Participation
When grading participation, I use a √ system, which allows me to take a holistic view of your participation grade at the end of the semester. I do not release these to you, but simply use these as a guide in my assessments; however, I share my rubric so you know how you are being evaluated. You are always welcome to meet with me at any point in the semester to discuss your participation grade. I grade to your strengths and I look for progress. No one is expected to get all √+s. Rather, I will want to see improvement in your participation grade as the semester progresses and key areas where you are excelling.
Participation is divided equally into three parts: note cards, class discussions, and embodied exercises.
Commonplace Books
I require that you have a by-hand note taking practice (notebooks will be provided to you!). Each week you should copy out quotes from our readings and/or write up descriptions of scenes from our viewings (descriptive translation is an important component of writing on performance!). These should be headed with the work’s title, author/director, and page numbers or time-stamps. Below each of these, you should write out your preliminary reflections on these quotes and scenes. You should fit your quote/description + reflection on one notebook page and bring in 3-5 pages each day. You should additionally be taking notes in class on our discussions, headed with the day’s date. At home notes vs in class notes should be clearly distinguished. These notes will provide the preliminary thinking for your glossary entries. I will collect these periodically throughout the semester.
Rubric:
0 You did not submit your commonplace book
√- Your quotes/descriptions and in-class notes were partial and your responses did not engage with the material
√ You provided 3-5 quotes each week, took substantial in-class notes, and engaged the material and sufficiently opened up an interesting dimensions of the text.
√+ You provided 3-5 quotes each week, took robust in-class notes, and your responses engaged deeply and thoughtfully with the material and opened up nuanced explorations of a dimension of the text.
Class Discussion
We will spend a great deal of class discussing our texts and unpacking their meanings. You are expected to share your thoughts aloud, respond to the thoughts of your peers, ask unanswered questions etc. You are welcome to pull from your note cards during discussion and pose your question to the class.
A note on discussion: being “right” is not an expectation of this class. When analyzing texts, we often talk about “strength” of analysis, not “correctness.” The strengthening of your analytical muscles is what we are after here. A crucial part of this process is thinking aloud, offering speculations, posing thoughtful questions, and sometimes straying off the path. These are all things you will be rewarded for. If being “right” is a prerequisite for you to speak up in class, you will have a very difficult time this semester. It is infinitely more valuable to understand why your comment missed the mark than it is to hit the mark and not understand why.
Rubric
0 You were not in class.
√- You did not speak in class and/or did not engage with the material.
√ You spoke in class in ways that engaged with the material.
√+ You spoke frequently in class and deeply engaged with the material and the responses of your peers.
Embodied Exercises
This class entails several embodied exercises where we will explore the dynamics in our texts on our feet. These exercises demand both presence and playfulness. Please come to class prepared to move, explore, and collaborate with openness. These exercises are places of discovery, not mastery. You will not be evaluated on your theatrical talents, but rather, your commitment to move through a given prompt and your attentiveness to what you discovered, encountered, and transformed in doing so. While this aspect of the class may feel unfamiliar and uncomfortable to many of you, I expect you to push yourselves from wherever you are starting from over the course of the class.
Rubric
0 You were not in class.
√- You completed the embodied exercises but did not push yourself further than this.
√ You committed to your embodied exercises and were sufficiently attendant to what you learned by doing them.
√+ You were creative and imaginative in your embodied exercises and thoughtfully reflected on what you learned by doing them.
