Title here is misleading; should be English 70, Medievalisms (which she has taught Spring 2017 and 2018).
Chism is a wonderful professor - she is very encouraging, engaging, and passionate about the material she teaches. She definitely expects participation, but the fun thing about this class is that you can make connections to contemporary culture - Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Neil Gaiman's work etc.
This class is also very fluid; what she lectures on will depend on the questions you ask, although she has some loose structure in mind. That's not to say she isn't prepared. Chism definitely knows what she's talking about; it's just that the class can go in many different directions. And it really is just amazing to see how much she knows, and how she can make very relevant connections between medieval works / Lord of the Rings to our world today.
The class breakdown is:
50% for 2 essays, or replace 1 essay with a presentation (she says she wants the first essay to count for less and the second one to count for more to reward improvement, so probably 20% first essay 30% second essay)
30% weekly response papers, total of 8 because they aren't due the same week essays are due (though these can be used to make up missed response papers). Length of one paragraph to one page (or more if you'd like feedback on ideas)
20% participation/attendance in lecture and section
The grading for essays will be based on TA, but if you do a presentation Chism will grade you. She also grades the weekly response papers. From what I can tell, I think she is more lenient than the TAs will be. For honors students, this is probably a good class to ask for an honors contract in because she definitely wants to help and is incredibly reasonable in setting expectations for the contract. She's also understanding and gives out extensions as long as you ask 48 hours in advance.