HONORS 210: Sophomore Honors Seminar I:

M. Kelso                                                                                                                A. Johnston

Dana 211A                                                                                                            Watkins 212

337-2599                                                                                                              337-2584

kelsom@queens.edu                                                                                              johnston@queens.edu

COURSE WEBSITE:  http://campus.queens.edu/faculty/kelsom/honors_210.htm

Bok, Sissela,  Lying:  Moral Choice in Public and Private Life pb.

Hellman, Lillian, Six Plays by Lillian Helman pb.

Alterman, Eric, When Presidents Lie:  A History of Official Deception and Its Consequences pb.

An examination of the impact of dishonesty in public and private life and its effect on community.  The course will begin with a general exploration of lying and truth-telling and then analyze examples from politics, literature and other areas. 

1.   Daily Writing Assignments/Quizzes        20%

      20% of your grade consists of your grades on daily written assignments or short quizzes. 

      Your two lowest grades will be dropped.  If you are more than two minutes late to class,

      you cannot take the quiz if one is given.  Quizzes cannot be made up. 

2.   Participation                                             20%

      You are expected to be prepared for class and to actively participate in course

      discussions.   Failure to do so will significantly lower your grade on this part of the course. 

      Class Attendance is an important part of participation and frequent absences will lower your

      participation grade.  In addition, each absence over two will result in a one point deduction

      from your final grade for the course.  As a general policy, there will be no distinctions between

      excused and unexcused absences. 

3.   Midterm Exam                                         20%

      Examination covering all material from the first seven weeks of the course.  Specific format

      will be announced by the instructors.  Date of exam:  Monday, October 16, 2006

4.   Essay #1                                                   20%

      5 to 7 page essay on a topic announced by the instructors.  DUE:  Monday, October 2,

      2006 (beginning of class).

5.   Essay #2                                                    20%

      5 to 7 page essay on a topic announced by the instructors.  DUE:  Wednesday, December 13,

      2006 (NO LATER THAN 5:00pm EST). 

6.  Guidelines for Written Assignments

     a.  Essays must be typed, double-spaced, with a 12-point font and standard

          margin.  They must be at least five pages in length (excluding any Title or

          Works Cited pages)

     b.  Essays must be well-organized, thoughtful and demonstrate a clear and

          comprehensive understanding of course readings and the ideas put forth

          within them. 

     c.  Essays must make reference to course readings, use proper citations to

          identify such materials, and list all materials used in a Works Cited page. 

     d.  Written assignments must adhere to general rules of style.  Lack of organization,

          consistent grammar or spelling errors, or general lack of coherence will be penalized. 

          Clarity, simplicity, and thoughtfulness are strongly encouraged.   

     e.   By far the biggest cause of deficient writing is the failure to revise at least twice

           before handing in a final draft, a fault compounded by the failure to start the process

           early enough, so that you (or someone else) has the opportunity to critique a

           minimum of two successive drafts at decent intervals before you produce the final one. 

      f.  The Queens University Honor Code applies to all work done in this course.  

      g.  Late papers will be penalized.  A full letter grade will be deducted for each 24 hours

           after the date and time an assignment is due.  If you have to miss a class, submit the

           assignment before, rather than after, class. 

DAILY CLASS SCHEDULE