1.
Attendance or Do I need to come to class?
Attending
is compulsory for 5 out of 7 seminars but only optional for the
lectures. However, I strongly suggest you come to the lectures as well in order
to get a better grip of the critical framework and of some of the primary texts
for this class. (If you come for less than 5 seminars, you will fail the first
exam session. Also, note that the grade for your seminar performance will be
based, among other criteria, on your attendance score.)
2.
Seminar requirements or What do they want from
me?
1.
WRITTEN ESSAY (+PRESENTATION).
Other than having to attend most seminars, all students have to write a
3-to-4-page academic/critical essay.
-All
essays are to be delivered as Word documents. One page is 2000 characters with
spaces. (Use the Word Count function
in the Tools menu in Microsoft Office Word.)
-Failure
to apply the critical format to a presentation, an essay, or the mid-term
test will be graded as 2 (see Critical
methodology for seminar assignments immediately
below).
-All
forms of plagiarism will be graded as 1 and will result in a
FAIL (possibly in a recommendation for the culprit to be expelled).
-Failure
to meet the deadlines (deliver the presentation/hand in the written
essay/take the mid-term test at the exact scheduled times) will result in up
to 2 points deducted from that particular mark.
-Most
students will make a 10-minute in-class presentation based
on their written essay. The presentation is to be delivered (not
read !) in approx. 10 mins.
and then discussed in/by the class.
-Students
will receive bonus points for in-class presentations to be
added to their mark in the written essay: 2 points if they volunteer, 1 point
if they are appointed by the seminar instructor.
-Students
must contact their seminar instructors and enlist for a presentation
not later than the second week of the semester. Note: They are under
no obligation to hand in the written critical essay at the time of the
presentation or to change the topic/approach for the written critical essay.
2.
READING NOTES FOR PRIMARY/LITERARY TEXTS, AS WELL AS FOR THE MANDATORY SECTIONS
IN THE CRITICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY.
All
reading notes are to be delivered as a single file.doc (Word), .pdf (Adobe)
or .zip (WinZip or 7z) archive files.
3.
Apart from these assignments, students will also be assessed for their
PARTICIPATION IN CLASS DISCUSSIONS.
4.
ALL STUDENTS (not just those on assignment) MUST READ CLOSELY THE SELECTED
TEXT(S) for each seminar. Quizzes should be expected as well as verification of
personal reading notes ["conspecte"]
for each seminar.
5.
STUDENTS CANNOT PROCURE A PASS IF THEY HAVEN'T SUBMITTED A VALID WRITTEN
ESSAY. (“Valid” means not plagiarized and conforming to the format and
methodological requirements – see section below.)
3.
Critical methodology for seminar assignments or How do I write a successful
critical essay?
The presentations and
essays have to use a particular critical approach of the
student’s choice (after consultation with the seminar
instructor). Anthologies of critical approaches are available at the
Pitar Mos Reading Room where most of the course material is stored (ask at the
Librarian’s Desk for R. Surdulescu and B. Stefãnescu - Contemporary Critical Theories. A Reader and
David Lodge - Modern
Literary Criticism and Theory).
Here is the required format for
such assignments:
1) Main Assumptions (what
literature is in his/her selected critical perspective);
2) Objectives (a. what that critical
perspective aims for, generally speaking, and b. what the student’s particular
assignment sets out to do within the range of the general objectives of his/her
critical approach);
3) Means (what
critical instruments - i.e., methodology, concepts, techniques etc. - will be
employed to achieve the Objectives);
4) The Argument/Analysis
proper (the main body of the presentation);
5) Conclusions (a
concluding statement on the result of the analysis and a brief self-evaluation
of the benefits of the critical endeavour).
All seminar presentations must use HANDOUTS (at least one for every two
participants).
!!!
MAKE SURE YOU DO THIS FOR THE WRITTEN ESSAY:
-
Design a solid argument and a clear structure (headed
argument) for the essay starting with the initial justification of your choice
of theme and approach and leading to relevant conclusions.
-
Identify and clearly state in the introductory section what
is the problem that you aim to tackle in the essay and
provide a brief explanation of your methodology and specialized
critical terms.
-
Use elegant and nuanced language (no colloquialisms or slang terms) without
becoming pedantic and affected. Demonstrate that you can use the
critical idiom of your approach.
-
Strictly adhere to the MLA academic style in quoting and
indicating sources, inserting notes and compiling the list of cited
works. (Purdue.edu)
-
Do not forget to run a computer spell and grammar check and to
double check it yourself.
-
Insert all elements of identification (full name, year and group, course name
and seminar instructor, date). We handle hundreds of essays each semester and
it is not easy to keep track of them when there is missing info.
-
Send your essay be email to your seminar instructor before the deadline and
keep a copy of your essay in case it gets misplaced or fails to reach him/her.
4.
Sending in your assignments (1+2 above)
Deadline
for emailing your written essays and reading notes: before your last seminar.
a) - LOAD YOUR ESSAY (NOT YOUR READING NOTES) ON THE TURNITIN PLATFORM !
For Andreea Paris Popa's groups> Class ID 24754903; Class Key: SemLit1A2020.
For Sorana Corneanu's groups> Class ID 24494293; Class Key: BritLit.
For Bogdan Ștefănescu's groups> Class ID 24754549; Class Key: ROM20.
When asked for a title write 2020 [LAST NAME]
[FIRST NAME].
b) -
Also, ask your seminar instructor whether/how you should EMAIL YOUR
ASSIGNMENTS.
SUGGESTIONS
(TO BE CONFIRMED BY YOUR SEMINAR INSTRUCTOR):
-
When emailing, always state your name and class/year in the
subject line (e.g., " [LAST NAME] [FIRST NAME] CONC. LIT. 1A
Assignments "), in the signature of your email message, and in
the title of the files for your essay and reading notes.
-
The essay and the reading notes should be sent as file attachments to
your email message. All reading notes are to be delivered as a single
file.doc (Word), .pdf (Adobe) or .zip (WinZip or 7z)
archive files. These 2 files should be titled “[LAST NAME] [FIRST NAME]
Critical Essay” or “[LAST NAME] [FIRST NAME] Reading Notes”,
respectively. E.g., STEFANESCU BOGDAN Critical Essay.doc.
-
Expect a brief confirmation email. Should one fail to reach you in a few days,
resend your material and ask for confirmation.
5. Computation of
grade or How should I balance my efforts?
The
seminar grade will reflect:
1) the assignments (the critical essay/presentation) = 33% of seminar grade;
2) participation in the seminar debates = 33%;
3) attendance = 33% [5 attendances and over = 10; 4 att. = 8; 3 att. = 6; 2
att. = 4; 1 att. = 2].
The seminar grade will count as half of the final mark, the other half is
the final exam assessment.
6.
Final exam or How will I be graded?
The final
exam is oral. (Should you fail or miss the first exam
session, all subsequent re-examinations will be written.)
The exam ticket will consist of one subject to be prepared for about 20 mins.
and discussed in about 6-8 mins.
A
student may change the ticket only once, in which case 2 points will be
deducted from the exam grade. The student may not refuse the alternative
subject and revert to the original one.
A
list of subjects and compulsory bibliography (readings) will be provided at the
beginning of the semester. The primary (literary) texts have to be read
in order to get a pass. Studying criticism instead and
passing it on as your reasoned interpretation of literary texts you have never
read will not be tolerated.
7.
Malfuntions or What if something goes wrong?
Should
any problems arise regarding the bibliography and its availability to students,
please notify the course director or your seminar instructor
immediately. Excuses (such as not having found the texts in the bibliography)
will not be accepted unless a solution has been attempted with the course team
previously. All other malfunctions should be reported ASAP (as soon as
possible) to the seminar instructors or to B. Stefãnescu.
8.
AVOID PLAGIARISM or Can I take the easy way
out?
-Any
form of plagiarism or cheating in exams, mid-term tests, seminar assignments
etc.--whether enacted or attempted, fragmentary or integral, deliberate or
accidental--will be punished severely (that is, a fail in the course for
minor transgressions and a formal suggestion that the culprit be expelled
for more serious offenses).
-Make
sure that what you say or write are your own ideas and words. Whenever they are
not yours, make that as clear and explicit as possible using quotations,
references, citations in the bibliography, footnotes/endnotes.
-Stay
away from non-academic sites like Sparknotes, Answers.com, GradeSaver,
Wikipedia, ready-made essay banks/data bases etc. Use only authoritative
(serious) sites where articles are signed, such as academic encyclopedias
or the web pages of academics, university departments, scholarly societies etc.
-Do
not recycle your essays. Write new work, do not use older essays that you've
submitted for another class.
