever been
changed, crossed out, erased, or modified in any way, or is messy, you have no
arguable point.
I
do not understand why some of your classmates left answers blank – how can
anyone not succeed on an open-note, open-book test?
I
do not understand why some of your classmates failed – how can anyone not
succeed on an open-note, open-book test?
I
do not understand why some of your classmates hurried through the test.
3. Attendance.
The
State of Texas requires Angelina and all other publicly-funded colleges to
observe strict attendance policies, and neither Governor Perry nor Dean
McKenzie has written me to tell me I am permitted to ignore the law. Some of your classmates are still reading the
out-of-date grade-school script about excused and unexcused absences – “excused” and “unexcused” do not obtain in
college. You are in class or you are
not in class, and I must note and record these realities. This is especially difficult for those in an
evening course, but there can be no deviation.
Further, you were advised of this at the beginning of term. You have to find a way.
No comments:
Post a Comment