Course Description and Objectives

World War I was the cataclysm that made the twentieth century and the subsequent world.  To be sure, history did not start there, but it provides the engine for many of the cycles, trends, and events of subsequent human history.  We will be studying both the technical aspects of the war, the homefronts, governmental changes, revolution, etc.  But we will also try to explore new material, possibly even family material, that can bring this fast receding event to life. 

Books to acquire
 
Norman Stone, The Eastern Front
Edmund Blunden, Undertones of War

Course Elements and Grades  

    Part of the grade for class participation will depend on regular attendance.  If you are absent more than, say, three times, I will begin to call you on the carpet, look into the matter, and take points from your class participation grade.  Excessive absences will result in expulsion from the course.  Another part of the class grade will depend on participation in the discussions which will occur regularly in class.  Since these discussions will reveal whether you have read the assigned material, reading the assignments also figures into the participation grade.  Overall, participation in this broad sense will count for 15 % of the final grade.  The only exam will be the final.  It will be an essay exam.   
     You will be writing two research papers, both at least 2300 words in length.  n a topic which you will choose in consultation with me.  Instructions are below.  The values for the course elements shake down as follows.  Three oral presentations will be an important part of the grade.  We will discuss these in class.
       
           midterm exam                            15%
            final exam                                  30%                                                                                
           3 papers @ 15%                          45%  
            daily reading quizzes (ave.)        10%                           
            _____________________________
                      final grade                        100 %

In this course, 97.5  to 100 is is an A+;93 to 96.9  is an A;90 to 92.9 is an A-; etc.

I will assess a penalty when calculating a grade on late papers:  usually five points per day.

This course will be run on the basis of Austin College Academic Integrity Policies.  Academic honesty is absolutely essential.  This means:  no cheating.  We will follow strictly the guidelines printed in the student handbook.  Please read these carefully.  If you are ever in doubt as to what constitutes plagiarism, please feel free to come by and discuss the question with me, or any other faculty member for that matter.  We will also be talking about this when we get to the paper assignments.



In this course, this includes use of AI in writing your papers. Turnitin has a good AI detector, and I will investigate all instances of AI usage it detects. For our purposes: no AI usage in writing papers. (Note that this does not include studying for tests, getting clarification, etc, though in the current state of AI usage, you can;t believe everything you read.)

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Papers

You will writing three short papers of different types. We will talk over the assignments in class as we go, with written instructions to match.

You must use proper English and complete sentences.   DO NOT USE INTERNAL CITATION SUCH AS MLA STYLE.  All references, if you use any for this assignment, should be in the footnote/endnote style.  Please see the following site for a complete description of footnote style:

http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/DocChicago.html

another site, this one especially good on citing internet sources,

http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html
    
(NOTE ON PLAGIARISM:  Plagiarism is so easy with electronic sources, that I want to make my stance on it very clear. If you simply rewrite slightly some source you found on the internet (or in print for that matter), that constitutes plagiarism.  If I discover this, you will receive an F for this course, and I will report the case to the Dean and the appropriate conduct organs.   I may not catch all cases of plagiarism, but I promise to give immediate and full attention to those I do.  Give full credit for an idea, for any information that goes beyond common knowledge, for someone's words, for someone's brainchild, etc.  Otherwise you are being dishonest.)



AI will not be allowed in the writing of the three papers.  We will discuss this in class.

Other Important Issues:
    ALWAYS number your pages.  Don't turn in anything to anybody that looks half-baked.
    In quoting, remember to TAG or attribute your quotations in the text:  don't just rely on the footnote to give that information to the reader.
    You can make your writing strongly immediately by revising out all the verbs in the passive voice and most of the uses of the verb to be. 

For a look at a range of typical mechanical problems, please see my Exam and Paper Evaluation Sheet.
 

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Resources