At the end of every professor's syllabus, there's a paragraphsummarizing how he or she determines your final grade. Usually, therewill be a midterm (30%), final (30%), homework (15%), and a finalproject/paper (15%). Altogether, this adds up to 90%, so where doesthat extra 10% come from? Class participation. If you can get yourselfstanding outside your dorm building with pants on ten minutes beforeclass, these simple instructions will carry you the rest of the way tothe easiest ten percent of your life.

English
English is tough because you have to look likeyou've done the reading, even if you used your book money on thesnakeoil that man in the top hat sold you. Make friends with one person inthe class who has all the books, and starta conversation about thereadingbefore class starts. All you need is 4-5 minutes.Once class hasbegun, be the first person called on, and reiterate what your friendhas said, and make sure to ask one question about something a characterdid. Sure, your friend might not be your friend by the end of thesemester, but that snake oil will have made your skin so smooth, you'llbe too busy with the ladies to even notive.

Philosophy
Listen for the first few minutes, so you have a general idea of thevicinity of the ball park that this topic might venture around tosooner or later, maybe. Then pick the last name of a guy someonejust mentioned, add "-ianism" or just plain "-ism" to the end of it,raise your hand, and ask a question that has your new word somewhere init. As long as your voice goes up at the end of your sentence,you're good. Do this three or four times per class.

Women and Gender Studies
Female: Talk about how much your life sucks.
Male: Shut the hell up.

Business
Shit, I don't know, wear a three piece suit to class? Am I writing for Forbes.com or CollegeHumor.com?

Film
Sit down.
Watch movie.
Talk about movie.
The End!

Communications
If I have to tell you how to get your full 10% participation gradein a Comm class, then you are definitely a Comm major. Or ababy. Hell, your professor will be so surprised you showed up toclass with a shirt on he'll ask you what grade you want. (Hint:Say "A")