REQUISITOS
Participation, attendance
and preparation (15%) You are expected to come to every class prepared, having read the
materials and done any assignments for the day. I will also evaluate the quality
of your participation (ability to synthesize prior chapters, thoughtful
responses and questions). Given the intensive nature of
the course, try not to get behind in the reading. All assignments are due on the
day listed and late homework is not accepted without prior consent from me. Please
speak to me outside of class if you have any questions or concerns about
late assignments, absences, etc., not during class discussion or group work.
Since the principal format of the class is lecture and discussion, oral participation is essential (this will have the added benefit of increasing your oral/aural skills). In order to evaluate your participation you should use this evaluation.
You
are allowed one absence during the
spring semester without penalty, any beyond that will be reflected in your final
grade. If you have a medical emergency, please bring in a written note from your
doctor. Please note that in accordance with the catalogue (p. 80), an instructor
may deny a student credit in a course due to excessive absences. The Spanish
Section defines “excessive” as 25% of the course. What this means is: any
student who misses 3 or more classes for
any reason will receive an automatic F in the course.
Written
and oral work (20%)
You will prepare
short written and oral assignments related to class activities and the text. You
will be asked to prepare brief oral presentations throughout the semester in the
form of talleres. You will be graded on the overall quality of your preparation, organization,
presentation and ability to communicate with the class. Feel free to bring in
graphics and other materials to help you spark interest and get your points
across. Although the syllabus indicates the major assignments due on specific
days, I reserve the right to assign additional tasks to be completed outside of
class such as watching videos in the Language
Resource
Specific
assignment:
Each student will choose an electronic news source that you will read and report
on in class from time to time
in order to share relevant news
with the class (at
least twice during the semester).
You should read two articles a week and keep them in a portfolio to be handed in at the end of the semester.
Include
a brief summary of each article as well as your opinion. Instructions are found here: the
reading of an on-line Spanish news source.
Final Project – (15%)
Each
student will be responsible for preparing a multi-media project (power point,
IMovie, Garageband, etc.) on a topic of their own choosing with approval of the
professor. In order for a variety of topics each student should e-mail me a list
of three topics in order of preference by the second week of the semester.
Suggested topics include researching an "autonomía" or some aspect of
one, an issue of importance such as inmigration, or some cultural aspect such as
music (singer, group or genre), the cinema, or a specific cultural tradition of
Exams (50%) There will be
two exams comprised of identifications, multiple choice, short answer, and
brief essays. The exams are worth 25% each. The second exam will be given during finals week.
Grade
Summary:
Participation, attendance
15%
Written and oral assignments
20%
Exams
50%
Final Project
15%
The following
grading scale will be used:
A = 94-100; A- = 90-93; B+ = 87-89; B = 84-86; B- =80-83; C+ = 77-79; C = 74-76; C- = 70-73; D+ = 67-69; D = 64-66; F = 0-63