Discussion Boards Posting Requirements:
Discussion Board postings are the only assignments in which students can use relaxed prose, so the academic prose guidelines in section two of lecture 2 do not apply to discussion boards.
Each weekly discussion board opens at 11:59 p.m. on Fridays and remains open until 11:59 p.m. on the following Friday, so as a given week's discussion board locks, the next week's discussion board opens at the same time. Once a discussion board locks, you cannot post to it; however, it remains viewable for the entirety of the semester so that you can return and read the comments.


As is the case with all facets of this course, it is ultimately students' responsibility to make certain all course work is turned in. Technology-related problems are not a valid excuses for failure to turn in work. For example, forgetting to click on the "Post" button is unfortunate, but it will not be accepted as a valid excuse for unposted work. Once a deadline has passed, a discussion board will not be reopened for any reason. Moreover, you must meet all requirements in terms of word count and all other criteria to receive credit for a given week's required postings. If your comment is deleted or edited for content or any other reason, I reserve the right to award zero credit for that week or to bar a student from discussion boards for the remainder of the semester, which would also result in a zero in the discussion boards and participation grading components of this course. Further, at my discretion, if I judge that postings are not a genuine effort, I may not award credit for that week. You may NOT include quotations in your discussion board posts, for if you do, the post will not receive credit. Moreover, if you do not receive credit for a given week, it will affect your participation grade.

Below are Four Important Sections of This Discussion Boards Subject Heading:


1)
 How to Access the Discussion Boards and Post Comments
2)
 Requirements to Receive Credit for Posts (specifics are given for the fiction component, poetry component, and drama component)
3
 About the Other Weekly Discussion Board titled "Current Assignment(s) and This Course
4)
 Proper Etiquette for Posts—PAY MUCH ATTENTION TO THIS!

Section One: How to Access the Discussion Boards and Post Comments:


  • On D2L's top menu bar, click on "Discussions," and you will land on a new page where you will see something like "Week One Discussion Board," which is an active link you must click.
  • You will land on a page that has a total of two links, and each of these two links is to a different discussion topic for that week. They will always be titled the same: "POST COMMENTS ABOUT THE HOMEWORK READINGS HERE," and "POST COMMENTS ABOUT THE CURRENT ASSIGNMENT(S) OR THE COURSE HERE."
  • Click on the discussion topic link
  • The next thing I suggest that you do is click on "Settings," and then change the "Message List Style" from "Grid Style" to "Reading Style," and then click "Save."
  • Click on compose
  • Type your post in the text box
  • Do not forget to click the "Post" button
  • Check to make sure that you see your post is now part of the discussion board.
  • Discussion board postings are the only assignments to which section two of lecture two does not apply. In other words, your discussion board postings are not required to follow the requrements for academic prose, so first and second-person pronouns are acceptable.


    •
    Section Two: Requirements to Receive Credit for Posts:


    Post one or More Comments for Each Homework Reading:

  • Each week there is a weekly discussion board called "Week One Discussion Board," and "Week Two Discussion Board," and so on until the end of the semester.
  • Each weekly discussion board will have two forums:
  • "POST COMMENTS ABOUT THE HOMEWORK READINGS HERE."
  • "POST COMMENTS ABOUT THE CURRENT ASSIGNMENT(S) OR THE COURSE HERE."
    •
  • ALL REQUIRED POSTS THAT GO TO "POST COMMENTS ABOUT THE HOMEWORK READINGS HERE," MUST BE MADE PRIOR TO THE CLASS MEETING WHERE THEY ARE TO BE DISCUSSED IN CLASS, OR YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE CREDIT."


    • For the Fiction Component of This Course (short stories):


    Usually, we will read more than one short story for a given night's homework.

  • If more than one short story is assigned for a given night's homework, make at least two separate posts, and comment on only one short story in each post, 50 words per post minimum, or you will not receive credit. Do the same for each night's homework, or you will not receive credit.
  • Posts should focus on comments about how the various elements of fiction help us to understand the story or affect us as readers. Examples of valid elements of fiction are the setting, language, character analysis, and other valid terminology found in the glossary section of Literature Craft & Voice. Comments should NOT focus on "I like the story because. . ." or "I didn't like the story because." Your task in this discussion board is to do a literary analysis of the story.
  • Replies: Before the discussion board locks for the week, you must make a separate reply of 25 words minimum for one short story we have read during a given week of class, or you will not receive credit. Replies should focus on the comments to which you are replying. For example, if your peer's comments were an analysis about the story's setting, then expound upon that element with additional analysis. Again, your task in this discussion board is to do a literary analysis of the story. Replies must go beyond agreement with your peer's post. You must make your own additional analytical points.
  • Never examine the plot simply in terms of what happened in the story. Hopefully, we have all done the reading and already know what happened.
  • Your posts must be made one hour or more prior to the class meeting on the day of the scheduled class discussion, or you will not receive credit.
  • You are welcome and encouraged to post as often as you like, and beyond the required 50 word posts and the required 25 word posts, the subsequent posts can be shorter if you like.
    •

    For the Poetry Component of This Course:


    Sometimes, we will read a group of poems for a given night's homework.

  • If more than one poem is assigned for a given night's homework, make at least two separate posts, and comment on only one poem in each post, 50 words per post minimum, or you will not receive credit. Do the same for each night's homework, or you will not receive credit.
  • Posts should focus on comments about how the various elements of poetry help us to understand the poem or affect us as readers. Examples of valid elements of poetry are didacticticism, motif, and other valid terminology found in the glossary section of Literature Craft & Voice. Comments should NOT focus on "I like the poem because. . ." or "I didn't like the poem because." Your task in this discussion board is to do a literary analysis of the poem.
  • Replies: If more than one poem is assigned for a given night's homework, you must make at least two separate replies, and comment on only one poem in each reply, 25 words minimum for each reply, or you will not receive credit. Each of your two replies must be over a different poem. Replies should focus on the comments to which you are replying. For example, if your peer's comments were an analysis about the poem's didacticism, then expound upon that element with additional analysis. Again, your task in this discussion board is to do a literary analysis of the poem. Replies must go beyond agreement with your peer's post. You must make your own additional analytical points.
  • Poems, like short stories, also have plots. Even so, never examine the plot simply in terms of what happened in the poem. Hopefully, we have all done the reading and already know what happened.
  • Your posts must be made one hour or more prior to the class meeting on the day of the scheduled class discussion, or you will not receive credit.
  • You are welcome and encouraged to post as often as you like, and beyond the required 50 word posts, the subsequent posts can be shorter if you like.
    •

    For the Drama Component of This Course (The Plays):


    We will read only one play for a given night's homework.

  • Make one separate post for each weekly homework reading, for a total of two posts per week, 50 words per post minimum, or you will not receive credit.
  • Posts should focus on comments about how the various elements of drama help us to understand the play. Examples of valid elements of drama are the setting, language, character analysis, and other valid terminology found in the glossary section of Literature Craft & Voice. Comments should NOT focus on "I like the play because. . ." or "I didn't like the play because." Your task in this discussion board is to do a literary analysis of the play.
  • Replies: You must one separate post for each weekly homework reading, for a total of two posts per week, 25 words minimum for each reply, or you will not receive credit. Replies should focus on the comments to which you are replying. For example, if your peer's comments were an analysis about the play's language, then expound upon that element with additional analysis. Again, your task in this discussion board is to do a literary analysis of the play. Replies must go beyond agreement with your peer's post. You must make your own additional analytical points.
  • Never examine the plot simply in terms of what happened in the play. Hopefully, we have all done the reading and already know what happened.
  • Your posts must be made one hour or more prior to the class meeting on the day of the scheduled class discussion, or you will not receive credit.
  • You are welcome and encouraged to post as often as you like, and beyond the required 50 word posts and the required 25 word posts, the subsequent posts can be shorter if you like.
    •

    Section Three: About the Other Weekly Discussion Board titled "Current Assignment(s) and This Course":


    Weekly Postings About the Current Assignment(s) and This Course:

    When you arrive at the weekly discussion board, you will see the active link, "Post Comments About the Current Assignment(s) or the Course."

    This weekly topic allows you to post anonymously if you wish, but if you post anonymously, then you must make an additional post to this board about the current assignments or the course, and this additional post cannot be anonymous. Doing so will ensure that you will receive credit for all required posts.

    I am allowing anonymous posts—and truly there is no mechanism on D2L for tracing anonymous posts back to anyone—because I want to set up a situation where students are free to discuss this course openly. As much as it is my hope that I put together a course that students will enjoy, there is always room for improvement, and I would like to know what you like about this class, as well as what you do not like. No one is under any obligation to post about their course-likes/dislikes, but I welcome and encourage such posts. As an aside, based on last semester's feedback from students, I have made some changes to this semester's course, and perhaps your comments will lead to some changes next semester that future students will appreciate.

    In this board, "Post Comments About the Current Assignment(s) or the Course," here is what you should be writing about:


  • "Current Assignments" DOES NOT mean the homework readings, for you are posting about those in our other discussion board.
  • "Current Assignments" means the Fiction Paper, the Literature Review/Annotated Bibliography, the Research Paper, and the Unit Tests.
  • Ask questions of each other and provide help, advice, and support.
  • You could discuss study strategies that have worked well for you.
  • What do you like or dislike about this course?
  • Is anything lacking in this course?
  • For the sake of academic integrity, there should be no discussion about quiz questions or Unit Test questions.


    • Section Four: Proper Ettiquette for Posts—Especially Anonymous Posts:


    Here I want to be very clear: Always be respectful and professional in your comments. I will monitor our discussion boards, and intermittently comment, but I depend on students to treat each other with courtesy and respect. Remember that some of our discussions will be about issues over which you may have strong feelings, yet part of being a professional means being able to divorce oneself from taking the comments of others as a personal attack. Moreover, I will have zero tolerance when it comes to a student engaging in a personal attack on another student or some other group. Be sensitive to the feelings of others, and remember that words mean things. Language has tone and nuance, and words have alternate meanings that may be iterpreted by your peers differently than what you intended, so before you click on the "Post" button, take a moment and read carefully what you have written, and then ask yourself if there is anything there that could possibly offend someone. Although your use of relaxed prose is perfectly acceptable, and the guidelines in section two of Lecture Two do not apply to discussion boards, our discussion board is not an Internet chatroom; it is an academic environment —a virtual-world extension of a traditional-world classroom. Moreover, if I am put in a position where I must delete someone's comment due to its content, and that type of behavior were to continue, I would be compelled to take action, which might include any and all of the following:

  • Barring the student from further posts
  • Recording a grade of zero in this component of the course
  • Recording a grade of zero in the participation component of the course
  • Considering the behavior disruptive, in which case the Disruptive Behavior Policy would apply (See Student Handbook: http://www.templejc.edu/student_info/pdf/sthb10-11.pdf, and it could warrant removal from this course.


    • I must also make clear that if I decide that any part of the discussion board component of this course proves problematic for any reason, especially but not limited to anonymous postings, I reserve the right to modify the policies in this component of the course, or cancel this component of the course at my discretion. If the latter is the case, I will replace this component of the course with a component of equal value to the final course grade.

    You should also know that even one posting by a student that I judge to be inappropriate is grounds for me to bar the student from all future postings.

    Be aware that failure to make scheduled postings will have an effect on the participation grade and perhaps to the point where students could receive a zeroes in that component of the course.