First, take this brief survey. Take the results seriously.

When registration begins each semester, online courses are the first to fill up for some reason. Subsequently, I get numerous phone calls and emails asking me about this course. Let me begin by saying that I cannot add you to the course if it is closed. Period. I get several requests a week, and I cannot accommodate them all, so I cannot accommodate any. Sorry about that. Also know that if you sign up for the course, the first meeting is mandatory; if you miss it for any reason, you will be counted as a “no-show,” your final grade will suffer by one letter, and you will find it very difficult to get started in the course on your own. After this first meeting, we will not meet in a classroom again. All evaluation, discussion, and lecture will take place online.

Here are some additional aspects that you should consider:

• Time: You may believe that because this course is offered online, that it will not require as much time as a traditional classroom course. Well, you should plan on spending at least twice the amount of time working on your own to make up for what you would not receive from class discussions and lecture. This includes doing extra secondary research, something you may not be used to doing.
• Motivation: Since you will be required to budget your time, you must also be self-motivated. You will not have the benefit of having a professor’s presence compelling you to do your work each week; you will have to take on the responsibility. The reality of this is more difficult than it may seem. Procrastination will put you behind and make it very difficult for you to recover.
• Course Work: If you have not successfully completed an online course before, I recommend that you do not begin with this one. If you have not successfully completed a college-level literature course before (including 1102), you should not begin with this one. Literature courses benefit from in-class discussion; many find the literature challenging, so without the benefit of a professor’s in-class guidance, many find the challenge too difficult.

The bottom line is that online literature courses are challenging, which unfortunately produces high attrition rate because many students are just not ready for them. I do not want to discourage anyone from taking it, and I’m willing to discuss this further with anyone during my office hours or by appointment. However, I ask that you consider this carefully; do not sign up for the class with the expectation that it will be easy. If anything, it is more difficult than taking the course in-class.

System Requirements

For minimum computer requirements, see those Second Life outlines. A fast, reliable Internet connection from your house is also a requirement for this course. Yes, there are open-use labs on both campuses, but I would not recommend that you rely on these to accomplish this course.