# Reading

Instead of having the bookstore order physical books to campus, we will instead use digital books which we will read and annotate together via [Perusall](/medieval-aristocratic-life/digital-tools/perusall.md).  Perusall allows for [social annotation](http://www.grandviewcetl.org/tools-for-teaching-social-annotation/) which will be a key part of our learning experience this year. We will also being using another annotation tool, [Hypothes.is](/medieval-aristocratic-life/digital-tools/hypothes.is.md) to annotate webpages and other online resources. Social annotation takes the usually solitary act of reading and allows students to do it in community with one another. By using digital tools to highlight, comment, or otherwise annotate a text, students “do the reading,” but do so in conversation with their peers.

{% hint style="info" %}
You need to make a minimum of three annotations per reading assignment on Perusall. There will usually be more than one reading assignment per week. 

Even if you choose to do the reading offline, you will need to login to post annotations for each reading. 
{% endhint %}

Perusall will also act as a repository for readings, images and maps that we will use in class. 

Both the lectures and the game scenarios depend on your having done preparatory readings, in order to be able to be properly informed. Making annotations on Perusall offer a way for you to engage with the texts more deeply (a form of slow reading), but also acts for me as a surrogate marker that you have properly prepared for class. 

In the reading list (see [schedule](/medieval-aristocratic-life/schedule.md)), you will see I have often marked reading for specific classes as "Character specific reading". This means that you need to find and read and annotate on Perusall a reading of your choice (so as to give you information necessary to fulfill your character objectives/plans).

**Assessment**: (15% of final grade) Each reading assignment will be assessed as either unsatisfactory, satisfactory,  or complete. A reading assignment is completed satisfactorily when you have made the minimum number of annotations (3 per reading assignment). If you make a minimum of six thoughtful and reflective annotations, you can be assessed as excellent. 

| Assessment     | Point Value |
| -------------- | ----------- |
| Unsatisfactory | 0           |
| Satisfactory   | 1           |
| Excellent      | 2           |

At the end of term, the points are added up and divided by the number of reading assignments. 

* If the output is less than 1, your reading mark is assessed as Unsatisfactory (0%)
* If the output is between 1 and 1.6, you reading mark is Satisfactory (70%)
* If the output is above 1.6, your reading mark is Excellent (100%)

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