(tentative) syllabus ENGL489 Advanced Portfolio Workshop
|
Need to be in touch with me?
LEE TORDA 310 Tillinghast Hall Bridgewater State University 508.531.2436 [email protected] www.leetorda.com NOTE: All classes, student meetings, and open student hours (office hours) this semester will be held virtually via Zoom. Need to make an during a time that is not an open student hour? appointment? Let me know you want to meet by adding yourself to my google.doc appointment calendar here: https://goo.gl/3CqLf and I will send you a zoom link for the time you sign up for. |
Spring 2021 Open Hours for students (office hours):
T&R 11:00-12:30 W 11:00-12:00 F 3:00-4:00 and by appointment. Click here to attend ANY of the Open Hour for Students Zoom sessions listen above. HOW TO ATTEND ZOOM CLASS Click here to attend ENGL 301 Writing & the Teaching of Writing Click here to attend ENGL 344 Young Adult Literature Click here to attend ENGL 489 Advanced Portfolio workshop. |
NOTE: ALL LINKS IN LIGHT BLUE LIVE.
29 JANUARY 2021 WEEK ONE
Click here to attend ENGL 489 Advanced Portfolio workshop.
Introduction to the Course. Overview of course materials and class website. Partner interviews for Author Bio ice-breaker. Read Sample Author Interviews here.
5 FEBRUARY 2021 WEEK TWO
Click here to attend ENGL 489 Advanced Portfolio workshop.
IN-CLASS: overview and practice with ICRNs, Writer's Notebook and mentor text memoir. In class work on mentor text memoir. Discussion of Rethink/Revise project. Please read all of the relevant assignment pages (available by clicking on the blue links in this syllabus or from the drop down menu above) before coming to class. Overview of class workshopping policy. DUE: Draft of your partner bio for workshopping in-class. Make sure your draft is in a google.doc set to "anyone with this link can edit." For use in class: "sample" mentor text memoirs by Salavatore Scibona, Jonathan Lethem, and Ray Bradbury.
Due by the end of the week (12 February 2021):
ONCE YOU’VE ACTUALLY READ the policies and syllabus for this course. You have the opportunity to earn one "A" for Acceptable for a either an ICRN or a week's Writer's Notebook simply by completing the following assignment by 12 February 2021.
1. Send me an email at [email protected] , CC me at [email protected]
2. In the subject line, write "Syllabus Check-in Email". Write it exactly as I've written it here.
3. In the body of the email, include a greeting: "Hello LT," "Hi Professor Torda," "Hey Dr. Torda." Whatever. But have a greeting.
4. Cut and paste this sentence into the email: "I've read through the policies and syllabus for the course, and I understand how to use the website to find out information about assignments, course policies, due dates, and classroom expectations, and to post my own writing to the class website in fulfillment of written assignments."
5. Sign off on your email, "best, so & so" "see you in class, your name here" "sincerely, John Doe." Again, whatever. But sign off on your email.
NOTE: Keep in mind, that when you send me this email, I’m going to assume you’ve actually done your due diligence about reading the syllabus and policies for the course, and I will hold you to those policies going forward during the semester.
6. POST ON THE CLASS DISCUSSION BOARD (that link is live). Ask me a question about any thing on my website for our class: policies, due dates, classroom expectations, assignments. You can't tell me you have no questions. BUT, they shouldn’t be questions that could be answered if you read the syllabus and policies for the class.
7. Send me a meme to my BSU email. Include in your syllabus check-in email a meme of your choosing or design that sums up how you are feeling about your semester so far.
Make sure I get this email by 12 February 2021. If you don't send it to me, you lose the freebie “A” for acceptable for a reading journal post.
12 FEBRUARY 2021 WEEK THREE
Click here to attend ENGL 489 Advanced Portfolio workshop.
READ: About style in professional writing here, about making the “sale” in writing here, about usability here, and this article about visual design here. And watch this video about design here. IN-CLASS: ICRN on professional/technical writing. Mentor Text Memoir workshop. DUE: Partner author bio emailed to me--please do not PDF the document--along with an image/photo of YOU that you are willing to share (because the class profile page will be public). Mentor Text Memoir for workshopping in class. Make sure you have your draft in a google.doc set to "anyone with this link can edit". Writer's Notebook. Finally, a copy of what you are doing for your rethink/revise project to turn in to me, along with your 500-word reflection on the state of the revision right now. You will need to be able to talk briefly about your project in class for the purpose of getting the rethink/revise workshop groups in order. Be ready to distribute your draft electronically to your group mates by Monday, 16 February 2021.
19 FEBRUARY 2021 WEEK FOUR
Click here to attend ENGL 489 Advanced Portfolio workshop.
READ/LISTEN: 2020 Pulitzer Prize winning audio reporting, breaking news, investigative reporting, and commentary. IN-CLASS: ICRNs on reporting/journalism. Finally, discussion of Author Interview. Please read that assignment before coming to class. DUE: Writer’s Notebook. Due also, draft of Mentor Text Memoir emailed to me. Make sure your google.doc is set to"anybody with this link can edit." Include the reflections questions and last week's workshop draft are included in the google.doc. Also, in-class, First workshop for Rethink/Revise.
26 FEBRUARY 2021 WEEK FIVE
Click here to attend ENGL 489 Advanced Portfolio workshop.
READ: Interior Chinatown (Yu). Read Also, this NYT review of Yu's National Book Award winner. IN-CLASS: ICRNs on Literary Fiction. Second workshop for Rethink/Revise. Also, discussion of midterm portfolio and final project proposal (due in midterm portfolio). DUE: Writer’s Notebook. Second workshop for Rethink/Revise. This would be a good time to sign up for your first of two required one-on-one conferences with me. To do so, sign up here.
Read, also, “YA Author Pulls her debut. . .” and "When Social Media Goes After Your Book. . . " and “Is Any Topic Off Limits When You Write For Teenagers . .”.
5 MARCH 2021 WEEK SIX
READ: Poetry selections from Pushcart Prize: "Dancing," pgs 86-89; "Singular Dream," pgs 90-91; "Yilan," pgs 110-113; "The Storm," pgs 137-146; "Barbi Chang Wants to Be Someone," pgs 173-174; "My Hobby Needed A Hobby," pgs 196-198; "Like Someone Asleep in a Cinema," pg 217; "Kernels," pg 283; "Autism Screening Questionnaire--Speech and Language Delay," pgs 412-415; "Just The One Episode, pg 467; "Monomoy," pgs 468-469; "He," pgs 470-476. Read, also, this article about the Poet Laureate: "Tracy K Smith's Work Diary. . . " And one poetry selection of your choosing that is not one of the ones listed here. IN-CLASS: ICRNs on Poetry. Third workshop for Rethink/Revise. This would be a good time to sign up for your first of two required one-on-one conferences with me. To do so, sign up here. DUE: Writer’s Notebook. In-class discussion of midterm portfolio requirements/final project.
Also: March 5 at 3:30 p.m. essayist, poet, and cultural critic Hanif Abdurraqib will read in the Maxwell Library Heritage Room. Abdurraqib will be reading from his most recent book Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to a Tribe Called Quest, a nonfiction book about A Tribe Called Quest. Here is a recent review from The New York Times on Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to a Tribe Called Quest. A reception and book-signing will follow.
Here, again, might be an opportunity to connect with an author you could interview. Additionally, we'll be reading and talking about some of his poetry in class the Friday before. Students who attend (I will be attending) can let it count for one VSR ICRN--either making up for one you don't write or making up for one that is not VSR.
8 MARCH 2019
DUE: Midterm portfolio. Time in class to complete midterm portfolio cover-letter. Be ready to present your final project. No Writer’s Notebook due this week. Explanation of Professionalization Presentations: and sign up. You can sign up here. By the way, where are you with your Author Interview assignment? Seven Weeks and Counting.
11-15 MARCH 2019 CLASS CANCELED DUE TO BSU SPRING BREAK
22 MARCH 2019
READ: Severance. IN-CLASS: ICRNs on Genre Fiction. DUE: Writer’s Notebook. Sign up for Whole Class Workshop dates here (note: link may not be active until the day of class).
29 MARCH 2019
READ: Short non-fiction selections from Pushcart: "Murder Tourism in Middle America," pgs 114-128; "I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness," pgs 208-216; "The Wonder of the Look on her Face," pgs 326-327; "The Hunter," pgs 357-364; "Pedal, Pedal, Pedal," 433-440; "Transition: The Renaming of Hope," pgs 448-466; "Powder House," pgs 493-505. Also, this recent publication by BSU Grad & Writer John Tormey: "Known Assailants." IN-CLASS: ICRNs on nonfiction/memoir/personal essay. DUE: Writer’s Notebook. You can sign up here. Sign up for Whole Class Workshop dates here (note: link may not be active until 22 March 2019). The schedule will be fixed after this date. No changes can be made.
5 APRIL 2019
READ: Reportage/Journalism selections from the Pulitzer website: Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah's (freelance writer) award winning feature writing on Dylann Roof and award winning Breaking News from the Staff of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat about the California wildfires and one other award winning category of your choosing. IN-CLASS: ICRNs on journalism/reporting. DUE: Writer’s Notebook. Professionalization Presentations: graduate school for writers (MA, MFA, PhD?) and publishing in small presses. If you are going to be workshopped on 12 April 2019, please make your material available for the class either in class or electronically by this date.
12 APRIL 2019
READ: Locking Up Our Ow: Crime and Punishment in Black America. IN-Class: ICRNs on long-form journalism/reporting. DUE: Writer’s Notebook. Professionalization Presentations: Self-publication/publishing online. First Whole-Class Workshop. Be sure to bring two copies of your comments for writers being workshopped (one for the writer and one to turn in to Torda). If you are going to be workshopped on 19 April 2019, please make your material available for the class either in class or electronically by this date.
19 APRIL 2019
IN-CLASS: watching Spotlight. You don't have to read the script, but have it with you for class (but it's sort of fun to read). You can access a .PDF of the script here. IN-CLASS: ICRNs on screenwriting. DUE: Writer’s Notebook. Professionalization Presentations: Freelance Writing.You can sign up here. Second Whole-Class Workshop. Be sure to bring two copies of your comments for writers being workshopped (one for the writer and one to turn in to Torda). Also, time in class to start to work on final portfolio/website. Please bring a laptop to class (you can do this on an ipad but it's hard). If you are going to be workshopped on 26 April 2019, please make your material available for the class either in class or electronically by this date.
26 April 2019
READ: Everything Under. IN-CLASS: Last ICRNs on literary fiction. DUE: Last Writer’s Notebook. Also, time in to work on final portfolio/website. Please bring a laptop to class (you can do this on an ipad but it's hard). Professionalization Presentations: Publishing/editing. Third Whole-Class Workshop. Be sure to bring two copies of your comments for writers being workshopped (one for the writer and one to turn in to Torda). If you are going to be workshopped on 3 May 2019, please make your material available for the class either in class or electronically by this date.
3 May 2019
Last Class. Evaluations. DUE: Author Interview. Be ready to give a three to five minute report on the most interesting things you learned from your writer out loud in class. IN-CLASS: Fourth and Final Whole Class workshop. Be sure to bring two copies of your comments for writers being workshopped (one for the writer and one to turn in to Torda). Also, time in to work on final portfolio/website. Please bring a laptop to class (you can do this on an ipad but it's hard). Professionalization Presentations: Professional/technical/public relations/journalism: careers in writing that aren't novelists and poets.
13 May 2019 FINAL PORTFOLIO DUE
Hello Everyone--
I write from South Dakota, and I apologize in my delay getting this out to you. Days are very filled here. What follows is everything you should need to know to finish up in our class. Beyond emailing all of you, I am also putting this information on our syllabus, on our portfolio page, and on the final project assignment page. I am hoping that will be sufficient.
“And that's what your final portfolio should be: a collection of your best work. Some of you may need to consult with me because you will either have more or less pages, but, generally, I am looking to see 15 to 20 pages of your best work from this class. You will have time in class, about an hour, to write your final portfolio cover letter. That cover letter is also much simpler than your midterm cover letter. Here, explain to me why this is your best and brightest work and what you did to get it that way. Additionally discuss what your next step is (if you have one) as a writer.”
A few points of difference:
29 JANUARY 2021 WEEK ONE
Click here to attend ENGL 489 Advanced Portfolio workshop.
Introduction to the Course. Overview of course materials and class website. Partner interviews for Author Bio ice-breaker. Read Sample Author Interviews here.
5 FEBRUARY 2021 WEEK TWO
Click here to attend ENGL 489 Advanced Portfolio workshop.
IN-CLASS: overview and practice with ICRNs, Writer's Notebook and mentor text memoir. In class work on mentor text memoir. Discussion of Rethink/Revise project. Please read all of the relevant assignment pages (available by clicking on the blue links in this syllabus or from the drop down menu above) before coming to class. Overview of class workshopping policy. DUE: Draft of your partner bio for workshopping in-class. Make sure your draft is in a google.doc set to "anyone with this link can edit." For use in class: "sample" mentor text memoirs by Salavatore Scibona, Jonathan Lethem, and Ray Bradbury.
Due by the end of the week (12 February 2021):
ONCE YOU’VE ACTUALLY READ the policies and syllabus for this course. You have the opportunity to earn one "A" for Acceptable for a either an ICRN or a week's Writer's Notebook simply by completing the following assignment by 12 February 2021.
1. Send me an email at [email protected] , CC me at [email protected]
2. In the subject line, write "Syllabus Check-in Email". Write it exactly as I've written it here.
3. In the body of the email, include a greeting: "Hello LT," "Hi Professor Torda," "Hey Dr. Torda." Whatever. But have a greeting.
4. Cut and paste this sentence into the email: "I've read through the policies and syllabus for the course, and I understand how to use the website to find out information about assignments, course policies, due dates, and classroom expectations, and to post my own writing to the class website in fulfillment of written assignments."
5. Sign off on your email, "best, so & so" "see you in class, your name here" "sincerely, John Doe." Again, whatever. But sign off on your email.
NOTE: Keep in mind, that when you send me this email, I’m going to assume you’ve actually done your due diligence about reading the syllabus and policies for the course, and I will hold you to those policies going forward during the semester.
6. POST ON THE CLASS DISCUSSION BOARD (that link is live). Ask me a question about any thing on my website for our class: policies, due dates, classroom expectations, assignments. You can't tell me you have no questions. BUT, they shouldn’t be questions that could be answered if you read the syllabus and policies for the class.
7. Send me a meme to my BSU email. Include in your syllabus check-in email a meme of your choosing or design that sums up how you are feeling about your semester so far.
Make sure I get this email by 12 February 2021. If you don't send it to me, you lose the freebie “A” for acceptable for a reading journal post.
12 FEBRUARY 2021 WEEK THREE
Click here to attend ENGL 489 Advanced Portfolio workshop.
READ: About style in professional writing here, about making the “sale” in writing here, about usability here, and this article about visual design here. And watch this video about design here. IN-CLASS: ICRN on professional/technical writing. Mentor Text Memoir workshop. DUE: Partner author bio emailed to me--please do not PDF the document--along with an image/photo of YOU that you are willing to share (because the class profile page will be public). Mentor Text Memoir for workshopping in class. Make sure you have your draft in a google.doc set to "anyone with this link can edit". Writer's Notebook. Finally, a copy of what you are doing for your rethink/revise project to turn in to me, along with your 500-word reflection on the state of the revision right now. You will need to be able to talk briefly about your project in class for the purpose of getting the rethink/revise workshop groups in order. Be ready to distribute your draft electronically to your group mates by Monday, 16 February 2021.
19 FEBRUARY 2021 WEEK FOUR
Click here to attend ENGL 489 Advanced Portfolio workshop.
READ/LISTEN: 2020 Pulitzer Prize winning audio reporting, breaking news, investigative reporting, and commentary. IN-CLASS: ICRNs on reporting/journalism. Finally, discussion of Author Interview. Please read that assignment before coming to class. DUE: Writer’s Notebook. Due also, draft of Mentor Text Memoir emailed to me. Make sure your google.doc is set to"anybody with this link can edit." Include the reflections questions and last week's workshop draft are included in the google.doc. Also, in-class, First workshop for Rethink/Revise.
26 FEBRUARY 2021 WEEK FIVE
Click here to attend ENGL 489 Advanced Portfolio workshop.
READ: Interior Chinatown (Yu). Read Also, this NYT review of Yu's National Book Award winner. IN-CLASS: ICRNs on Literary Fiction. Second workshop for Rethink/Revise. Also, discussion of midterm portfolio and final project proposal (due in midterm portfolio). DUE: Writer’s Notebook. Second workshop for Rethink/Revise. This would be a good time to sign up for your first of two required one-on-one conferences with me. To do so, sign up here.
Read, also, “YA Author Pulls her debut. . .” and "When Social Media Goes After Your Book. . . " and “Is Any Topic Off Limits When You Write For Teenagers . .”.
5 MARCH 2021 WEEK SIX
READ: Poetry selections from Pushcart Prize: "Dancing," pgs 86-89; "Singular Dream," pgs 90-91; "Yilan," pgs 110-113; "The Storm," pgs 137-146; "Barbi Chang Wants to Be Someone," pgs 173-174; "My Hobby Needed A Hobby," pgs 196-198; "Like Someone Asleep in a Cinema," pg 217; "Kernels," pg 283; "Autism Screening Questionnaire--Speech and Language Delay," pgs 412-415; "Just The One Episode, pg 467; "Monomoy," pgs 468-469; "He," pgs 470-476. Read, also, this article about the Poet Laureate: "Tracy K Smith's Work Diary. . . " And one poetry selection of your choosing that is not one of the ones listed here. IN-CLASS: ICRNs on Poetry. Third workshop for Rethink/Revise. This would be a good time to sign up for your first of two required one-on-one conferences with me. To do so, sign up here. DUE: Writer’s Notebook. In-class discussion of midterm portfolio requirements/final project.
Also: March 5 at 3:30 p.m. essayist, poet, and cultural critic Hanif Abdurraqib will read in the Maxwell Library Heritage Room. Abdurraqib will be reading from his most recent book Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to a Tribe Called Quest, a nonfiction book about A Tribe Called Quest. Here is a recent review from The New York Times on Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to a Tribe Called Quest. A reception and book-signing will follow.
Here, again, might be an opportunity to connect with an author you could interview. Additionally, we'll be reading and talking about some of his poetry in class the Friday before. Students who attend (I will be attending) can let it count for one VSR ICRN--either making up for one you don't write or making up for one that is not VSR.
8 MARCH 2019
DUE: Midterm portfolio. Time in class to complete midterm portfolio cover-letter. Be ready to present your final project. No Writer’s Notebook due this week. Explanation of Professionalization Presentations: and sign up. You can sign up here. By the way, where are you with your Author Interview assignment? Seven Weeks and Counting.
11-15 MARCH 2019 CLASS CANCELED DUE TO BSU SPRING BREAK
22 MARCH 2019
READ: Severance. IN-CLASS: ICRNs on Genre Fiction. DUE: Writer’s Notebook. Sign up for Whole Class Workshop dates here (note: link may not be active until the day of class).
29 MARCH 2019
READ: Short non-fiction selections from Pushcart: "Murder Tourism in Middle America," pgs 114-128; "I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness," pgs 208-216; "The Wonder of the Look on her Face," pgs 326-327; "The Hunter," pgs 357-364; "Pedal, Pedal, Pedal," 433-440; "Transition: The Renaming of Hope," pgs 448-466; "Powder House," pgs 493-505. Also, this recent publication by BSU Grad & Writer John Tormey: "Known Assailants." IN-CLASS: ICRNs on nonfiction/memoir/personal essay. DUE: Writer’s Notebook. You can sign up here. Sign up for Whole Class Workshop dates here (note: link may not be active until 22 March 2019). The schedule will be fixed after this date. No changes can be made.
5 APRIL 2019
READ: Reportage/Journalism selections from the Pulitzer website: Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah's (freelance writer) award winning feature writing on Dylann Roof and award winning Breaking News from the Staff of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat about the California wildfires and one other award winning category of your choosing. IN-CLASS: ICRNs on journalism/reporting. DUE: Writer’s Notebook. Professionalization Presentations: graduate school for writers (MA, MFA, PhD?) and publishing in small presses. If you are going to be workshopped on 12 April 2019, please make your material available for the class either in class or electronically by this date.
12 APRIL 2019
READ: Locking Up Our Ow: Crime and Punishment in Black America. IN-Class: ICRNs on long-form journalism/reporting. DUE: Writer’s Notebook. Professionalization Presentations: Self-publication/publishing online. First Whole-Class Workshop. Be sure to bring two copies of your comments for writers being workshopped (one for the writer and one to turn in to Torda). If you are going to be workshopped on 19 April 2019, please make your material available for the class either in class or electronically by this date.
19 APRIL 2019
IN-CLASS: watching Spotlight. You don't have to read the script, but have it with you for class (but it's sort of fun to read). You can access a .PDF of the script here. IN-CLASS: ICRNs on screenwriting. DUE: Writer’s Notebook. Professionalization Presentations: Freelance Writing.You can sign up here. Second Whole-Class Workshop. Be sure to bring two copies of your comments for writers being workshopped (one for the writer and one to turn in to Torda). Also, time in class to start to work on final portfolio/website. Please bring a laptop to class (you can do this on an ipad but it's hard). If you are going to be workshopped on 26 April 2019, please make your material available for the class either in class or electronically by this date.
26 April 2019
READ: Everything Under. IN-CLASS: Last ICRNs on literary fiction. DUE: Last Writer’s Notebook. Also, time in to work on final portfolio/website. Please bring a laptop to class (you can do this on an ipad but it's hard). Professionalization Presentations: Publishing/editing. Third Whole-Class Workshop. Be sure to bring two copies of your comments for writers being workshopped (one for the writer and one to turn in to Torda). If you are going to be workshopped on 3 May 2019, please make your material available for the class either in class or electronically by this date.
3 May 2019
Last Class. Evaluations. DUE: Author Interview. Be ready to give a three to five minute report on the most interesting things you learned from your writer out loud in class. IN-CLASS: Fourth and Final Whole Class workshop. Be sure to bring two copies of your comments for writers being workshopped (one for the writer and one to turn in to Torda). Also, time in to work on final portfolio/website. Please bring a laptop to class (you can do this on an ipad but it's hard). Professionalization Presentations: Professional/technical/public relations/journalism: careers in writing that aren't novelists and poets.
13 May 2019 FINAL PORTFOLIO DUE
Hello Everyone--
I write from South Dakota, and I apologize in my delay getting this out to you. Days are very filled here. What follows is everything you should need to know to finish up in our class. Beyond emailing all of you, I am also putting this information on our syllabus, on our portfolio page, and on the final project assignment page. I am hoping that will be sufficient.
- As I said during our last two meetings in class: portfolios are due to me on Monday, 13 May 2019. You can submit your materials electronically if you so choose. You can drop it off to my Tilly 310 office if you are on campus.
- WHAT TO INCLUDE IN YOUR FINAL PORTFOLIO: There was some question about whether the portfolio assignment as described online was accurate and, in short, it pretty much in. I quote here directly from the portfolio page:
“And that's what your final portfolio should be: a collection of your best work. Some of you may need to consult with me because you will either have more or less pages, but, generally, I am looking to see 15 to 20 pages of your best work from this class. You will have time in class, about an hour, to write your final portfolio cover letter. That cover letter is also much simpler than your midterm cover letter. Here, explain to me why this is your best and brightest work and what you did to get it that way. Additionally discuss what your next step is (if you have one) as a writer.”
A few points of difference:
- we did not, unfortunately, have the chance to work on websites. So you don’t have to worry about posting anything to anywhere.
- I just need the 15 to 20 pages of revised work from the semester. Based on what I say in workshop, most of you will include your midterm portfolio material as well (probably with some revision). You may include polished versions of what appeared in your writer’s notebook as well.
- Because our actual final exam period was canceled due to my trip, you will obviously not have any time during a class period to work on a the portfolio cover letter. You will need to turn that in with your 15 to 20 pages of revised writing.
- That said, the content of the cover letter remains the same: why is this your best work, and what did you do in revision to get it that way. And, finally, you can talk about where you want to go from here as a writer.