On the last night of class, we will have our "final exam" activity which is worth 20 of the 200 participation points for the semester. There is no way to earn those 20 points other than by participating in this activity on that date.
The activity will be based on reading of "A Jury of Her Peers" by Susan Glaspell. You must print, mark up, and read this story, and bring it to class on the final night. Of course, you should read it much earlier and prepare your arguments.
The debate will happen in 3 rounds, each round being devoted to one question. You need to prepare responses to both sides of each of these questions because in class you will be randomly assigned ONE side to defend for each question. Each student participates in two of the three debates and acts as a "judge" for the other debate.
Your arguments will not be strong unless you can quote passages from the text in support, so expect a low grade if you have no marked-up text to work with.
Here are the questions:
1. From a moral (not a legal viewpoint), did Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters do the right thing by hiding the evidence against Minnie? This question does not ask whether they would face legal repercussions for their actions (of course, they would). Rather, it is a question about morality. Argue whether or not you feel they should be punished for their actions, regardless of what the law actually is.
2. Assume for this question only that it is proven that Minnie did indeed strangle her husband to death. By today's legal standards (and you may want to do some research in preparation as to what those standards are) could Minnie avoid a guilty conviction regardless? By what arguments?
3. At the time this story was written, it was illegal for a woman to serve on a jury. Does this story build a case in favor of allowing women to serve on a jury, or does it build case against it? As part of answering this question, examine what the story seems to be saying about the differences in essential nature between men and women (the ways in which each is "better" or "worse" than the other). You should also do some research into what the phrase "jury of one's peers" means exactly, what is controversial about the idea of forming a jury out of "peers," and what is significant about naming the story "A Jury of Her Peers."
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On another note, class on the night of November 21/22 is optional. I will spend the night looking at complete (only) drafts of Essay 4. If you have a draft you want me to review, bring it and I will look at it one-on-one in the order you arrive. I will not use that time to help you think about an essay that is incomplete or not yet begun. I will only look at complete, typed drafts.
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On yet another note, the last night to drop a class is November 17th. After that, you will not be able to request a grade of "W" from the college. To know your position in the class, simply go to turnitin.com and look at your percentage. 90-100 = A, 80-89 = B, 70-79=C, 60-69 = D. If you are missing Essay 1 or Essay 2 you obviously don't enough points to be passing at this point. As to whether you can make up for it with the last 3 essays, participation, final exam, and presentation, you will have to work the numbers to judge for yourself. There are 580 points left to be earned and you need 700 to pass with a "C."
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