PRE-ORIENTATION LETTER
Summer 2008

Dear Internet Student,
Welcome!

Welcome to Literature 274N, The Evolution of Tragedy: Heroes and Heroines.
On the Web!

By enrolling in this class, you have made a commitment to higher education that requires self-motivation and discipline beyond that which is demanded by traditional classroom instruction. Your success in this class is largely dependent on honoring this commitment to your own education.

Please click on the link below and take the quiz to learn about how well you are suited for online education. http://uva-weblearn.net/distance-quiz.asp

Although this quiz is largely informative, it can give you some indication as to your readiness for taking an online class. Be sure to click "submit" for immediate feedback.

No On-Campus Orientation Required
The section you have enrolled in does not require that you attend an on-campus orientation meeting on the SCC Campus.
This is a fully on-line class.

This letter and the Orientation letter you will find on the WebCT/Blackboard class home page serve as your orientation, so read both carefully and more than a few times.

All quizzes, exams, and papers will be executed online and submitted online using the “Private Mail” function of WebCT/Blackboard.

WebCT/Blackboard*
Literature 274N (N stands for Internet) requires that you log on regularly during each week to the course WebCT/Blackboard home page to receive the following:

• announcements
• read supplementary materials
• take quizzes
• participate in class discussions
• submit papers when they are due

*WebCT/Blackboard WILL BE AVAILABLE ROUGHLY FIVE DAYS PRIOR TO WHEN CLASSES BEGIN ON CAMPUS. YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ACCESS THE CLASS WebCT/Blackboard HOMEPAGE UNTIL THEN.

WebCT/Blackboard is Required

• You will be required to post homework and papers on WebCT/Blackboard on a designated work schedule.
• All work must be submitted as a “Word” document.
• Word Perfect, Works, Notepad, Rich-text file, Word 2007/Vista may not be used because the computers at SCC do not read these programs.
• If you do not have Word, you can download an earlier version to use, or you can use a computer that uses Word, like those on the SCC campus.

Remember, this is not an independent study course that can be done at your own pace. Literature 274 is the equivalent of any literature class offered on campus in a traditional classroom. You will have a weekly work schedule similar to that of on campus classes.

Don’t Know WebCT/Blackboard?
If you are not familiear with using WebCT/Blackboard, the delivery program for this course, go to the college website at http://www.stchas.edu and access the WebCT page. Open the “WebCT Getting Starting Guide” and review the information there.

Getting Your WebCT/Blackboard Password
SCC has its own WebCT/Blackboard platform, so if you have an old password, you need to go to the SCC home page and click on the iChange icon. You will be directed as to how to get your new login and password.

Textbooks*

The required texts for this class are in a special packet that my publisher has put together for me. While there is some duplication of plays in the various texts, and one text we won’t be using this semester (Hamlet), the price of the package is very low compared to buying the texts individually. The package can be purchased through the campus bookstore: ISBN 0-321-42587-1. For information about purchasing the package, call the bookstore at 636-922-8448.

*You must use these particular books because quotes from other sources that you use in your papers will not match my page numbers and line numbers from within the play texts.

Getting Started
As soon as you are logged in to the class homepage, do the following:

• click on the icon labled “Orientation Letter” and follow instructions.

This is the end of the Pre-Orientation

Good luck. I am very happy that you have chosen The Evolution of Tragedy. I hope you have as much fun and find it just as interesting as I did creating it.

Professor Lawrence Checkett
English Department
St. Charles Community College