Women in Antiquity: CLAS 330/HUM 330/WS 330 (3 units)
Presession, Summer 1995: Monday, May 15 - Saturday, June 3
9:00 -11:50 AM MTWTHF ML 312
Instructor: Marilyn B. Skinner

(Jump down to the rewrite policy.)

Short Paper Guidelines

2. Papers are due on the date indicated on the syllabus. Late papers may be penalized by a grade reduction.

3. The minimum length of the paper is 750 words. Maximum length is 1000 words (one additional page). Papers below minimum or above maximum length will not be accepted.

4. The instructor will distribute a handout for the paper assignment two class days before the paper is due. Paper assignments will deal with material previously read and discussed in class. Students will be asked to respond to a specific question. If the paper does not address the question asked, it will be handed back ungraded and the student will be instructed to rewrite it to make it conform to the assignment.

5. Papers must adhere to mechanical standards for writing in a writing-emphasis course. Spelling, punctuation, grammar and diction must be accurate. If a paper displays excessive mechanical errors, it will be returned ungraded and the student instructed to make all necessary corrections before handing it back in.

6. Papers handed back ungraded will be due two class days later. If an ungraded paper is not rewritten and returned within the specified time, it will receive a grade of "E."

7. Papers will be evaluated on the basis of the accuracy, coherence, and completeness of the response to the question asked. Organization of the paper will be taken into account. Easily avoidable errors of fact or interpretation (e.g, misspelling the name of a main character) will be penalized.

8. Interpretations must be supported by actual quotations from the text. For poetry, indicate book and/or line number in parentheses; for prose works, give page number.

9. Students will be expected to refer to assigned course readings as well as the primary text. Citation of other secondary sources (e.g., a book read for a book report) makes a good impression.

10. Avoid vagueness and padding. Don't try to flesh out a weak paper with political polemic. You will be graded on your understanding of the materials, not on your personal values or convictions.

Paper Rewriting Policy

Any student who wishes to rewrite his or her graded book report or short paper in the hope of receiving a higher grade on it may do so once, subject to the following provisions:

1. You must come to my office and go over the paper with me before rewriting it. NO EXCEPTIONS. If my office hours (MWF noon- 1:00 p.m. after class) aren't convenient, please make an appointment.
2. Rewritten papers must be turned in within three class days after they were originally handed back. Papers that come back late will not be eligible for a higher grade.
3. The original graded paper must be stapled to the new draft.
4. All misspellings, sentence fragments, comma errors, grammatical mistakes, and mistakes in diction must be corrected, even if they weren't marked on the original graded paper.
5. To receive a higher grade, the content and organization of the paper must show, in the instructor's view, substantial improvement over that of the first draft. Turning in a second draft carries no automatic guarantees with it.
6. The grade given for improvement will normally be a maximum of one grade higher than the first draft: from an "E" to a "D," from a "D" to a "C." Pluses and minuses may be given. In exceptional cases, an "E" paper may be raised to a "C," but otherwise one grade higher is the maximum.

Please bear in mind that rewriting a graded draft is a privilege, not a right.

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