Class Attendance, Participation, and Homework
Your presence and active participation are essential in each and every session. This will be the most significant part of your grade since it is through continuous class interaction with other students that your communicative abilities in Portuguese will develop and improve. Your grade will be determined daily by the quality and quantity of your preparation and participation in class discussions, activities, group work, etc.
As your progress, and that of the class as a whole, will be impeded by excessive absences, your presence in the classroom is imperative. If you must miss a class, there is no excuse for not being prepared for the next one. If you have to be absent, please contact the instructor in advance to find out what material you will miss. Each absence without an official excuse will lower your course attendance and participation grade. Any student who has accumulated more than three absences without an official excuse must see the instructor. Further absences after the warning will affect your final grade.
Oral Presentation
Oral presentation: In addition to the written quizzes, students will make a 10–minute oral presentation in front of the class. Students may talk about a place where Portuguese is spoken or an historically or culturally significant figure in the Lusophone world. Alternatively, they can choose to talk about a personal trip
Homework and Written Work
Students are expected to prepare the assigned materials for each class and complete the written work as stipulated in the syllabus. These assignments include:
- Studying the vocabulary and grammar in Ponto de Encontro and completing any written exercises assigned.
- Completing the exercises in the MyPortugueseLab. The solutions to most exercises are provided immediately. Exercises requiring long written answers will be corrected by the instructor.
- Compositions (redações): Total of four pieces of writing based on the short stories read in class. They should be at least 150 words long (15 lines), typed and double-spaced. Compositions should be turned in on the day assigned in the daily program. Once returned by the teacher, a second version with corrections must be handed in. If an essay has two pages, they should be stapled.
Composition Questions
| Redação # | Crônicas | Tópico? | Devido |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Posto 5” and “Moça do Interior” | Com base nos contos “Posto 5” e “Moça do Interior”, escreva uma redação sobre o relacionamento entre pessoas diferentes. Você acredita que diferenças culturais, de idade, de raça, de religião, de classe social, de nível educativo, ideológicas, etc. podem dificultar ou impedir o relacionamento entre duas pessoas? | Session 30 |
| 2 | “Puxa-Puxa” | Baseando-se no conto Puxa-puxa, fale sobre a sua experiência em viagens. Você tem o costume de pedir encomendas a quem viaja? Ou de trazer encomendas para amigos? Você já passou ou conhece alguém que passou por alguma dificuldade durante uma viagem? Como foi? | Session 35 |
| 3 | “A Retranqueta do Polidor” | Com base no conto “A Retranqueta do Polidor”, escreva uma redação dizendo se você concorda ou não com a afirmação do escritor de que “a mentira é necessária para a vida em sociedade.” | Session 40 |
| 4 | “João e Maria” | Baseando-se no conto “João e Maria”, escreva sobre alguma situação embaraçosa ou engraçada por que você ou alguém que você conhece já passou. | Session 48 |
All assignments are to be done on the date indicated. Late work will not receive full credit. The exercises in MyPortugueseLAb are designed to reinforce the grammar and vocabulary introduced in the textbook, as well as to improve your listening comprehension. They are required components of the course and it’s important that you complete them right away, as soon as the material is covered. Don’t let your homework pile up. Working a little every day and frequent reviewing are more effective than a few long sessions of study at longer intervals.
