Grade Breakdown and Assignments

Participation (including in-class writing assignments and quizzes(if necessary)): 20%

Please come to class prepared to participate in class activities. Participation will be recorded almost daily. The best way to prepare and participate is to read and take notes on the daily assigned readings from the required books and to prepare ahead of time questions or analytical comments about the reading (the blog will help with this especially if you are a more quiet learner). Our learning community is a safe place and no one should feel intimidated. At the same time, we all must remember that an important part of learning is listening and respectful listening and quiet engagement will also be rewarded in our class. Should you be curious at any point about what your participation/attendance grade is, feel free to ask! Your participation will be based on the following rubric:

Participation Rubric
There are a possible 10 points for each day. You begin each day with 10 points -- work hard not to lose them!

In a folder designated as our Word Wiki on our Schoology site, we will maintain a collaborative dictionary. Each week members from 1/2 the class will post one new word each from the reading we have done. It must be a word with which we are (generally) unfamiliar (so no posting of "the", for example). You need to post the word, the sentence and page number where you found the word in our reading, and the definition and entymology of the word. Each individual student will post only 5 words over the course of the semester but we will ultimately have over 100 words in our dictionary.

This assignment will come early in the semester as learn how to "read" our primary sources. It must answer the questions I will provide for you via Google Docs and it must be submitted via Google Docs. You may choose when to complete the the document analyses, but one must be done by Sept 10th and the other by Oct 1st.

Will be based on the content from the semster but will require you to complete an interview of one of your family members regarding your family's history from 1945-present before exam day!

You will choose a part of our current culture (TV show, social networking site, advertisement, song, etc.) to analyze. Using the skills you have gleaned over the course of the semester, you will suggest what messages the artifact conveys to the viewer. You must take into consideration race, gender, consumerism, and ultimately nationalism. You should also connect the artifact to the past we have just explored (and/or give a brief history of the artifact).

Expert Papers and/or Discussion Leader: 10% (3-5 page paper) blog on Schoology and/or 5% leading class discussion

Your assignment here is VERY important! At the end of each topic, we will spend a class period concluding that topic. Three students will have the responsibility of leading class that day. Those 3 must post informal 500-700 word blogs and create plan for the day's discussion. ALL the rest must write on TWO other topics a 3-5 page paper on what we have learned over the course of that topic. You will receive your Expert days in class toward the end of the topic.

The Experts role will be to have read ALL of the documents for that topic, have listened to our debates and conversations over the course of the topic, and report to us what you think it all means. Additionally, it will be your responsibility to make help the class (in discussion) to make sense of the documentary evidence we have read AND connect the topic to identity formation and national politics today. Please post your blog to Schoology by class time so that we may refer to them during discussions. Rubric to come.

You will receive separate rubrics for most all your assignments. However, in general, and when a rubric is not used, the following definitions of letter grades will be used:

An “A” means work in class and in papers that is outstanding and distinguished, that demonstrates thought and writing characterized by imagination, originality, and synthesis of the material

A “B” means work of high quality that demonstrates thorough control of the course material and clarity of thinking and writing.

A “C” means work that demonstrates a basic understanding of material, but thinking and writing are inconsistent or careless.

A “D” means work that shows minimal understanding of the material, but thinking and writing that are insufficient to show control of the subject.

Academic Integrity !
At St. Gregory, we have an Honor System that is in effect at all times and for all assignments. When you agree to participate in this class, you pledge to do your own work, to be honest in all of your assignments, and, when borrowing materials from other sources, to give them due credit. Please sign each written assignment pledging that you have upheld the Honor System. Plagiarism is the act of using another person’s ideas or words without giving that person proper credit. Your work should be original, but if you do use someone else’s idea(s), you MUST cite that person. When in doubt, CITE IT!

Please refer to your hard copy of our syllabus for the St. Gregory Faculty Handbook definition of academic integrity.

We will discuss what plagiarism is. I will know it when I see it and you will know it when you do it. There are a number of great sites to help you get a handle on the definition. Most importantly, just cite any original thought (that isn't yours) and do your own work. Never submit something you've taken from someone (including the Internet) else. For more info refer to the following sites:

If you need an extension for any of the written assignments, you must ask Dr. Berry at least 24 hours in advance for that extension. We will decide on a reasonable date and then the assignment must be turned in with no further extension (each student is eligible for only one extension/semester). Late work without an official extension will not be accepted without penalty. For each day the assignment is late, your grade will be decreased by 1/3 of a letter grade. For example, if an assignment is 2 days late, your grade automatically will drop from an A to a B+.

If you have been absent, see me the day you return, and we will discuss any missed in-class assignments. Please hand in late homework as soon as possible (the above late work policy will, of course, apply to ALL absences, including excused absences for any assignment assigned more than one week in advance). Make-up final exams will NOT be given.

Tardy Policy
The policy is: Do NOT Be Late to Class. When the bell rings you should be in your seats ready to begin the class. Walking in late is disruptive and disrespectful and will result in a 10% loss of your participation grade for the day (or a one point deduction).

A student who earns9-10 points for the day will:	A student who earns 8-9 points for the day will:	A student who earns 7-8 points for the day will:	A student who earns 6 or fewer points for the day will:
Demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of the subject	Demonstrate a solid understanding of the subjects	Demonstrate a somewhat limited understanding of the subjects	Demonstrate a quite limited understanding of the subjects
Stimulate others to address and engage in the important points and issues for the day	Be uncertain about his/her own analysis of the day’s subject	Be uncertain about his/her own analysis of the day’s subject	Have no analysis of the day’s subject
Add important ideas to the discussion	Add some ideas to the discussion	Add very few ideas to the discussion	Add no ideas to the discussion
Directly address specific content from the readings at least once during discussion	Generally, not specifically, refer to the readings	Not demonstrate their close reading	Demonstrate they have not read for the day
Show respect for colleagues and Dr. Berry at all times (this includes NOT talking when someone else is talking)	Show respect for colleagues and Dr. Berry at all times (this includes NOT talking when someone else is talking)	Sometimes talk while others are talking, but generally show respect	Constantly talk while others are talking
Have thoroughly familiarized self with topic	Have familiarized him/herself with the topics, but will be a bit uncertain on some details	Be a bit uncertain on some details for the course material for the day	Will be rather clueless
Offer clear, accurate answers for questions	Offer clear, accurate answers for questions	Attempt to answer for questions but may offer searching or imprecise answers	Will demonstrate they have not read for the day
Try to help others clarify difficult concepts	Try to help others clarify difficult concepts	Not try to help others clarify difficult concepts	Will not be willing to help others
Perform brilliantly on the day’s in-class and/or homework assignments	Perform highly on the day’s in-class and/or homework assignments	Complete in-class and/or homework assignments, but work is sloppy/poor	Not complete in-class and/or homework assignments,
Listen intently and come to learn and have fun	Listen intently and come to learn and have fun	Listen intently and come to learn and have fun	Generally not want to be in class

American Identities, 1945-present

Assignments