[originaltext] If you’ve been on campus for very long, I’m certain that you’

If you’ve been on campus for very long, I’m certain that you’ve already heard about this course. You may know that last semester about fifty percent of the students enrolled in my course failed it. Let me explain how this came about before you jump to any conclusions.  In the first place, since this is a composition class, I expect my students to follow certain rules of formality.  Unfortunately, many students today dislike having to follow rules of any kind, especially those which they may feel to be unnecessary. For example, I ask that each of your papers be typed and centered on the paper correctly. I count off points for various kinds of mistakes.  A misspelled word will cost you 5 points. You’ve lost 25 points if you’ve misspelled five words. If you write an incomplete sentence, you’ve lost 10 points. If you give me two complete sentences as one without adequate punctuation, you’ve lost 15 points. I do not accept late papers. You will receive a zero for any theme which you fail to submit on time. I expect you to read each assignment. To make certain that you have read the assignment, I will give you a short unannounced quiz from time to time.  This class meets on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. You will have a total of six major tests throughout the semester. Your final grade will be based on an average of these major tests, the pop tests, and eight written themes. If you have any questions at any time, you can see me on Tuesdays. My office is on the second floor of this building. Your assignment, for Wednesday is to read Hemingway’s short story on page 55. Friday will be the last class day of this week, so you can expect to write a short in-class theme for me then. That’s all for today. I’ll see you on Wednesday.