Course Policies

Conferences: During the quarter, students will meet three times with the instructor outside of class.   Two of these sessions will be individual meetings and the third will be a small group conference.   Each consultation will last about thirty minutes.   These conferences are mandatory!   Failure to show up for an appointment will adversely affect your grade: you will lose 1.5 points out of a possible 100 for each missed meeting (enough sometimes to make the difference between receiving an A or an A-, an A- or a B+, etc., for the course).   If you are unable to attend the appointment at the scheduled time, contact me in advance by phone, pager, or email (see Main Page).   Bring with you to the conference the latest returned assignment.   During these consultations, we will discuss your research, the strengths of your project, and any problems you might be having with it.
Attendance: Because much of each student's most important work will take place in class, attendance is mandatory.   Consequently, you are allowed only two unexcused absences.   Three unexcused absences will adversely influence your grade. Four such absences will result in a "no pass" for the course.   For an absence to qualify as "excused," the student must contact the instructor no later than two hours prior to the class's start time and give the reason for the absence.   Use his campus e-mail address gabbard@stanford.edu   For the absence to count as "excused," the instructor must give his approval in writing (by e-mail).

Chronically late students will be warned once; after that, each late appearance will be counted as an absence.  

Please turn off pagers and cell phones during class session.   Cruising the Internet (checking stock prices, sports scores, etc.) while class is in session is prohibited.   You will be asked to leave so that you can continue such activity at a terminal elsewhere on campus.


Format of Papers: First and final drafts should be word-processed, double-spaced, with a minimum one-inch margin all around and a reasonable font and type size used throughout.   I suggest that you use the "Times New Roman" font, size 12, or an equivalent.   At the top left of your first page (using single spacing), inscribe your name, the name of the course, the instructor's name, the date, and your e-mail address.   Then, without inserting extra spacing, insert your title.   Do not add extra spacing between the title and the body of your text.   Headers with your name and the page number should begin on the second page.   All pages after page one should be numbered.   Please staple the pages together.   Do not use paper clips, folders, or report covers.  


Length of Papers:One page equals approximately 275 to 300 words.   With regard to length, an assignment calling for ten pages (minimum 3,000 words) requires that you write to the very bottom of the tenth page.   A ten-page essay ending at the very top of the tenth page will be judged to be an incomplete assignment.   If your essay runs short, don't blame its shortness on the size of the font.   Rather, change the font to "Times New Roman" and the size to twelve and see how it looks.   Conversely, if you achieve the minimum page requirement by inflating the type, the assignment will be judged to be incomplete.


Rewriting: You will be expected to revise the researched argument.   The re-write will represent a substantial revision of the initial draft, and the re-write will be turned in together with the initial draft upon which it is based.   For more information, see revision.


Deadlines: Assignments are due at the beginning of class.   Assignments received later in the day will lose points.   I will subtract additional points for each day




Peer-group editing sessions: One class session will be devoted to the practice of editing skills.




Class Discussion:Everyone should read the assigned material thoroughly before class and come prepared to contribute to our discussions.   See Evaluation concerning the criteria for grading class participation.




Incompletes: I will not permit incompletes except in the case of severe medical or family emergency.




Office Hours:It is best to make an appointment for meeting me during my office hours so that you will not have to wait to see me once you arrive.   Check this website's main page for my scheduled office hours.




Plagiarism: Plagiarism is the act of claiming the ideas and/or language of someone else to be your own.   Borrowing ideas and language without acknowledging--clearly and unambiguously--the source of that material, constitutes plagiarism.   It is a great offense, is a violation of the Honor Code, and meets with very severe penalties from the university.   If I find an instance of plagiarism, it is not for me, but for the university administration, to decide what happens to you.





Dual Submission: Dual submission involves using the same paper assignment for two different classes, or re-using from an earlier quarter and turning it in as a newly completed assignment.   In this class, dual submission is prohibited.




Conduct: The Stanford University Honor Code, as defined in the Courses, Degrees, and Information catalog, governs all aspects of this course.






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