Attendance and Participation: Come to class on time. Since discussion will be an integral part of the course, I will expect you to be present and to participate. Students who miss more than 2 class meetings may be dropped with an E as English Department policy allows. Since I take attendance at the beginning of each class session, it is your responsibility to ensure that I have not marked you absent should you arrive late. DO NOT ARRIVE LATE.

Assignments: All assignments for the course will require a creative and thoughtful title, your name, my name, and the date. You will be required to post many of the assignments for this course electronically, on the MOO or by using email attachments, so please ensure that you have computer access on the days such assignments are due. You are responsible for keeping back-up (I recommend several) copies of all your work since electronic texts can easily be lost. If your assignment is lost in cyberspace, I will expect you to repost it within the same day I ask for it. Sending assignments by email and posting them to the MOO and the Web will be discussed in class.

Papers/Projects: All papers/projects will require extensive revision and multiple drafts. You will revise your work based on my comments and the comments of your classmates and drafts as well as final revisions will be included in your portfolio, which is worth 80% of your total grade.

Reader Responses: You will write 1-2 reader-responses of approximately 700 words (2 typewritten pages) per week. The specific subject of some of your responses will be assigned, while the subject of others will be your responsibility. If you incorporate autobiographical material into your responses, the focus of your discussion should be directed toward the reading. If I ask for responses to be posted to the MOO or class listserv, I will expect you to have that done by the beginning of class on the day each response is due. Responses count toward your final portfolio grade so I expect you to take them seriously and use them to contribute clear, insightful reflections to the class. As with all of your work, be sure to make back-up copies in case of computer viruses, hard-drive crashes, or any other technical disasters.

In Class Writing Assignments/Quizzes: We will start several mornings off with in-class writing assignments and/or quizzes. These assignments will evolve out of the assigned reading so it is imperative that you actually do the reading to get credit for the assignment. Each in-class assignment will count toward 20% of your final grade and you must be in class during the assignment to get credit for it.

Late Assignments: Your written work for this course, including essays, reader responses, and informal assignments should be turned in/posted on the dates indicated in the daily schedule. If you cannot attend class on the day an assignment is due, I will still expect you to email it to me or post it to the MOO that day. Late reader response and style assignments will be penalized 20% each day they are late; late essays/projects will be penalized 5% each day they are late.

Plagarism: Plagiarism occurs whenever you borrow another author's words or ideas without giving that author credit for his or her work. If you are not sure about how to cite a source in your writing, please consult a style guide at the library (MLA, APA, Chicago Manual). If you still have questions, see me or send me an email. If I notice plagiarism in your writing, you will receive an E for the assignment in question with no chances for revisions. Serious cases may result in an E for the entire course. The University of Arizona takes academic dishonesty very seriously. See the Code of Academic Integrity posted online at: http://w3.arizona.edu/~studpubs/policies/cacaint.htm

Class Conduct: We are going to have a lot of fun this semester. But we will only have fun if you conduct yourself with respect for yourself and others. I expect you to 1) come to class prepared and take pride in the work you do; 2) offer support and encouragement to your classmates; 3) listen to others carefully before offering your opinion; and 4) talk to me outside of class if anything that happens during class bothers you.

Netiquette: I encourage you to post any thoughts, ideas, or responses onto the class listserv during the semester. To make our messages to each other easy to recognize, try to place in the subject heading a meaningful phrase describing the content of your message. For instance, if you are discussing a point that Marshall McLuhan brings up in his book The Medium is the Massage, you could write in the subject line "Medium Is the Massage" or "McLuhan, page 40." If you have a response to someone's comments, you might put in the subject line, "Re: Susan's Response to McLuhan." If you have a question about a class policy, please post it to this list so others can benefit from my response. So, for instance, if you want to ask about the grading policy, write "Question about Grading." If your question is of an personal nature or pertains only to me, be sure to send it to my email address (lauer@u.arizona.edu) and NOT the class listserv.

Remember to mind your netiquette. No personal attacks or insults. If you happen to be verbally attacked by a member of the class, it is best to let me handle it. If you feel compelled to respond, I recommend a request for information, e.g., "What makes you say that?" Responding in kind feels good momentarily, but escalating the insults will only squelch discussion for the rest of us. In addition, do not send irrelevant material to the class listserv or send messages to members in private or on the listserv that could make other members of the class uncomfortable. Think of the class as a professional place, like an office, and your fellow classmates as fellow professionals. Within these guidelines, the listserv should be an enjoyable place for us to talk to each other when we are not in class together. It is also an important place for us to take care of class business.

Grades: Your final grade for this class will be based on a portfolio and a variety of short writing assignments.

Portfolio: Seventy percent of your grade will be based on the final portfolio, which will include:
1) Three Reader Responses
2) Self-Representation Project
2) Drafts of Analysis Project
3) Final website of Analysis Project
4 ) A cover letter that introduces the material in the portfolio.

Short Writing Assignments: Thirty percent of your grade will be based on work such as reader responses, project drafts, peer reviews, style exercises, quizzes, and informal writing - most of which will occur in-class so be sure to attend and be on-time.