Is it okay if I bring my laptop to class to take notes?
No, sorry, not any more. Now that Wheaton allows wireless internet access in most classrooms, the college has provided you with too many opportunities for distractions. Think I'm over-reacting? Think you're a master of multitasking? You are not. Here's the story of another professor who made the same decision. Notes taken by hand are almost always more useful than typed notes, because more thoughtful selectivity goes into them. And as often as possible you should annotate your books.
Also, don't check your cellphone for messages during class. That's just sad.
What are your policies about the format and length of papers?
All papers must be typewritten and double-spaced. Your name and CPO number, along with the name of the course, should appear at the top left or right of the first page. Each paper should have a title, and the pages should be numbered. In other respects follow the MLA Handbook’s guidelines for manuscript preparation, and follow them precisely. You don’t need to be too pedantically concerned with the length of your papers — if I have assigned a 2500-word essay and yours comes in at 2300, that's unlikely to make much of a difference — but do take the guidelines seriously in a general sort of way, and remember that overly long essays are just as unwelcome as too-brief ones. (If I've approved your topic, that means that I think it's a good fit for the length of the paper assigned, so if you find yourself considerably short or long of the target, you've almost certainly miscalculated something.)
What if my computer crashes just before I finish it?
Alleged computer problems will not constitute an acceptable reason for lateness. Learn to cover your bases by knowing your word-processing application thoroughly, saving your documents regularly, and keeping backup copies of all documents on different disks than the originals. (Better yet, use a service like the amazing Dropbox, which automatically backs up your documents for you.) As you will see below, Google Docs is an option I encourage you to explore.
How important are spelling and punctuation and things like that?
Just get them right. You can do that, you're a grownup. Check your spelling, know the difference between plurals and possessives, handle your citations consistently and accurately. It's the least you can do. If you don't take care in small matters like that, your readers are not going to trust you about the larger and more important matters — those concerning ideas.
When are papers due?
Essays (including take-home exams) are due by 11:59 PM on the date indicated unless I specify otherwise. You should write your paper in Google Docs, or write in another application and upload it to Google Docs, and then share it with me at my Gmail address.
That is the format I strongly prefer, but if using Google Docs is impossible for you, then you may email me your paper as a PDF. If you use a Mac you have the built-in ability to convert any document to a PDF; if you use a PC you may have the necessary software, but if you do not there are several free online options: see here and here and here and here. (I ask you to use PDFs because that format can be read on any computer, on any platform, and no matter who opens it the essay will look exactly the same.) If you use one of those services, do not send me the PDF directly from that service: send it to yourself and then to me. (That way it won't end up in my spam folder.) Also, put your last name in the title of your document, and send it to me in an email with a meaningful subject line. It's confusing to have thirty PDF files on my desktop all with names like "Paper1" or "JacobsEssay" or "Virgil."
Those are the only ways you may submit your essays to me.
What are your policies on late papers and extensions?
All assignments must be turned in on time. No matter how unpolished or even incomplete an assignment is, you must turn in something on the due date to get any credit at all. If an extraordinary event intervenes to prevent you from doing your best work, do please let me know and we will try to come to an understanding. (But please bear in mind that what many of you think to be extenuating circumstances — a load of work in other classes, a roommate who requires counsel and comfort — will not in my eyes have the effect of extenuation.)
What’s the deal with these reading quizzes you seem to like so much?
Reading is the great lost art of our time. It often seems that virtually no one knows how to read a book carefully, thoroughly, and responsively. The reading quizzes are an integral part of my effort to teach my students how to read well. These quizzes will not require interpretation; they will be strictly factual, and their chief purpose will be to make sure you have carefully read the works assigned. (The essays and exams will ensure that you have understood them.) No quizzes may be made up under any circumstances, though in special cases they may be taken in advance. No quizzes will be dropped from your final grade. You may not leave class after taking a quiz. If you do so, your grade for the quiz will be zero. Anyone whose final quiz average is below fifty percent will fail the course.
What’s your attendance policy?
I don't enforce attendance. But remember that you are responsible for everything that happens in every class. Please do not ask me to repeat for your benefit anything I have said in a class you have missed. Your written work need not express agreement with anything I say—in fact, I welcome disagreement—but it should take my comments into account and show an awareness of them. Also, I know when you skip. I know.
Are you a stickler for etiquette or something?
Well, yes, in a way. So come to class on time. If you must be late, come in as inconspicuously as possible and take a seat near the door if you can. Those of you who come early should leave the seats next to the door open. If you walk in front of me while I’m talking I will smite you. (Really, I mean it. I will hit you with whatever happens to be in my hand at the time, which, please remember, could be something the size of Ulysses or The Lord of the Rings or — worst of all for you — The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism.) Please do not eat, sleep, read the paper, study for other classes, talk, or make rude noises in class. If you write an email asking something of me, and I respond with the requested information, write back to say thank you. In general, be respectful and courteous to me and to your classmates, as I’m sure your parents taught you to do.
How can I get in touch with you if I need to talk?
Because there are so many of you and so few of me, it is hard for me to return your phone calls. Actually, I hate the telephone and try to pretend it was never invented. It’s better to visit during my scheduled office hours, when I will always be happy to see you. If you want to make sure you get in to see me, there will normally be a sign-up sheet posted on my office door. Email and IM are better still.
But however you do it, communicate. Many of the problems that befall students become intractable when you are too stubborn or ashamed or just plain distracted to talk to me about what your difficulties are. Almost anything can be worked out if you communicate with me in advance of deadlines. But it never works out well if you delay and then try to present me with a fait accompli.
What's your policy on plagiarism?
Here's what the Wheaton College Catalog says about academic honesty: "By affirmation of the Wheaton College Community Covenant, all students, faculty, and staff are expected to understand and subscribe to the ideal of academic integrity and to take personal responsibility and accountability for their work. Academic dishonesty is a serious offense against an academic community and against the standards of excellence, integrity, and behavior expected of its members. Academic dishonesty degrades the educational and research mission of the College. Truth and honesty are to be followed in all academic endeavors, including the taking of examinations and in the preparation of class reports and papers. Areas of concern related to academic integrity include plagiarism, cheating, fabrication of information or data, unauthorized collaboration, lying, defrauding, misrepresentation, or deception related to assigned or voluntary academic work. The definition of academic dishonesty, the method for reporting violations, and the procedures of the disciplinary process are stated in the 'Policy on Academic Honesty' in the Student Handbook, available in the Student Development Office." For my part, I try to give assignments that you can't plagiarize. But of course that's hard.
What's your attitude towards people with disabilities?
I have been asked to make "a statement that you will work to find accommodations for those with documented learning disabilities." Well, of course I will! What sort of person would I be if I wouldn't do that? The same policy applies in these matters as in all other unusual situations or gray areas: communicate with me.