Requirements
The goal in this course is for you to read and carefully examine several major works by Fyodor Dostoevsky. You should read actively and carefully, think about what you are reading, record your thoughts and be prepared to articulate those thoughts in class, both orally and in written form.
All reading must be completed before the beginning of each
class. As you read you should keep your thoughts, observations, questions
and comments on sheets of loose-leaf paper to be kept in a binder which
you bring to class for every meeting. These outline notes on any given occasion
should serve as the basis for a class discussion that you will be called
upon to lead.(While these thoughts are personal, they are not private!)
For each class you should prepare an electronic journal
entry. This one page (250 words) entry should contain a single well-constructed
analysis of some aspect of the work which appealed to you. Finally, write
a single question at the end of each page to serve as a discussion question
for the entire class. The entry must be sent to my e-mail account tom.beyer@middlebury.edu before 4:00
PM on the day of class.
Grades are based on your having read each text well and before class to be determined by regular in class writing assignments each evening (34%); timely submission of thoughtful journal entries (33%); participation and preparedness to lead class discussions based on notes and your completion of your portion of the web based review and correction (33%). If you read all the works on time, do all the informal and formal journal entries on time, and participate actively in each class, you can expect a grade of B or better. The "better" depends upon clear demonstration of exceptional effort and care in your work.