Brooks Antweil

E375L : Victorian Literature

Course Goals

(changes highlighted like this)

1. Manage my time more efficiently:  I plan to learn how to manage my time better in this class.  So far in college, I have been fairly lax about when I complete assignments and how much time I give myself to do them.  After discussing the reason for some mediocre grades with a professor in a class last semester, I found that I would probably do much better if I start earlier.  As Professor Bump said in class, I could have improved my writing by stepping away from my assignments for a while, then coming back to them later to revise.

2. Read all assigned works more closely:  This does not necessarily imply that I haven’t read my assignments closely in the past.  This goal refers to my less involved reading style in previous courses.  I want to become a more active reader.  To achieve this, I will start reading with a pen and a highlighter in hand so I can makes notes as I go along.  I find that I often have thoughts about what I am reading, but rarely write them down.  If I can reach this goal, I think I will have more to contribute in class and will be more prepared all around.

3. Take an active part in class discussion:  In other classes, my lack of preparedness related to the two previous goals led me to be less involved in class discussion.  If I can accomplish my first two goals, I can implement their results in class and become a better learner.  If I am more prepared for discussion, I can contribute to it more.  I have contributed to discussions in class in the past, but I feel that my role in the discussion would improve if I came to class more prepared.

4. Take advantage of many opportunities to help my grade:  While I am in college to learn for the sake of learning, I also attend class in preparation for the future.  If I take advantage of extra credit opportunities, I will probably both learn more and have a better chance to make a good grade in the class.

5. Do more than the minimum:  When an assignment gives a minimum amount of words, or something like that, I will try to write as much as I can instead of checking the word count until I reach the minimum.  Likewise, if an assignment has a maximum amount of words, I will write as much as I can, then revise what I have instead of trying to make my ideas fit beforehand.