At the beginning of the semester, you will choose a "cultural artifact" (a novel, a theoretical work, a philosopher or rhetorician, a theory, a work of art or architecture…your choice) across which you will read the assignments in this course. This artifact, then, will have to be something complex enough to sustain several re-readings throughout the semester. The assignments will be as follows:

• An annotated bibliography and brief presentation of the "cultural artifact" you have chosen for the semester. You will distribute the bib to the class either by posting it to the email listserv or by passing out hard copies. You will also keep a copy of it in your portfolio. The presentation should be very brief (no more than 2 minutes) and introduce the class to your artifact. We'll spend some time discussing "artifact" possibilities in class. (5 points)

• Four one-page, single spaced, beautifully polished, and terribly insightful papers, to be read aloud in class and handed in to me. The first half of each paper should be a thorough summary of the original text. The second half should be your reading of that work "across" your cultural artifact-or a reading of your artifact "across" the original text. Please don't be fooled; these one-pagers are a whole lot more difficult to produce than a ten-pager for most of us, particularly at first. Until you're used to the process, expect to rewrite, maybe several times. The hope is that when you leave this course, these short, dense papers will offer you a base for one or more publishable papers and also provide you with some valuable study resources for your comprehensive exams. You will distribute each paper to the class via the listserv and keep a copy in your Portfolio (40 points)

• A final "paper." This final assignment is your chance to make something of what you've learned in the course in a format that interests you. This is YOUR creation, in other words, your chance to write what wants to be written--it could be a poem, a short story, an experimental essay, a formal position paper, a multimedia creation, etc. The only real requirements are that it must not be under the equivalent of 7 double spaced pages nor over the equivalent of 15, that it be constructed specifically for this course, and that in it you make something significant of what you have learned from your work in here. [Note that this is not the traditional, massive, end of semester researched paper in which you are supposed to prove that you have "mastered" the material (by the end of the semester, that very notion of "mastered" material ought to look mighty suspicious to you). This is simply one more assignment, a little more detailed and in your chosen format, in which you continue to make some/thing(s) of what this material is making of you and your artifact.] (20 points)

• Semi-Weekly Reading Notes on one of the essays/books assigned for the week. Ten sets are assigned--8 sets are due (in other words, you get 2 passes through the semester). Notes will be taken up at the beginning of the classmeeting in which they are due. Keep copies of each set in your Portfolio, as well, which will be graded at the end of the semester. These notes should concisely and yet thoroughly cover the work you're discussing, and you should take them, for the most part, as you read, refining a bit afterwards to make them more reader-friendly. Length will vary, but generally you should aim for about 2 pages of summary and one page of commentary, single spaced. (These will kill you at first, but they get easier.) I will, periodically, send you my comments on your notes to let you know how you're doing with them. (35 points)

Attendance: I suppose it needs to be said: Your grade will suffer if you don't show up for class. Not because I have a thing for attendance but because if you miss class, we miss what you should have been there to offer us. Your significant contribution to discussions, both in class and on the class email listserv, will be expected.

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