Dr. Debora B. Schwartz
English Department, California Polytechnic State UniversityABOUT READING QUIZZES
Quizzes are divided into two parts: 1) background/factual and 2) passage IDs. They are "self-designed": there are generally 4-6 questions/passages per section, of which you are asked to choose three in each section. You are eligible for extra credit in a given section provided that the three questions which you chose as your self-designed quiz are at least half right. But if any of the questions which you chose as your self-designed quiz are NOT at least half right, you are not eligible for extra credit points on that section of the quiz.
You must indicate clearly which questions are for extra credit if you attempt more than the required three in a given section. If you fail to do so and ANY question in the section is less than half right, only the three WEAKEST responses in that section will count. Any "Bonus" questions on a quiz are just that--bonus points for which you are eligible whether or not you are get any EC. (No penalty for guessing wrong.)
Background/factual questions: cover material presented in the assigned pages in the introductions, the headnotes in the Norton Anthology, and/or on the study guides. The study guides will tell you what information you should know. As a general rule, these questions will cover the following: title; author (if known); date of composition/dates of author's lifespan (approximations given in background readings); language of composition; genre (e.g. dream vision, epic, lyric poem, romance, etc.); form (e.g. alliterative verse, rhyme royal, prose, etc.); principal sources or models if listed; manuscript transmission if mentioned. There will also be questions about character names, key concepts and terms, and specific formal aspects (e.g. describe the Old English alliterative line; describe rhyme royal stanzas).
To prepare: make yourself a list of this information for each reading. Highlight and learn the factual information provided on the study guides. Also jot down the names of the main characters in the reading.
Passage IDs: a selection of key passages from the readings themselves about which you will answer four questions, e.g. which reading the passage is from (if there was more than one in that unit); who is the speaker; to whom the speaker is speaking; what names may have been omitted; etc. The passages chosen are all key passages to which your attention should have been drawn by the questions on the study guides. Use the study guides when preparing for class and you should recognize most of the passages on the reading quizzes. If you do not know the names of the main characters, you will miss points unnecessarily. . .
At the end of the quarter, I will drop the lowest quiz from your average. And while there will be as many as twelve points available on each quiz (including EC), I will grade as if all quizzes were worth only 6 points. As a result, by doing EC, you can easily make up for a missed or a weak quiz. Generally, a significant portion of the class ends up with a better than A average.
Contents of this and all linked pages Copyright Debora B. Schwartz, 1999-2001
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