“Mediocrity is gonna kill the world before Armageddon ever does.”
Emmylou Harris, singer Venus (Winter 2003/04)

The information contained in this section is developed in concert with meeting the "Expressive Skills" outcome required for all students graduating from the College of Arts and Sciences.

Expressive Skills
Expression is understood to go beyond verbal communication. It inhabits a category where learning is tangibly communicated between persons through a variety of forms. Through written, oral, and visual expression, students demonstrate what is possible in the realms of inquiry, practice, performance, creation, or experimentation. Practice in expressive skills requires students to be conscious of themselves and of others and to examine, reproduce, or critique existing conventions.
Outcome – Students will:

  • Employ modes of expression that respond to context, audience, and purpose.
  • Analyze or interpret a variety of forms of expression from across the curriculum. Develop collaborative skills that may include questioning, listening, and identifying multiple points of view and approaches.
  • Locate and evaluate information from relevant sources and responsibly use and communicate that information.
  • Write in a variety of modes that successfully negotiate between complexity and clarity in a manner suitable to the context.
  • Navigate expression across cultures and idioms.
Class Preparation, taking notes, and in-class work
I found this great handout online for studying and preparing for class, exams, and papers in literature classes.
some of you are used to reading longer novels and some of you aren't. And, given the limited time you may have, you need to study effectively. Here are some tips:
  • carry your book around with you and read in-between waiting for appointments/for a friend, etc. You would be amazed how much work you can get done in those short bursts
  • always read with a pencil and annotate as you read. I also use sticky notes to mark pages
  • don't get bogged down with too much detail. You will develop smart reading skills through class discussions and written assignments
  • budget enough time to get your reading done. I plan the calendar with the understanding that you will spend 1.5-2 hours for each hour of class meeting time, which is typical for a college-level course. This means I expect you to spend 5 to 6 hours per week on the course. Budget this time in your planner. If you are reading a short story, use the remainder of your budgeted time to read the next assignment or prepare for the next writing assignment. I have planned out the calendar very carefully with respecting your time and mine.Please do not tell me that you didn't have enough time to do the work because of the demands of another class, your social life (including greek life, clubs, et cetera), or because you are taking my class to fulfill a liberal arts foundation requirement. You will find me to be very unsympathetic
What to bring to class:
  • the text. It is your evidence. You wouldn't go to your math class without your math textbook, so why would you attend your literature class without the text we are discussing? Without it, you cannot participate and you will be marked absent for the day
  • your notebook, with questions, comments, and page citations written for evidence you want to present in class
Link to Dartmouth University's site on how to take notes in class
Yale University's guide to taking notes on film screenings

What happens in class:
We will utilize a variety of activities during the course of our time together, including group work, short lectures, video screenings, presentations (with or without partners), in-class writing, agenda building, among others. Your class preparation points and any in-class writing will be allocated to your overall participation grade.

Group Work
Several times over the course of the semester, we will do group work. The aims of this assignment are to develop a discussion point in ten or fewer minutes, and to develop your critical thinking skills by helping you craft an argument. I will assign textual evidence and/or theme and ask your group to come up with a question, comment or reading of the evidence to present to the class. You will use this rubric to award points to your group members
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