What is a Reaction Paragraph (RP)?

An RP is a short email you send to me and your section GSI (if there is one) that shares your thoughts based on the assignment and having read that assignment in full and with some care. They are above all a channel from you to us for sharing your considered thoughts.

• These are causal assignments where your voice is important, not something from the web or otherwise researched. They are not "literary analysis" type pieces. They should be your thoughts, your considered reaction, shared with me and your GSI. Don't imagine yourself writing to an abstract audience, as in a term paper perhaps, but rather that you are sharing your thoughtful reaction to us. Reach beyond the "Why I liked ..." or "Why I didn't like ..." formula. Though this can be one way of approaching an RP, it is likely that there are other things that are interesting and don't fit into the "liked X (person, theme, event, or the whole book)/didn't like X" binary.
• While you should not summarize, please do give a half-phrase or so to clue the reader in on a poem or passage, so not "Poem 137 interested me in that it ..." but rather "Poem 137, where the man is teased for having white hair, interested me in that it ..."
• Consider not using themes introduced in discussion sections since it makes your RP sound like a template that uses someone else's ideas. However, when the discussion topic is truly what you care most about, of course you can go with it.
• RPs should be about one paragraph in length*, though some who enjoy writing can write more if they choose.

  *Although I say "one paragraph" that is to give a sense of size; please split your submission into short paragraphs to help us as hurried readers notice your topic sentences, change of topics, and so on.

How to submit

RPs are submitted by email with no attachments. This is important. Please do not attach them also as files "just to be on the safe side".

RPs have an assignment tag (RP01, RP02, etc.) and keyword (kojiki, kokoro, etc.) that must be used in the subject line. Tags and keywords are on the schedule at the date the RP is due.

They are sent to me and the student's GSI ONCE and so at exactly the same time, as one email. Place both of us on the "To" line (don't use the Cc: line). When GSI addresses are available, they will be uploaded to bSpace as a downloadable document.

Try your best to avoid "just in case I didn't get it right" extra emails, please. Sometimes this is necessary but it is very messy at my end, and in rare cases the student is marked as late (when only the later email is located) or the wrong one is graded, or the student accidentally receives two grades (which at times might cause the grade to go down).

The correct subject line, like many other submissions in this class, is critical! I use these to automatically sort incoming message and alphabetize them for grading and storage purposes. See also the sidebar link "What if I am asked to resubmit something?"

Grading RPs

All RPs are read by me and/or your GSI, in part or in full, sometimes carefully sometimes hurriedly.

We share grading responsibilities.

RPs are given a letter grade usually within a few days after the due date but at times this can be later, even much later.

• You should receive an email from the grader, with GRADED added to the subject line, and GRADED: ## at the top of the body of the email.
• Late penalties do not appear on the email. You should assume that a late penalty has been assessed, if you submitted late. I try to make an effort to include them in the "comments" box of the bSpace report but might not always do so.
• If you accidentally receive more than one grade, I will record into the grade book the highest grade. (All grade reports flow to me, so I will see overlapping grade reports.)
• If a student accidentally receives a grade before the email has been tagged ACCEPTED by me, the grade is not in any way valid. The RP will be regraded by me, without reference to that erroneous grade, and may be radically different from it.
• RPs that receive grades or grade changes after the assignment's grades are posted to bSpace will not see the changes on bSpace. The email sent to the student by me will be the confirmation and proof of the change. It might be wise to keep it.

I ask GSIs (and me) to use this grade scale:

• lean towards an "A" 12 or "A–" 11, and give an "A+" 13 for remarkable work
• score in the "A–" 11 to "B+" 10 range for work that seems to have too limited a perspective of the reading, has minor errors that ought not to happen, seems perhaps to be rushed, is a bit low energy, is not well designed for easy reading (such as all one long paragraph, very small font)
• socre in the B and C range for increasingly serious problems (see below)
• do not hesitate to score in the "D" range (4-2) for submissions that seem only partial, inadequate, in name only, tossed out in just a few minutes, not on the topic, etc. In other words, submissions that do not meet the needs of assignment, not just in form but in spirit.

These are some of the things that generate a less than perfect grade for an RP:

• Late submission (automatic, assessed by me).
• RPs based on hasty reading.
• Murky or lazy RPs.
• Summarizing events in the story.
• Taking up space by quoting when quoting is not necessary (sometimes it is just right, though).
• RPs that seem to cobble together two or three ideas with little relationship between them (i.e., gives the impressions that student really didn't know what to say and grabbed a couple of things).
• RPs that are too much about you ("that reminds me of when, I, too, as a child played kickball, and we, ... and we, ...opps forgot to write about the assigned reading!") and too little about the assigned reading.
• RPs that seem not to have tried to understand the perspective of the assigned reading. (Personal opinion or hasty interpretation put ahead of articulating the point of view of the reading.) *This is very common.
• RPs that feel generic either because they are based on someone else's ideas (from section, from the web, from whatever source) or because they take on an impersonal scholarly tone that discusses basic structural or factual aspects of the work. The grader is interested in what it means to you.
• RPs that seem falsely enthusiastic, though strong reactions (positive or negative) are certainly welcome when genuine. But you don't have to be "passionate about" something that you aren't. It can give the impression of mocking the assignment.
• DO NOT PLAGIARIZE FROM THE WEB OR ANYWHERE ELSE. This can lead to an "F" in the course whenever it is discovered. Even if the student had previously received an "A" on the assignment. Generally when any suspicious activity happens with a student ALL material is reviews again, with great care.

Whenever you receive an RP score that puzzles you, the grader will be happy to meet with you about it. Please don't ask for a written explanation in an email; this should be a sit down together sort of thing.

Who is commenting on my RP?

The GSIs and I share grading work of the RPs; however, any of us might comment casually on any RP at any time.

RPs are not usually commented upon but there might occasionally be a short phrase or two. Please do not consider it unusual even if an excellent RP does not receive comments. There are many reasons why this might be the case, and they have very little to do with the content of your RP itself, and do not suggest that we considered it boring.

The RP grader does not see the comments made by the other GSI or me.

Late RPs

Each semester, late or missed RPs create moderate trouble for a percentage of students. Please submit on time. With these submissions, and all submissions for this class, working up to the final minute is very risky. I strongly recommend you work with a 10 minute buffer ahead of any deadline in this class.

Students who intentionally alter the time stamps on their emails to report a false send time will be reported to the University for academic dishonesty.

What if the submission is late because it was returned for resubmission? Please refer to the sidebar link about this. In general I expect students to quickly master the rules of submission and begin to assess penalities when they do not. However, it is better to read the detailed comments about this.

In keeping with my interest that students do not do other work during lecture, by all means, do NOT submit RPs or any other work during class time please. You will receive zero credit for the submission.

A student receives a grade report within the RP that is returned. However, this grade does not indicate any possible late penalty (because I calculate those at my end, when filling out the excel grade sheet). Late penalties are automatic. The student should assume that a late penalty was assessed for late work and sits as such on the gradebook. If you have any questions about late penalties, by all means please email me (not your GSI) about this.

.5-1 hour late	I deduct a 1/3 letter-grade penalty (1 pt on the 12 pt scale) from the initial score, when entering the score in the gradebook. (Example: an "A" 12 becomes an "A–" 11.) Sometimes, but not usually, this level of lateness will be acknowledged in my login email with the subject line "ACCEPTED AS A BIT LATE".
during class	NO CREDIT
1-24 hours late	I deduct a 2/3 letter-grade penalty (2 pts on the 12 pt scale) from the initial score, when entering the score in the gradebook. (Example: an "A" 12 becomes an "B+" 10.) Sometimes, but not usually, this level of lateness will be acknowledged in my login email with the subject line "ACCEPTED AS SOMEWHAT LATE".
24+ hours late *the cutoff day for all RP submissions is the last day of class	The RP is not graded; it automatically receives a score of "C" 6. However, it will be read rapidly to confirm that it is at least "C" quality work; if not, it will be receive the appropriately lower grade. Sometimes, but not usually, this level of lateness will be acknowledged in my login email with the subject line "ACCEPTED AS LATE". NOTICE THAT IN TERMS OF HOW THE CLASS GRADE CALCULATIONS ARE DESIGNED, IT REMAINS HELPFUL TO SUBMIT MISSED RPs EVEN WHEN VERY LATE.
missing RPs	Missing RPs are entered into the gradebook as a "0"(s) and are part of the grade category average until the student submits it/them.