Grades

Grade Scale

Attendance & Participation

You are expected to attend all classes and view all assigned films, to be punctual and attentive, and to be prepared to participate in class discussions of our assignments. Complete reading assignments before the class meeting for which they are assigned so that you may better engage with the weekly films and lecture material, and so that you may raise informed, interesting questions and comments. For online courses, class attendance and participation are measured in terms of timely completion of weekly assignments including video lectures, films, quizzes, and exams.

It is in your best interest to attend every lecture and view all films, since this is the best way to learn about cinema. Always arrive five minutes early to class lectures and tests, not only because we will start promptly but also because late arrivals are extremely disruptive. In on-campus classes, it is your responsibility to initial the class roll at the beginning of every lecture that you attend. Tardiness is especially disruptive in a film class, so if you arrive late enough that the roll has already circulated, then you will be counted absent for that day. For each time you are tardy or absent, one point will be deducted from your final course grade. Absence from more than 20% of class meetings before midterm is grounds for course failure (an F) and/or administrative withdrawal from the course. However, if you attend ALL classes with no tardies or absences, you will earn extra credit. This attendance policy stresses that it is your responsibility to be punctual and to attend this course for which you have registered and for which you seek three hours of college credit.

Those who choose to use phones, to frequently exit the classroom mid-lecture, or to create other disruptions will be asked to leave the classroom since these behaviors disrupt your classmates and professor very much. Thus, any phone use in class or repeatedly leaving the classroom during lecture will also lower your final course grade.

Excuses for tardiness are irrelevant, again because these behaviors are so disruptive to your classmates and professor, so if you must arrive late, just enter the class as quietly as you can: have your pen and paper out of your backpack before you enter the room, turn your phone off before you enter the room, close the doors quietly behind you, sit quickly on an aisle seat in the back of the room, etc. Except in cases of emergency or medical treatment with official written documentation, excuses for absences are also irrelevant. If you find that you must miss a class, you are still responsible for the material covered during your absence. Be advised that some of our in-class films may be difficult to obtain outside of class.

University Attendance Policy: Students are expected to attend and participate in every class meeting. Instructors establish specific policies relating to absences in their courses and communicate these policies to the students through the course syllabi. Individual instructors, based upon the nature of the course, determine what effect excused and unexcused absences have in determining grades and upon students’ ability to remain enrolled in their courses. The university reserves the right to determine that excessive absences, whether justified or not, are sufficient cause for institutional withdrawals or failing grades.

Writing Assistance

FILM 2100 does not require essay writing, but I encourage you to visit The Writers’ Studio, located in the A&S building, room 224. There you can talk with trained writing tutors about your writing projects for other courses or to improve your writing in general. They are available to work with you at any stage of your paper, from generating ideas to organizing your paper to understanding how to format it correctly. The service is free; you may drop in and wait for a tutor or sign up for a regular appointment. But remember: you, not your tutor, are ultimately responsible for the quality and content of the papers you submit. http://www.clayton.edu/arts-sciences/english/writersstudio

See the Assignments page for a breakdown of the remainder of your overall course grade.