Some tips for doing well in a theory class
Greg Miller, PhD
- Attendance: Attend every class. In any case, do not miss more than three. Exams will be based on lectures and questions pursued in class. Grades and attendance almost always correlate. And please make every effort to be punctual: I normally don’t stress this, but due to the short class period and the difficult nature of the material, students in English 110A need to be focused from the very beginning of each class.
- Reading habits: Plan to read for this class at least five days a week. Spend one or two days a week reviewing and synthesizing the material (including class notes). Mark your text (highlighting, margin notes, private codes—whatever will help you keep track of and remember an author’s development of important concepts). Read the anthology’s introductory material for each author. Read the assigned material more than once: I strongly recommend reading all of the material for a given week over the weekend and then reviewing/rereading each day’s reading the day before or the day of our discussion.
- Class involvement and participation: Come to class prepared with specific questions and comments about the assigned reading. This in itself is a form of studying. You should actively think about the problems and issues raised by each reading and about how the readings relate (and often respond) to one another; doing so will help you to anticipate exam questions and to develop a thesis for your course paper and for exam essays.
- Attend office hours.
- Establish study groups.
