In order to be able to register for HIS 232 you must have completed HIS 231 . If you do not have this prequisite or an equivalent, you must see the Registrar immediately about withdrawing from the course and making some appropriate substitution. When registering, the student may be able to make his own choice of professor. It is not unwise to ascertain beforehand as much as you need to know about how a particular professor conducts his or her course. After all, you're going to be stuck with that choice for three months. One hopes that a student has formed some prior opinions, however ill advised, about what he or she desires from this brief acquaintance--much reading or little, few exams or many, a term paper or none, take-home exams or being "under the gun," a strict regime or not . . . and so on. Does the professor take pains to explain everything at length or is there a presumption of your own conversance with certain aspects of the topics through your prior reading? What is the policy on makeups, attendance, classroom deportment, etc.
Wait until after the first class session to buy your books, which should be available in the bookstore under your professor's name. The syllabus, usually handed out at that time, will give the exact details for purchase: the professor may have more than one section of the course and may have assigned different texts for each. Better, also, in the case of a standard textbook, to buy the assigned text: you don't want to be using a borrowed but different one (there are many of them and all about the same in substantive content) if the professor, for example, has the habit of setting quizzes from assigned reading. If the syllabus shows the latest edition and you have access to an earlier (second-hand) one, check with the professor if it's OK for you to use the earlier edition--the changes from one edition to the next are usually not material enough to warrant excess expenditure on something you'll doubtless dispose of in three months. The book assignment for this introductory course rarely exceeds three paperbacks in these times of high costs and reduced choices. However, you will be encouraged to do your own outside reading (entirely optional, of course) by availing of the wealth of books on all topics in the college library (see your professor for suggestions). In the final analysis, remember that history cannot really be taught; rather it must be learned by dint of your honest grappling with, at least, the assigned reading.
The following sections will help answer the several questions about course procedures that may occur to you from time to time. In general, when you enrol in a class, you accept the obligations and responsibilities imposed on you in order to fulfil the course requirements in a proper teaching and learning environment. So be aware of them.
By the way, since some of you will probably miss a lecture or two, I advise you to make arrangements with a reliable classmate to copy as much of what you missed as possible, or discuss the topic with him or her, should that student be so amenable. But while you may have a good excuse for missing a class, there can't be any good excuse for not doing the assigned reading.
Incidentally, the files maintained on the JJC computer in the first-floor microcomputer center under my name include one that offers a summary overview of the topical content of most of the lectures for the course. Be sure to give theGuide to the Syllabus a look-see.
I distinguish between a Quiz and an Exam as follows. The Quiz is a brief list of questions, usually of the "fill-in the missing words" variety and designed to test your study and comprehension of the assigned reading. The result should be a statement that has acquired good historical sense owing to the well chosen words you have added. Generally speaking, you can do very well with this type of test after you have digested fully the assigned reading for the class sessions involved. I commonly make selections from those parts of the text(s) that are, so to say, pregnant with meaning. It is comparatively easy to recognize some of them for they often signal themselves with such introductory phrases as: One of the most striking achievements . . ., The most important factor . . ., Of primary significance is . . . , and the like. Similarly, people's ideas and theories as well as their major achievements come in for special notice.
The Exam by contrast has a more serious purpose for it seeks to elicit your considered response to some cogent historical question dealt with at some length in the lectures and/or reading. In general, reliance on the standard textbook alone would likely produce a less than satisfactory performance where additional material introduced in the lecture(s) has been ignored. Hence you will really need to pay close attention to the lectures in order to gather and understand the information needed for a clear description, explanation and analysis of a topic. Lectures, after all, are not intended merely to parrot what you will have read in the text but rather are designed to probe more comprehensively the important themes that more often than not are dealt with all too briefly in a general world history textbook. A fully developed essay will answer what I dub the Four W's--the what, when, why and wherefore of a topic. Set your sights high and know enough (here your interest and curiosity will be paramount) to stun the professor with your erudition! By studying in this manner you should acquire the descriptive and narrative facility, the close reasoning as well as the critical judgment that will serve to smooth your way to academic success now and in the future. But there's also the matter of the quality of your writing, more particularly the grammar and how clearly you express yourself. Although different degrees of indulgence will be accorded by different professors, it is certainly fair to say that writing does matter. One cannot imagine a student achieving good grades (B or above) for writing that confuses more than it clarifies, that sins too greatly against the rules of syntax, or is the result of extreme carelessness.
Incidentally, the worst mistake a student can make in an exam (and a handful insist on doing so each semester) is--by hook or by crook--to offer the exact text of the assigned or other published work as answer to a question. A common defense made by the student is to lay claim to a photographic memory. You should never insult the professor's intelligence by claiming that you can repeat word for word, from memory alone, reams of sentences from some author's work. Even close mirroring of a text (i.e., virtual paraphrasing) is suspect and not allowed. In such cases, neither ignorance nor naivete is a defense against the possible consequences, as outlined in the relevant section on plagiarism in the Undergraduate Bulletin. Submitted work of this nature will merit an automatic "F" grade, quite apart from any disciplinary action that may be taken by the college. So, forewarned is forearmed . . .
Incidentally, the files maintained in the JJC microcomputer center on the first floor of North Hall include one that gives sample quiz questions for each Section of the course that you may study from.
But those encouraging words beg the question: what is it to study? Well, it certainly isn't only coming to class and listening to the lectures, nor first opening the textbook on the night before the exam. Nor is it putting up such barriers to good performance as a job that requires you to work 20 or more hours a week with an accompanying course load of 13 or more credits per term, a state of affairs that provides you with little time for serious study, especially, as you might rashly conclude, for a course that isn't in your major. The first thing you must do, therefore, is make a realistic appraisal of your abilities, interest and expectations and decide on a study plan that best fits your own personal and academic ambitions. If the amount of study (reading, note-taking, reflection) you set for History is little , then, presumably, your grade expectations may be quite moderate; the converse is also likely to be true. Indeed, if you find that pressures of a workaday job and your other studies preclude serious attention to the needs of this course (often reflected in poor or failing grades), then perhaps the proper course of action to take might be to withdraw from the course in time. My past grade rosters have never failed to include the names of students who having given up fulfilling course requirements unaccountably did not formally withdraw and, hence, were unable to avoid the undeserved failing grade, mandated by the Registrar. Correspondingly, these rosters also include the names of students who get far below the grades they feel they deserved but, in defiance of the obvious, insist the fault cannot be the fact that they have taken on six courses on top of a 40-hour per week job. In such circumstances I can show little beyond sympathy.
Your grade in this course will be based solely on your written work in quizzes and exams (see the paragraph on Exams above for further information on this score. If any generalization can be made about grades, perhaps it is best to say that an excellent course performance (i.e., an A) indicates (or should indicate) excellence in all your written work, whereas an average performance (i.e., a C--a non-punitive grade and one not to be sniffed at in any way) derives from a reasonable and expected, though not in any way exceptional, acquaintance with the texts and lectures. In any event, if you feel you are slipping behind or are not matching your expectations, you should consult with your professor for any help he or she may be able to give you privately and, alternatively, try to get either tutorial help or assistance from a member of the Counseling department. Finally, your course grade at the end of the semester, usually available within three to five days of the exam date, will be posted on the departmental bulletin board in the history department (Room 4305N). Your final exam paper, which I would like you to collect, will also be available either from me or the department secretary at the same time.
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