MLCS 210 Language(s) of Culture - The Canadian Alliance for ...

Explanatory Notes on Assignments:
NOTEBOOKS
Your notebooks are designed to help you explore connections between course material, reading,
discussion and your own experience in daily life and / or at your service-learning placement.
The notebooks are due throughout the term (see dates below) and will be graded according to the
following criteria: content (see below); evidence of critical thought, including good questions;
development and creativity of ideas; depth and understanding of course concepts; consistent
effort; organization and clarity; and searching for and using bibliographic information.
Style and organization:
The notebook is not intended to be a ‘finished product.’ It is a place to work out your ideas by
writing about them (and/or using visual images), so I am not looking for grammatical perfection
or total coherence. Still, you are handing it in for grades. Quality, engagement, and effort will be
more easily (and favorably) assessed if the notebook is well organized and written clearly and
legibly. All notebook entries must be typed by the time you hand them in!
General Content Guidelines for all Students:
• All entries should be dated. Include a log of dates on which you performed key activities.
• Feel free to include a few drawings/images, random thoughts, cultural artifacts, or references to
media stories that have some relevance to the course, and that provoke particular reactions or
ideas.
• On the days when your notebook is being reviewed, you should continue to contribute to it.
CSL Students (integrating Community Service Learning)
• Your entries will report and reflect on your community service-learning placement:
the practices and goals of your organization, the specific work you are doing, situations you
encounter, etc.. This can and should include personal thoughts and reactions, but should
primarily report on key experiences and observations arising in your CSL placement.
• Whenever possible, your entries should also reflect on how experiences and observations in
your CSL placement relate to course material. Consider how course materials and your CSL
experiences inform, overlap with, or even contradict each other.
CS Students (regular Cultural Studies)
• Your notebook is primarily a place to work out ideas and concepts discussed in class.
Consider it an archive of your interactions with class material: readings, lectures, discussions,
presentations, discovered materials and resources.
• Your notebook may also include reflections on your observations of everyday life or
experiences outside of the classroom (past and present) as they relate to the issues and ideas
raised in the course. Consider how course materials and your experiences inform, overlap with,
or even contradict each other.
All Students
• All students should also use their notebook to pose questions that draw on personal experiences
(CSL and otherwise) to illustrate, challenge, extend, or otherwise engage with some of the key
issues focused on each week.
• All students are encouraged to use their notebook as a running record of any materials and
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