---

Course Information

ENGL 2100 G Literature and Humanities:
Graphic Novels: Being (Super) Human
CRN: 83279
Fall 2022
TR 9:30 - 10:45
Carroll 2239

Course Description

The University Catalog descibes this course as an "examination of literature as an expression of the humanities through study of several complete works from at least two historical periods, two genres, and two cultures/countries. Includes an essay or projects involving documentation."

What we'll be doing this semester is looking at several iconic graphic novels and what they have to say about the human condition. "(Super)Humans," as our subtitle indicates, are not just superheroes; they're also ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. Some of them rise to the occasion, while others fail, and become somewhat less than human.

We'll begin by working on ways to analyze and understand these graphic novels, or any form of sequential art. We'll learn a new language of analysis that incorporates both text and images by working through some material I've prepared for you. From there, we'll put these skills into practice by first looking at one abiding classic, Art Spiegelman's Maus series, and one very new text, Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. After those admittedly bleak works, we'll dip into the fantastic with Daytripper, by Brazilian twins Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá. Moving from fantasy to hard-hitting science fiction, we'll then turn to the adaptation of Octavia Butler's Kindred. Our semester will conclude with a work that tops more "Best Graphic Novels of All Time" lists than any other, Alan Moore's Watchmen.

Course Dates

• August 10: Classes begin
• August 10-15: Drop-Add period
• October 6: Last day to drop with a "W"
• November 21-26: Thanksgiving Holidays
• November 30: Last day of classes
• December 6: 10:00 am - Final Exam

Learning Outcomes / Career Readiness Competencies

Learning Outcomes are the knowledge or skills you should gain (and be able to demonstrate) by the end of a particular course.

Career Readiness Competencies are core competencies developed by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). They address eight areas where employers agree that your abilities and skills signify your readiness to begin and/or extend your career. Below are the skills you'll have the opportunity to practice in this course.

Learning Outcomes:

Upon successful completion of this course, you should be able to:

• Analyze works of literature in their historical and cultural contexts, critically examining the values they express.
• Demonstrate familiarity with literary language, periods, and genres.

Career Readiness Competencies contained within this course:

Self-Development	Display curiosity; seek out opportunities to learn. Assume duties or positions that will help one progress professionally. Seek and embrace development opportunities. Voluntarily participate in further education, training, or other events to support one’s career.
Communication	Understand the importance of and demonstrate verbal, written, and non-verbal/body language, abilities. Employ active listening, persuasion, and influencing skills. Communicate in a clear and organized manner so that others can effectively understand. Frame communication with respect to diversity of learning styles, varied individual communication abilities, and cultural differences.
Critical Thinking	Make decisions and solve problems using sound, inclusive reasoning and judgment. Gather and analyze information from a diverse set of sources and individuals to fully understand a problem. Proactively anticipate needs and prioritize action steps. Accurately summarize and interpret data with an awareness of personal biases that may impact outcomes. Effectively communicate actions and rationale, recognizing the diverse perspectives and lived experiences of stakeholders.
Equity and Inclusion	Solicit and use feedback from multiple cultural perspectives to make inclusive and equity-minded decisions. Seek global cross-cultural interactions and experiences that enhance one’s understanding of people from different demographic groups and that leads to personal growth. Keep an open mind to diverse ideas and new ways of thinking.
Leadership	Seek out and leverage diverse resources and feedback from others to inform direction. Use innovative thinking to go beyond traditional methods. Plan, initiate, manage, complete, and evaluate projects.
Professionalism	Act equitably with integrity and accountability to self, others, and the organization. Be present and prepared. Demonstrate dependability (e.g., report consistently for work or meetings). Prioritize and complete tasks to accomplish organizational goals. Consistently meet or exceed goals and expectations. Have an attention to detail, resulting in few if any errors in their work. Show a high level of dedication toward doing a good job
Teamwork	Listen carefully to others, taking time to understand and ask appropriate questions without interrupting. Effectively manage conflict, interact with and respect diverse personalities, and meet ambiguity with resilience. Be accountable for individual and team responsibilities and deliverables. Employ personal strengths, knowledge, and talents to complement those of others. Exercise the ability to compromise and be agile.
Technology	Navigate change and be open to learning new technologies. Use technology to improve efficiency and productivity of their work. Identify appropriate technology for completing specific tasks. Manage technology to integrate information to support relevant, effective, and timely decision-making. Quickly adapt to new or unfamiliar technologies. Manipulate information, construct ideas, and use technology to achieve strategic goals.

These career readiness skills will serve you well no matter what your next steps after graduation might be. Find out more about them on this page of the NACE site.

Required Material

Course Texts

You'll need to purchase these required books for this class:

I also strongly recommend that you purchase this book:

I'll also be providing some resources for you — most notably The Student's Cheat Sheet for Reading Comics and Graphic Novels — which is available on the course site in Folio.

Trigger Warning

A “trigger” is anything that might cause a person to experience a strong emotional and/or psychological response. Some triggers are shared by large numbers of people (for example, rape), while others are more idiosyncratic (for example, orange juice).

All texts read in this course, all class discussions, and all ancillary materials may contain instances of the following potential triggers, as well as other unanticipated and so unlisted potential triggers: ignorance; willful ignorance; cultural insensitivity; oppression; persecution; swearing, abuse (physical, mental, emotional, verbal, sexual), self-injurious behavior (self-harm, eating disorders, etc.), talk of drug use (legal, illegal, or psychiatric), suicide, descriptions or pictures of medical procedures, descriptions or pictures of violence or warfare (including instruments of violence), corpses, skulls, or skeletons; needles; racism; classism; sexism; heterosexism; cissexism, ableism; hatred of differing cultures or ethnicities; hatred of differing sexualities or genders; body image shaming; neuroatypical shaming; dismissal of lived oppressions, marginalization, illness, or differences; kidnapping (forceful deprivation of or disregard for personal autonomy; discussions of sex (even consensual); death or dying; beings in the natural world against which individuals may be phobic; pregnancy and childbirth; blood; serious injury; scarification; glorification of hate groups; elements which might inspire intrusive thoughts in those with psychological conditions such as PTSD, OCD, or clinical depression.

Unless expressly stated otherwise, the views, findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in the texts read in this course, the classroom discussions, and the ancillary material do not necessarily represent the views of the University or the course instructor.

All texts read in this course, all class discussions, and all ancillary materials may also contain instances of overwhelming beauty, profound truths, and serious reflection on what it means to be human.

By remaining registered in this class, you agree to be exposed to all of the above. As Jenny Jarvie has written,

In short, texts and/or discussions in this class may make you uncomfortable. . . . . For many of them, that may be the whole point.

---

Course Structure

General

This course will introduce you to the study of the hybrid genre of graphic novels. So we'll be covering matters like:

• visual literacy;
• visual rhetoric;
• the interplay of text and image;
• discipline- and genre-specific terminology; and
• frames and contexts for understanding images and texts.

Apparatus and Application

The course is organized so that we will spend the first couple of weeks getting our feet under us by familiarizing ourselves with the methodology used to study comics and graphic novels. You're already familiar with most of the methods we use to analyze texts; the process for graphic novels is a bit more complicated. We'll be borrowing ideas, processes, and language from film studies, art history, graphic design, psychology, and media studies to work with this genre. This is the apparatus.

After we have thus girded our loins, we'll address the texts at hand. You'll demonstrate your analytic skill and ability to communicate effectively through two exams and two short papers. This is the application of the apparatus.

Readings

I usually begin these classes with a charge through the work I recommend you reading, McCloud's Understanding Comics. But that work has a lot of material that is extraneous to our purpose here. So instead we'll be a bit more focused with The Student’s Cheat Sheet for Reading Comics and Graphic Novels, which will help us become familiar with visual rhetoric and practice the techniques necessary for thinking and writing about graphic novels.

Papers

You'll write two short papers for this class. You'll submit them via a dropbox in Folio, where they'll go through TurnItIn to check for academic integrity. My comments on those papers will be available to you through the Grademark view in the TurnItIn section (click on your TurnItIn score to access this).

Exams

We'll have two exams, one halfway through the course and one at the end of the course. These will contain some practical questions (can you use the vocabulary of visual analysis?), some short answer questions (can you differentiate between styles?), and some essay questions (can you apply some of the fundamental concepts we're using to a particular piece?).

.

---

Course Expectations

Learning Commitment

The "Carnegie Unit" is how universities define credit hours and categorize the amount of work students do for each credit hour. Each credit requires 15 "contact hours," which are essentially the hours you spend in class during the semester. And each contact hour requires two hours of outside work, or time devoted to the class that doesn't happen in the classroom itself. This is a three-credit course, with 45 contact hours. Those 45 contact hours necessitate at least 90 hours of out-of-class work on your part. That's at least 135 hours committed for each three-credit class that you take.

If you're not a self-starter, or you have problems with deadlines, or you just don't think you can commit to this level of work, you should probably look for another section of this class.

---

Academic Integrity

I expect that you will conduct yourself within the guidelines of the Honor System. All academic work should be completed with the high level of honesty and integrity that this University demands.

I do not tolerate academic dishonesty. Beyond the moral implications, I find it insulting. All instances of plagiarism will be reported to the Office of Student Conduct. Any instance will result in an F in the course and possibly further sanctions. Plagiarism is presenting someone else's work as your own without giving them credit. Someone else is defined as anyone other than you: another student, a friend, relative, a source on the Internet, articles or books. And work is defined as ideas as well as language. So taking someone else's ideas and putting them in your own words—or using someone else's words to express your ideas—is plagiarism. And, in the case of friends and family, it doesn't matter if they give you permission.

A note about group work: I encourage you to read and discuss these texts together outside of class. It is, in fact, the core of our endeavor, to hone our own ideas on these texts through discussions with others. You should also discuss your writing with your classmates, as hearing a number of ideas will help you create and polish your own. However, this does not mean that you should write your papers as a group. While discussion is obviously a group activity, writing is a solitary one, and should be treated as such. Any attempt to subvert this would be an instance of academic dishonesty.

The University has a more extensive definition of Academic Dishonesty (from the Student Conduct Code):

CHEATING

1. submitting material that is not yours as part of your course performance;
2. using information or devices that are not allowed by the faculty;
3. obtaining and/or using unauthorized materials;
4. fabricating information, research, and/or results;
5. violating procedures prescribed to protect the integrity of an assignment, test, or other evaluation;
6. collaborating with others on assignments without the faculty's consent;
7. cooperating with and/or helping another student to cheat;
8. demonstrating any other forms of dishonest behavior.

PLAGIARISM

1. directly quoting the words of others without using quotation marks or indented format to identify them;
2. using sources of information (published or unpublished) without identifying them;
3. paraphrasing materials or ideas without identifying the source;
4. Self-plagiarism: re-submitting work previously submitted without explicit approval from the instructor;
5. unacknowledged use of materials prepared by another person or agency engaged in the selling of term papers or other academic material.

Should you wish to pursue a case of academic dishonesty through the Office of Student Conduct, I will speak at your hearing and send a copy of this syllabus along with the documents in question to the Hearing Officer, so a plea of ignorance or non-malicious intent on your part will not be valid.

---

Course Schedule

I have deliberately not listed any sections, chapters, or page numbers below. Doling out a text in bite-sized chunks is counterproductive, especially at this level. If you consider reading such a chore that you need page counts or deadlines to prod you to finish a book, or if you need to ask me how far you should read in a book, you might need to reconsider your choice to read graphic novels.

Reading should be a pleasure; it is most certainly a privilege. With the texts below you should grab the opportunity to read as far as you can as soon as you can.

DATE	CLASS ACTIVITY	DUE
8/11	Introduction to the Course
8/16	The Student’s Cheat Sheet for Reading Comics and Graphic Novels
8/18	The Student’s Cheat Sheet for Reading Comics and Graphic Novels
8/23	The Student’s Cheat Sheet for Reading Comics and Graphic Novels
8/25	The Complete Maus
8/30	The Complete Maus
9/1	Class cancelled
9/6	The Complete Maus
9/8	The Complete Maus
9/13	The Complete Maus
9/15	The Handmaid's Tale
9/20	The Handmaid's Tale
9/22	The Handmaid's Tale
9/27	The Handmaid's Tale
9/29	The Handmaid's Tale
10/4	EXAM 1
10/6	Daytripper
10/11	Daytripper	PAPER 1
10/13	Daytripper
10/18	Daytripper
10/20	Kindred
10/27	Kindred
11/1	Kindred
11/3	Kindred
11/10	Watchmen
11/12	Watchmen
11/17	Watchmen
11/19	Watchmen
11/29	Watchmen	PAPER 2
12/6	10:00 am: EXAM 2

---

Instructor

Dr. Pellegrino

I'm Dr. Joe Pellegrino, an Associate Professor in the Literature department. I teach lots of different classes. My specialties are Irish literature and postcolonial literature, so I end up doing classes that don't fit into the standard Brit Lit/American Lit model: Irish lit, African lit, etc. Basically, if other people in my department can teach it, I don't teach it.

It seems like I went to school forever, and went to lots of different schools: Duquesne University, St. Louis University, Mannes College of Music, The New England Conservatory, and UNC-Chapel Hill, which is where I did my last degree. I've also taught at a lot of schools: Duquesne, UNC, Eastern Kentucky University, University of South Carolina-Upstate, Greenville Tech, Converse College, and here at GS. I've got some experience in online education; I was a University Director for the (short-lived) Kentucky Commonwealth Virtual University, and have taught online classes for over 20 years now.

Professionally, I also edit two international journals, The Journal of Global Postcolonial Studies and The International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. I'm interested in a number of fields, but most of my publications are either on Irish studies, postcolonial lit, or teaching.

I have only one item on my bucket list: to see the Northern Lights. One day I'll get there, but in the meantime I'm negotiating the lives of two teen daughters, making heirloom furniture (pretty much a middle-aged guy cliché), keeping up with new technology, wishing I could spend more time doing music, and trying to keep my head above water.

Contact Information

• Email: jpellegrino@georgiasouthern.edu
• Phone: 912.478.5853
• Office Hours: M: 12:00-1:45 | R: 11:00-12:15, 2:00-3:15 | F: 11:00-11:50

A WORD ABOUT EMAIL

Please don't hesitate to post to me if you have a question about any of the readings, especially if you're struggling to figure them out. But please think twice about posting questions where the answer is either in this syllabus or in the course schedule. If you do, I have two options for a reply: I can copy and paste material from the syllabus or schedule just for you, but that's redundant, since you already have access to the material. Or I can reply with something like "check the syllabus" or "check the schedule," which you should already know to do. Since neither of those are satisfactory, if you ask a question that is already answered in the syllabus or in the schedule, I won't be replying at all. So if you don't hear back from me, you should know that the answer to your question is in this document (since the course schedule is here as well.)

---

CLASS POLICIES

Writing Proficiency

If you need additional work on the surface features of your writing, I'll let you know. Basically, if I can't understand what you're trying to say in your first paper, then you'll have to work at writing more clearly. I'll ask you to schedule sessions at the Writing Center in order to be more successful on your next paper.

The reason professors make students write papers is not because we love to mark them up, or because we somehow enjoy this. I'm willing to bet that every professor you ask would say that marking and grading papers is the worst part of their job. I know it is for me. The only thing that makes it bearable is hoping that I'll be able to engage with your ideas, or see the texts we're covering through your eyes. But if I have to stop after every sentence to figure out what you're trying to say, I'm most certainly not thinking about your ideas.

So do yourself a favor: give yourself enough time to do a good job on these papers. Remember that writing clearly takes far more time than you think it does, because you have to consider your argument from a reader's perspective, not your perspective.

I realize that the grand academic dance of submitting your work, having it evaluated, then responding to that evaluation (either through improving your work in your next paper, or by coming to see me in my office) is essentially a negotiation between us. You want to demonstrate your abilities with X amount of work, an amount that you think deserves a certain grade. You submit your work without knowing how others will see it, and only become aware of their perceptions when your work is returned to you with my comments. But this puts you at a disadvantage, because you're making your first move in this negotiation blindly.

So in the spirit of openness, let me try to level the playing field by giving you a few tips:

• This is academic writing, where clarity and concision are essential. If your work isn't clear, if every sentence doesn't hang together, you're losing the negotiation. What you have written may make sense to you, but it needs to make sense to your readers as well.
• At the post-secondary level, your work isn't evaluated in terms of the amount of work you put into it. Just like any other skill, the amount of effort necessary to master academic writing varies from person to person. I am sure that it would take me far more effort than most of you to get back to playing football. But even if I did ten times the work you did, when we both showed up on the field we'd be evaluated on our skills, not on the time it took us to gain them.
• If you pay attention to what the prompt is asking you to write about, and keep that in mind as you think about your paper, you're making a good start.
• if you look at the rubric, especially the distinctions between the levels of performance in content and form, you should get a good idea of how successful your paper will be.
• If you're wondering if your "X amount of work" is enough, it isn't.
• And one last personal comment:
  Before we had things like TurnItIn and other automatic checkers on academic integrity, I was the guy other faculty members went to to track down cases of suspected plagiarism. When Google was just getting off the ground, I was a beta tester for them (one of 25 in the country). I've also been teaching English for over 40 years now. So if you're thinking that you've changed enough of that material that you've copied and pasted to make it look like your own work, think again. If writing and evaluating papers is a negotiation, then presenting someone else's work as your own is a gamble, and you're betting your academic career that you can get away with it. I've just told you what I bring to the table, so if you really think you can get away with it, my only advice is to do it as early as possible, so you can spare yourself the work for the rest of semester, because you'll already be gone from this class.

     


Course Work

You should submit your papers into the appropriate dropbox in the Learning Management System (Folio).

I DO NOT ACCEPT LATE ASSIGNMENTS. NO EXCEPTIONS, NO EXCUSES. A late assignment is any work that is not turned in by the deadline, when the dropbox closes. This means that you must anticipate any problems that will occur. In other words, a computer / printer / drive / car / arm being broken at the last minute is not an excuse. To avoid last-minute catastrophes (which always occur), DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE TO DO YOUR WORK.

Accessibility Accommodation

I'm a strong advocate for those who are differently abled, so of course I want to be in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). I'll honor any request for reasonable accommodations made by those with disabilities or demonstrating appropriate need for learning environment adjustments. However, I can only make those accommodations if they're accompanied by an accommodation letter from the Student Accessibility Resource Center (SARC) before academic accommodations can be implemented.

For additional information, please call the SARC office at (912) 478-1566 on the Statesboro campus, or at (912) 344-2572 on the Armstrong and Liberty campuses.

---

Extended Prompt - Paper 1

Cultural values are what shape society, and shape and influence the people who live within that society. They are abstract concepts promoting the idea that certain kinds of behaviors are good, right, ethical, moral, and therefore desirable. They're usually considered as existing on a spectrum, where the ends of that spectrum are two oppositional ways of being in the world. Here are some examples of some common cultural values, expressed as opposing forces:

NOTE: The list above is made up of pairs of opposites. Each pair IS NOT a cultural value. Rather, what a culture values falls somewhere along the line connecting those opposites. So, for instance, a culture could value gender equality, but if it did so, it would not also enforce rigid gender roles. Or a group of people could value rationality when they make their life decisions, but they would not at the same time privilege making life decisions based on your emotions.

In this first essay, you will offer an analysis of the cultural values presented in any of the works we've covered up to this point. So you can write on either The Complete Maus or The Handmaid's Tale. However, I'm not looking for a discussion of a character's personal values; that's a completely different subject. Rather, you should address the overarching values that the text is putting forth, and perhaps demonstrate how the author is either reflecting the values of the times, or pushing against those values.

You should produce a multi-paragraph document of between 500 and 600 words which addresses this matter thoroughly and demonstrates your knowledge. This essay should be typed and double-spaced, with a 12-point font, and your name in the upper left corner of the first page. You'll submit it to the “Paper #1” dropbox, where it will go through the TurnItIn check for academic honesty.

You may use external sources in your essay, and if you do you will need to acknowledge where you got your information from. If you use the source’s language, put it in quotation marks.

In case all of the above isn’t clear enough, here’s a paragraph-by-paragraph breakdown of what your paper should look like:

1. Paragraph 1: Introduce the text and explain how the text addresses the prevailing cultural values present at the time of its composition. Do not just list those values; explain what they mean.
2. Paragraph 2: Demonstrate how and where the first cultural value can be seen in the text you have chosen. Quote the text at the appropriate spots and explain how those quotations illustrate the value.
3. Paragraph 3: Demonstrate how and where a second cultural value can be seen in the text you have chosen. Quote the text at the appropriate spots and explain how those quotations illustrate the value.
4. Paragraph 4: Demonstrate how and where a third cultural value can be seen in the text you have chosen. Quote the text at the appropriate spots and explain how those quotations illustrate the value.
5. Paragraph 5: Wrap it up.

Comments on your papers and your grade on the paper will be available to you through the Grademark view in the TurnItIn section (click on your TurnItIn score to access this).

Your TurnItIn Score

After you submit your paper and TurnItIn has completed its analysis, you are able to see your TurnItIn Originality Score. In general, lower numbers are better here, unless you're quoting a lot of material from the text. Your score will also have a color attached to it. If the color you see is anything other than green, check your paper again to see that you have cited all your sources correctly. If you have, then you're good. If you haven't, then you can revise your paper and resubmit it. I will evaluate only the most recent version of your paper in the dropbox, but you can submit as many versions of it as you feel necessary.

How to view your marked papers in the Grademark View:

1. Click on the colored section that has a percentage within it next to your paper title under the "TurnItIn Score" heading. This will take you to the TurnItIn suite.
2. Once your paper loads, click on the icon at the top of the array of icons to the right of your paper. This will allow you to view multiple layers with your paper.
3. In the list that flies out from the right, click on all three layers: Grading, Similarity, and e-rater.
4. Double-click on any blue box in your paper to see my comment attached to that box.
5. Double-click on any number in your paper to see the match that TurnItIn connected with the passage it highlighted.
6. Double-click on any purple comment in your paper to see the machine-scored grammar corrections and access the handbook available to you.

Extended Prompt - Paper 2

Cultural values are what shape society, and shape and influence the people who live within that society. They are abstract concepts promoting the idea that certain kinds of behaviors are good, right, ethical, moral, and therefore desirable. They're usually considered as existing on a spectrum, where the ends of that spectrum are two oppositional ways of being in the world. Here are some examples of some common cultural values, expressed as opposing forces:

NOTE: The list above is made up of pairs of opposites. Each pair IS NOT a cultural value. Rather, what a culture values falls somewhere along the line connecting those opposites. So, for instance, a culture could value gender equality, but if it did so, it would not also enforce rigid gender roles. Or a group of people could value rationality when they make their life decisions, but they would not at the same time privilege making life decisions based on your emotions.

In this second essay, you will offer an analysis of the cultural values presented in any of the works we've covered since the first essay. So you can write on either Daytripper, Kindred, or Watchmen. However, I'm not looking for a discussion of a particular character's personal values; that's a completely different subject. Rather, you should address the overarching values that the text is putting forth, and perhaps demonstrate how the author is either reflecting the values of the times, or pushing against those values.

You should produce a multi-paragraph document of between 500 and 600 words which addresses this matter thoroughly and demonstrates your knowledge. This essay should be typed and double-spaced, with a 12-point font, and your name in the upper left corner of the first page. You'll submit it to the “Paper #2” dropbox, where it will go through the TurnItIn check for academic honesty.

You may use external sources in your essay, and if you do you will need to acknowledge where you got your information from. If you use the source’s language, put it in quotation marks.

In case all of the above isn’t clear enough, here’s a paragraph-by-paragraph breakdown of what your paper should look like:

1. Paragraph 1: Introduce the text and explain how the text addresses the prevailing cultural values present at the time of its composition. Do not just list those values; explain what they mean.
2. Paragraph 2: Demonstrate how and where the first cultural value can be seen in the text you have chosen. Quote the text at the appropriate spots and explain how those quotations illustrate the value.
3. Paragraph 3: Demonstrate how and where a second cultural value can be seen in the text you have chosen. Quote the text at the appropriate spots and explain how those quotations illustrate the value.
4. Paragraph 4: Demonstrate how and where a third cultural value can be seen in the text you have chosen. Quote the text at the appropriate spots and explain how those quotations illustrate the value.
5. Paragraph 5: Wrap it up.

Comments on your papers and your grade on the paper will be available to you through the Grademark view in the TurnItIn section (click on your TurnItIn score to access this).

Your TurnItIn Score

After you submit your paper and TurnItIn has completed its analysis, you are able to see your TurnItIn Originality Score. In general, lower numbers are better here, unless you're quoting a lot of material from the text. Your score will also have a color attached to it. If the color you see is anything other than green, check your paper again to see that you have cited all your sources correctly. If you have, then you're good. If you haven't, then you can revise your paper and resubmit it. I will evaluate only the most recent version of your paper in the dropbox, but you can submit as many versions of it as you feel necessary.

How to view your marked papers in the Grademark View:

1. Click on the colored section that has a percentage within it next to your paper title under the "TurnItIn Score" heading. This will take you to the TurnItIn suite.
2. Once your paper loads, click on the icon at the top of the array of icons to the right of your paper. This will allow you to view multiple layers with your paper.
3. In the list that flies out from the right, click on all three layers: Grading, Similarity, and e-rater.
4. Double-click on any blue box in your paper to see my comment attached to that box.
5. Double-click on any number in your paper to see the match that TurnItIn connected with the passage it highlighted.
6. Double-click on any purple comment in your paper to see the machine-scored grammar corrections and access the handbook available to you.

---

Marking your papers

When I mark your papers, here's my process: I read your papers at least three times. The first time, I just go through them looking for your argument and if you addressed the prompt in your essay. In my next reading, I apply the following Minimum Standards Rubric, which comes from the Technical College system in South Carolina. This rubric is applied to papers from students at two-year schools, and it defines the minimum acceptable standards there. Once I've applied the Minimum Standards Rubric, I then read through your paper again, asking the questions here and evaluating it with the Essay Rubric below. This reading is where I'll make the most comments on your paper.

Questions I ask while grading

For each sentence in your paper, I ask the following questions:

1. What are you saying?
   At a basic level, I’m trying to decode the meaning of each sentence. If I cannot understand what you’re trying to say, everything that follows is problematic. If your sentence is confused, convoluted, or contradictory, you make it difficult, or even impossible, for me to answer this basic question.
2. Is what you’re saying accurate?
   Does this sentence demonstrate that you understand the text or the critic you’re addressing? For instance, if you’re summarizing someone else’s argument, I need to assess if you’re being true to the original author's intent. In your response, I’m assessing your evidence and examples.
3. Is what you’re saying well-expressed grammatically and mechanically?
   This assumes that your grammar and mechanics aren’t so bad that I’ve been stymied back up at Question #1.
4. Does the writing have appropriate flow?
   Does each idea link up with the one previous to it and the one to follow in a way that meets audience needs, attitudes, and knowledge?

If I can answer all four of these questions positively for every sentence, you’re doing well. But when the answer is no, complications ensue. If I can’t understand what you’re saying, I have no way to engage with your ideas, and so I have additional questions.:

• Do you not understand the original text you’re addressing?
• Do you understand the original text, but your writing leaves a gap between that understanding and what is written on the page?

Minimum Standards Rubric

Essay Rubric

ENGL 2100 ESSAY RUBRIC
GRADE	CONTENT	FORM
A	All elements of the paper clearly contribute to the writer’s purpose, which is maintained throughout the paper and appropriate for the assignment. The writer addresses the appropriate topic and goes beyond the assignment by significantly developing each aspect of the requirements. Collectively, the ¶ topics offer compelling support which clearly advances the argument of the paper. Compelling details provide supporting statements, credible evidence, or the examples necessary to explain or persuade effectively. All points are supported by a sufficient number of details.	Level of discourse is consistent and addresses the appropriate audience; the paper keenly and accurately anticipates the audience’s needs and expectations. All sentences are grammatically and mechanically correct. Each ¶ is unified around an idea that relates to the main idea of the paper. All ¶s support the main idea, are thoroughly developed, and are ordered logically. Sentences vary in complexity, length, and variety when appropriate, with an appropriate degree of complexity for the audience and purpose. Word choice is consistently varied, accurate, and rich, and reflects a nuanced grasp of the language appropriate to the audience. Transitional words, phrases, sentences and ¶s smoothly connect the paper’s elements, ideas and/or details, allowing the reader to follow the writer’s points effortlessly. MLA 9 format is used consistently and accurately throughout the paper.
B	The writer’s purpose is present, appropriate for the assignment, and maintained throughout the paper. The writer addresses the appropriate topic and clearly fulfills each aspect of the assignment requirements. Collectively, the ¶ topics offer relevant support which clearly advances the argument of the paper. Details provide supporting statements, credible evidence, or the examples necessary to explain or persuade adequately. All points are developed, but some may need additional details.	Level of discourse is appropriate, but the paper has rare lapses in anticipating the needs of its audience. Rare grammatical and mechanical errors exist but do not affect clarity or readability. ¶s support the main idea of the paper and are ordered logically. ¶s are thoroughly developed, but an occasional ¶ may not be unified around a single idea. Variances in sentence complexity, length, and variety are successfully achieved, although these may be limited. Degree of complexity is appropriate for the audience and purpose. Word choice is consistently varied and accurate, and reflects a strong grasp of the language appropriate to the audience. Transitional words, phrases, sentences and ¶s are effective and rarely missing. MLA 9 format is used throughout the paper, with few exceptions.
C	The writer’s purpose is present and appropriate for the assignment, but not all elements clearly contribute to the purpose. The writer addresses the appropriate topic and meets the assignment requirements. Collectively, the ¶ topics offer adequate support for the argument of the paper, but the argument remains unclear or incomplete. Details are related to the elements of the text but inconsistently provide supporting statements, credible evidence, or the examples necessary to explain or persuade adequately. Additional details are needed to develop some points.	Level of discourse is appropriate, but the paper has lapses in anticipating the needs of its audience. A limited variety of grammatical errors exists, and may occasionally affect clarity and readability. ¶s are related to the main idea of the paper, but a limited number may be misplaced or include more than one idea. ¶s are adequately developed. Sentence length and variety is limited, but complex structures are attempted with some success. Any fragments are used intentionally for effect. Word choice is generally accurate, but reflects a partial or inconsistent grasp of the language appropriate to the audience. Transitional words, phrases, sentences and ¶s appear throughout the paper, but additional and appropriate connectors would enhance the flow. MLA 9 format is used, with multiple lapses.
D	The writer presents multiple conflicting purposes, or the purpose is inappropriate for the assignment / prompt. The writer addresses the appropriate topic but only superficially addresses the assignment requirements. Collectively, the ¶ topics offer apparent support for the argument of the paper, but the argument is weak. Details are loosely related to the elements of the text. Many do not provide supporting statements, credible evidence, or the examples necessary to explain or persuade adequately. Additional details are needed to develop most points.	Level of discourse is confused, or the paper addresses the audience on an inappropriate level. A variety of grammatical errors appears throughout the paper, possibly affecting clarity and readability. ¶s are attempted, but breaks or ¶s may be misplaced. Several ¶s are not adequately developed, include multiple ideas, or ideas that are unrelated to the main idea of the ¶. Sentence structure is typically simplistic, and complex structures are attempted with little success. Several sentences are unintentionally fused, run-ons, or fragments. Word choice is vague, limited, or repetitive, reflecting a weak grasp of the language appropriate to the audience. Transitional words, phrases, sentences and ¶s are attempted, but are often ineffective. MLA 9 format is attempted but inaccurate, or multiple style guidelines are mixed.
F	The writer’s purpose is not evident in the paper. The writer is off topic and/or omits most or all of the assignment requirements. The connection of the ¶ topics to the main idea of the paper is weak, leaving the argument unclear. Details are superficial or do not develop the elements of the text. Virtually no details are present.	Level of discourse is inappropriate for the audience, or the intended audience is unclear. Most sentences exhibit multiple grammatical and mechanical errors, negatively affecting clarity and readability. There are no ¶ breaks, or ¶s are not adequately developed. Ideas presented may be unrelated to the main idea of the paper and/or be presented illogically. Sentence structure is simple and repetitive. Complex structures are uniformly unsuccessful. Many sentences are unintentionally fused, run-ons, or fragments. Word choice is consistently inaccurate or inappropriate to the audience; many words are notably misused. Transitional words, phrases, sentences and ¶s are absent, or, if attempted, are ineffective. MLA 9 format is not attempted.

---

Evaluation

ASSIGNMENT	WEIGHT
Paper 1	20%
Paper 2	25%
Exam 1	20%
Exam 2	25%
Participation	10%
TOTAL	100%