Essay Grading

Each essay will receive a letter grades based on both content and mechanics and format. Papers can be rewritten for improved grades. In other words, if you receive a C on a paper, you can revise it for improvement. If an original essay is not satisfactory, I will ask you to revise it without giving it a grade. I don’t think anyone benefits from receiving failing grades. When you hand in revisions, please include the original graded paper. I need to see what kinds of improvements you made. Revisions are due one week after you receive the paper back.

Essays will be handed in on a regular basis throughout the course and must be handed in on the due dates. A letter-grade penalty will be added for each day a paper is late.

Each essay assignment should include at least one rough draft and the final copy. Save your rough draft before doing any revisions on screen. I have to see improvements between the draft and final copy, or I will not accept the paper.

Research

For this course, you will be required to write at least one essay that includes researched information. We will discuss MLA style of researched writing, and you must include correct research style for the paper(s) you choose to use as research. Your research project will include an additional grade for MLA style. The topic you choose for research should be based on interest: you want to learn more about a topic you have an interest in, one that has relevance to your life.

Final Grade

Your final grade will mostly be determined by the written essays. I will take the average of all final drafts, including in-class essays, and they will represent 60 percent of your final grade. On-line discussion, journal writing and homework activities will also be included in determining your final grade, using the following breakdown:

Essays:       60 percent

Discussion:  20 percent

Journal:      15 percent

Homework: 05 percent

Numerical averages will be translated into letter grades based on the following scale:

A: 93-100

A-: 89-92

B+: 86-88

B: 82-85

B-: 79-81

C+: 76-78

C: 73-75

C-: 69-72

D+: 66-68

D: 63-65

D-: 60-62

F: 0-59