• Semester-long Opportunity: Make an appointment to have a consultant at the Writing Center review one of your drafts of a major essay using the Writing Center Moodle site. After your appointment, ask your writing specialist to stamp your draft with the Writing Center stamp, or otherwise give you a written record of your appointment. Show me this documentation, and you will receive a check plus daily grade to replace your lowest BP/quiz/daily assignment grade. You may take advantage of this extra credit opportunity for two of your essays during the semester.

  • UNIT 3: Poster on Your Research Topic (EC #3): Create a poster about your research paper topic. Your poster should include photos related to the topic and a one-page summary of the information you included in your research paper.

    Your poster will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

    • Title is easily read from a distance.
    • Display is limited to three colors; background color is dark.
    • One inch border maintained around poster as a frame; student name neatly printed on the back.
    • Poster contains photos/illustrations related to the topic, with captions. Photos are glued straight on the page.
    • Poster contains well-written one-page summary of the material you presented in your research essay and covers all of the main points of the topic. Summary is typed, double-spaced, and does NOT include header, title, or student name.
    • Poster is well-prepared and neatly done.

    You can earn up to 5 points on your overall Essay #3 grade for doing this extra credit assignment. Your poster is due at the beginning of class on Wed, April 25.


  • UNIT 2: Imitation in Kind (EC #2): Select one of the poems from your Roberts reader (one that's at least 10 lines long). Read it and notice elements that are distinctive to the author's style. First, (1) make a list of these dictinctive stylistic characteristics. Then, (2) write your own poem, using the style of the poem you selected. You may select your own subject matter. Try to do the kind of writing the poet did, but in your own way.

    Your poem should be at least as long as the poem you chose from the reader. You can earn up to 5 points on your overall Essay #2 grade for doing this extra credit assignment. Your list of characteristics of the poet's style and your poem are due at the beginning of class on Tuesday, March 27.


  • Unit 1: Many of the works we have read for this first portion of the semester have dealt with family relationships. Select a literary work from this unit that you enjoyed. Write a personal letter from one of the characters in the work to another, exploring one of these relationships. Use the text of your letter to fill in details that are left unsaid in the work, to take relationships further, or to add a new twist to what the author intended. Be creative and use your imagination. Your letter should be approximately one page, double-spaced. Use casual letter format. You may receive *up to* 5 points of extra credit on your Essay #1 grade by turning this assignment by class time on Tues, February 28.