Click here to view this information as a Google Doc.
Grading in this course will be slightly unorthodox. Every student will begin the semester with a point total of 0. Then, every assignment that you complete in the areas of homework, quizzes, exams, translations, compositions, and external events will add points to your total. Your point total across all categories at the end of the semester will determine the semester grade that you receive, and you get to decide what combination of assignments and assessments will get you to your desired final grade. You choose the grade that you want, and you are in control of drawing your own pathway to get there.
Because there will be a number of pathways to get to the minimum point total for an A (925 points), every assignment is optional. This includes everything: homework, quizzes, exams, translations, compositions, external events. As such, if you don’t submit an assignment by its indicated due date, I will simply assume that you have opted not to complete it and I won’t chase you down for it. If you intend to complete an assignment but anticipate difficulty in meeting its deadline, please be proactive and contact me before it’s due. I am extremely flexible with granting extensions, especially in the current pandemic atmosphere, but I can’t grant an extension that isn’t asked for! I reserve the right to deduct points from any assignment submitted late without prior notification or discussion.
There will be thirty-six (36) homework assignments throughout the semester. Each will be assessed in terms of completeness, rather than correctness. A fully completed homework assignment submitted on time will be awarded 5 full points. All homework assignments can be submitted through Canvas.
There will be ten (10) weekly quizzes throughout the semester, except on weeks with exams (see below). Each quiz will have a maximum total of 30 points, and it will be graded traditionally. Each quiz will cover the material from the previous week in class. All quizzes will be open-note, open-resource, and open-Internet, and there will be no time limit. Each quiz will be available through Canvas on the Friday afternoon of any given week, and it will be due by the beginning of the class the following Monday, unless otherwise noted.
There will be three (3) exams throughout the semester. Each exam will have a maximum total of 100 points, and it will be graded traditionally. Each exam will cover the material in its respective third of the course; this means that exams 2 and 3 will focus on material from the middle and last third of the course respectively, but each will draw on material that you learned previously. Each exam will be open-note, open-resource, and open-Internet, and there will be no time limit. Each exam will be available through Canvas; all dates of availability and due dates will be listed in the course schedule below.
There will be four (4) translation projects throughout the semester that will ask you to translate a longer passage of ancient Greek and answer grammatical questions about it. Each will be appropriately adapted for the grammar and vocabulary that you will have encountered by its due date, and there will be ample hints and vocabulary help with each passage. I will grade each project traditionally. Each translation project will be available through Canvas, and its due date will be listed in the course schedule below.
There will be four (4) composition projects throughout the semester that will ask you to compose a passage of ancient Greek according to guidelines and suggestions that I will supply. Each will be appropriately levelled for the grammar and vocabulary that you will have encountered by its due date. I will grade each composition project on a specification basis: that means that I will give it a grade of either satisfactory (full credit, 30/30) or unsatisfactory with a provisional grade (i.e., 20/30). A satisfactory grade means that there are few to no errors in your Greek and that you have followed most or all of the prompts in the assignment. If you receive an unsatisfactory, you will have unlimited attempts to revise your submission according to my suggestions until it gets a grade of satisfactory. If you opt not to revise, your provisional grade will stand. Each composition project will be available through Canvas, and its due date will be listed in the course schedule below.
Throughout the semester, there will be a number of completely optional events that you can attend and projects that you can complete that will earn you points outside of the structures of the assessments listed above. To be clear, you can easily meet the 925-point threshold for an A in the course without attending or completing any of these events or projects, but they aim at getting you to engage with the material of the course (ancient Greek language and culture) in outside-of-the-box ways – they’ll be a lot of fun! Each opportunity will be advertised in advance, and undoubtedly, more will pop up, but here are some that are currently on the books:
Check out full details of the external events and assignments on this page.
Homework, quizzes, exams, translations, and compositions will add up to a possible maximum of 1,020 points throughout the semester; points from external events and assignments will be added into your total point pool, equivalent to points earned through the core five assessment types. The following list indicates the point ranges for semester-end grade levels:
925-1020 = A
850-924 = A-
800-849 = B+
750-799 = B
700-749 = B-
650-699 = C+
600-649 = C
550-599 = C-
500-549 = D+
450-499 = D
< 449 = F
Grades ending in .45 or greater will be rounded up to the nearest whole number; grades ending in .44 or less will be rounded down to the nearest whole number.
