(tentative) syllabus ENGL489 Advanced Portfolio Workshop
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LEE TORDA Acting Dean, Undergraduate Studies & Associate Professor of English 200 Clement C. Maxwell Library 508.531.1790 Teaching Website: www.leetorda.com [email protected] [email protected] www.leetorda.com |
Open Hours for students (office hours):
By Appointment. Email me at [email protected] with times/days you'd like to meet, and I will respond within 24 hours. HOW TO ATTEND ZOOM CLASS: Click here to attend. Zoom room opens at 4:30. “Let’s save pessimism for better times” --Eduardo Galeano (Who is Eduardo Galeano? ) |
NOTE: ALL LINKS IN LIGHT BLUE ARE LIVE.
3 September 2025 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.
10 September 2025 WEEK TWO
Click here to attend ENGL 489 Advanced Portfolio workshop.
IN-CLASS: Discussion of Rethink/Revise project. DUE: Mentor Text Memoir for vworkshop.Work on your partner bio. Make sure your draft is in a format that can be accessed by your partner (including edits and commenting). For use in class: "sample" mentor text memoirs by Salavatore Scibona, Jonathan Lethem, and Ray Bradbury.
17 September 2025 WEEK THREE
Click here to attend ENGL 489 Advanced Portfolio workshop.
READ: About style in professional writing here, about the idea of "kairos" 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. DUE: Partner bio and YOUR picture (not your partners) uploaded here. Mentor Text Memoir submitted to your google drive folder. Make sure I can comment on your draft. Include your workshop draft and any comments you got from your workshop partner. Week One of your 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.
THINKING AHEAD TO THIS WEEK'S DISCUSSION BOARD ICRN: In what ways is "professional" or "technical" writing different from what I would call "student writing"--or writing for school? In what ways do you see it as similar? Finally, what can you take about what you've learned as a student writer with you from "school writing" to "professional" settings?
24 September 2025 WEEK FOUR
Click here to attend ENGL 489 Advanced Portfolio workshop.
READ: This scholarly article about prompt creation for AI. This Freakonomics podcast called "How to Think about AI" . This blog on "AI Tools for Writers". This corporate e-book on AI and content creation. IN-CLASS: ICRN on professional/technical writing. Finally, discussion of Author Interview. Please read that assignment before coming to class. DUE: Writer’s Notebook. Also, in-class, First workshop for Rethink/Revise.
THINKING AHEAD TO THIS WEEK'S DISCUSSION BOARD ICRN: Does AI change everything? And, if so, how? And, if not, why not?
1 October 2025 WEEK FIVE
Click here to attend ENGL 489 Advanced Portfolio workshop.
NOTE: Be sure to get a copy of your rethink/revise project to your workshop groupmates by the FRIDAY before class so folks have time to read it before class. LISTEN: to the Hysterical podcast (which won a 2025 pulitzer prize for sound recording) available. You can get a trial subscription to Wondery+ to listen without ads, or you can listen to it for free on apple podcasts, spotify, google podcasts, Amazon Music, and Audible. NOTE: this is 3.5 hours of listening to listen to all 7 episodes. I am asking you to listen to the entire series if you can. I suggest you find times to listen--in the car, on a walk, on a treadmill or bike. You can also speed it up a little bit if you like. At first that feels weird, but you get used to it. Finally, discussion of Author Interview. Please read that assignment before coming to class. DUE: Writer’s Notebook. Also, in-class, First workshop for Rethink/Revise.
THINKING AHEAD TO THIS WEEK'S DISCUSSION BOARD ICRN: What does it take to do this kind of reporting? How does it "feel" different than print journalism? Finally, what makes this so Pulitzer, do you think?
FOR THE WORKSHOP
Here are the links to Ashley's and Isabella’s pieces. The links are set so that anyone can open them and edit. But don’t just start reading and commenting. It’s important that you follow these steps so that we all aren’t writing on the same copy.
Link to Ashley’s piece:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kB7LdUff6mMC3gosGxkxWngVo-WGqZT5R3xou3F8Wa4/edit?usp=sharing
Link to Isabella’s piece:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MB4TDJXKiWZNY1TDdlRr4TW2w_nxu6-U5GyeSvZv924/edit?usp=sharing
8 October 2025 WEEK SIX
Click here to attend ENGL 489 Advanced Portfolio workshop.
READ: From the 2025 Pulitzer Prizes. The finalist for Local Reporting (all three articles), The finalist for Breaking News Reporting (all seven articles). The winner for Criticism (first two articles). IN-CLASS: ICRN on readings. How do these pieces tell a story? Think about this philosophically and practically. DUE: Writer’s Notebook. Also, in-class, second workshop for Rethink/Revise. All-Class discussion on possible class project revising the core document introduction to be more accessible to students.
FOR THE WORKSHOP
Here are the links to Glenn’s and Anna’s pieces. The links are set so that anyone can open them and edit. But don’t just start reading and commenting. It’s important that you follow these steps so that we all aren’t writing on the same copy.
Click here to access Anna's Piece
15 October 2025 WEEK SEVEN
Click here to attend ENGL 489 Advanced Portfolio workshop.
READ: The editor’s introduction (Hugh Howey), Form 8774-D (Alex Irvine), The Blade and the Bloodwright (Sloane Leong), and John Hollowback and the Witch (Amal El-Mohtar) from The Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy 2024.Read, also, this blog from Howey on self-publishing. And, finally, this article on Romance. (Let me know if it doesn’t work). IN-CLASS: ICRN on readings. What makes genre fiction genre fiction? How does “genre fiction” tell a story?
FOR THE WORKSHOP
Here are the links to Paul’s, Alexandra’s, and Nina’s pieces. The links are set so that anyone can open them and edit. But don’t just start reading and commenting. It’s important that you follow these steps so that we all aren’t writing on the same copy.
Follow this link to Alexandra's Piece
Follow this link to Nina's Piece
22 October 2025 WEEK EIGHT
Click here to attend ENGL 489 Advanced Portfolio workshop.
READ: The very brief introduction to Pushcart Prize. Read, also “Day Care” (Mary Gordon) p. 38, “Winners” (Merritt Tierce) p.89, “The Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time” (Austin Smith) p.177, and “The Zamindar’s Watch” (Nishanth Injam) p.161. IN-CLASS: ICRN Thinking about the modern short story–who writes them, why, how do they do it? Does it feel different than what we read last week? ALSO: Editing for Rhetorical Power workshop. Have ready and available your working draft of your Revise/Rethink. Overview of Midterm Portfolio requirements. Overview of Final Project. Guest Speaker: Enrica Gabriele Smith, Staff Assistant/Writer, BSU Grants & Sponsored Projects. DUE: Writer’s Notebook.
29 October 2025 ASYNCHRONOUS CLASS (I’m at a conference) WEEK NINE
DUE: Midterm Portfolio. Please upload your midterm portfolio materials in your Google Drive for 489 by Friday, 31 October 2029. Make it scary good. POST: midterm portfolio reflection to Class Discussion Board. READ: First 60 pages of The Catch: A Novel. POST, Also: Book Club journal on first 60 pages to Class Discussion Board. NO Writer’s Notebook DUE THIS WEEK.
5 November 2025 WEEK TEN
Click here to attend ENGL 489 Advanced Portfolio workshop.
READ: “Self-Portrait as Coriander Seed” (Abby E. Murray) p.36, “Naturalized” (Hala Alyan) p.73, “Fairy Bells” (Aaron El Sabrout) p. 102, “The Beginning According to Mrs. God” (Lily Greenberg) p. 216, “The End of Wildness” (Gail Griffin) p.251, “This Close” (Richard Hoffman) p.64. IN-CLASS: ICRN on Poetry. What does Poetry look like now? Also, Explanation of Professionalization Presentations and sign up. READ, ALSO: the next 60 pages of The Catch: A Novel. IN-CLASS: Book Club Journal to Class Discussion Board. DUE: Writer’s Notebook.
Follow this link to sign up for your presentation topic. Type your name next to the topic to claim it. We are a small class and a seemingly friendly one so if you have a topic you’d really like to do that someone else claimed, please reach out and see if you can reach a compromise. If you really don’t care, wait until others sign up before you sign up.
12 November 2025 No Wednesday Class. Tuesday schedule of classes
19 November 2025 WEEK ELEVEN
Click here to attend ENGL 489 Advanced Portfolio workshop.
READ: Dear Medusa (A Novel in Verse), Read, also, this article from The Los Angeles Times, and this article on adult readership of YA Lit. IN-CLASS: ICRN on Dear Medusa and the state of YA literature. READ, ALSO: the next 60 pages of The Catch: A Novel. IN-CLASS: Book Club Journal to Class Discussion Board. DUE: LAST Writer’s Notebook.
26 November 2025 Classes do not meet. Thanksgiving Holiday
DUE: your draft of your final project in the google drive by Friday, 28 November 2025.
3 December 2025 WEEK TWELVE
Click here to attend ENGL 489 Advanced Portfolio workshop.
READ: Feeding Ghosts: A Memoir. IN-CLASS: ICRN: The graphic novel. Read, also, this substack article on the rise of the graphic novel. IN-CLASS: First all class workshop on our final projects. READ, ALSO: the next 60 pages of The Catch: A Novel. IN-CLASS: Book Club Journal to Class Discussion Board.
10 December 2025 WEEK THIRTEEN
Click here to attend ENGL 489 Advanced Portfolio workshop.
Have read your assigned READ: “The Crows of Karachi” (Rafia Zakaria) p.338, “Care Warning” (Brenda Miller) p.347, “Glossary of Centralia, Pennsylvania (Abby Manzella) p.351. IN-CLASS: ICRN Creative Nonfiction–not your teacher’s five paragraph essay. IN-CLASS: Second (and final) all class workshop on our final projects. READ, ALSO: the next 60 pages of The Catch: A Novel. IN-CLASS: Book Club Journal to Class Discussion Board.
17 December 2025 Final Exam Period WEEK FOURTEEN
Click here to attend ENGL 489 Advanced Portfolio workshop.
READ: Finish The Catch: A Novel. IN-CLASS: FINAL ICRN and discussion of The Catch: A Novel. DUE: Final Portfolio. Time in class to produce your reflection to share (last Discussion Board). Five minute Presentation on Interview with an Author (reflection due in portfolio). DUE: Your Professionalization Presentations.
3 September 2025 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.
10 September 2025 WEEK TWO
Click here to attend ENGL 489 Advanced Portfolio workshop.
IN-CLASS: Discussion of Rethink/Revise project. DUE: Mentor Text Memoir for vworkshop.Work on your partner bio. Make sure your draft is in a format that can be accessed by your partner (including edits and commenting). For use in class: "sample" mentor text memoirs by Salavatore Scibona, Jonathan Lethem, and Ray Bradbury.
17 September 2025 WEEK THREE
Click here to attend ENGL 489 Advanced Portfolio workshop.
READ: About style in professional writing here, about the idea of "kairos" 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. DUE: Partner bio and YOUR picture (not your partners) uploaded here. Mentor Text Memoir submitted to your google drive folder. Make sure I can comment on your draft. Include your workshop draft and any comments you got from your workshop partner. Week One of your 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.
THINKING AHEAD TO THIS WEEK'S DISCUSSION BOARD ICRN: In what ways is "professional" or "technical" writing different from what I would call "student writing"--or writing for school? In what ways do you see it as similar? Finally, what can you take about what you've learned as a student writer with you from "school writing" to "professional" settings?
24 September 2025 WEEK FOUR
Click here to attend ENGL 489 Advanced Portfolio workshop.
READ: This scholarly article about prompt creation for AI. This Freakonomics podcast called "How to Think about AI" . This blog on "AI Tools for Writers". This corporate e-book on AI and content creation. IN-CLASS: ICRN on professional/technical writing. Finally, discussion of Author Interview. Please read that assignment before coming to class. DUE: Writer’s Notebook. Also, in-class, First workshop for Rethink/Revise.
THINKING AHEAD TO THIS WEEK'S DISCUSSION BOARD ICRN: Does AI change everything? And, if so, how? And, if not, why not?
1 October 2025 WEEK FIVE
Click here to attend ENGL 489 Advanced Portfolio workshop.
NOTE: Be sure to get a copy of your rethink/revise project to your workshop groupmates by the FRIDAY before class so folks have time to read it before class. LISTEN: to the Hysterical podcast (which won a 2025 pulitzer prize for sound recording) available. You can get a trial subscription to Wondery+ to listen without ads, or you can listen to it for free on apple podcasts, spotify, google podcasts, Amazon Music, and Audible. NOTE: this is 3.5 hours of listening to listen to all 7 episodes. I am asking you to listen to the entire series if you can. I suggest you find times to listen--in the car, on a walk, on a treadmill or bike. You can also speed it up a little bit if you like. At first that feels weird, but you get used to it. Finally, discussion of Author Interview. Please read that assignment before coming to class. DUE: Writer’s Notebook. Also, in-class, First workshop for Rethink/Revise.
THINKING AHEAD TO THIS WEEK'S DISCUSSION BOARD ICRN: What does it take to do this kind of reporting? How does it "feel" different than print journalism? Finally, what makes this so Pulitzer, do you think?
FOR THE WORKSHOP
Here are the links to Ashley's and Isabella’s pieces. The links are set so that anyone can open them and edit. But don’t just start reading and commenting. It’s important that you follow these steps so that we all aren’t writing on the same copy.
- Open up the link.
- Click on “File” leftmost option in the menu bar at the top.
- From the drop-down menu select “make a copy”.
- Rename your copy as “title of piece.your last name” So, for instance, I have saved Isabella’s piece as “NeverQuite.Torda”. This way Isabella knows who is commenting on her piece.
- Click on the little pencil icon in the top right corner of the document. From the drop down menu, click on “suggesting”.
- When you are ready share with Isabella (no later than class time), click on “share” upper right corner, and make it available to the writer. It’s been my experience that sending it directly from google to a BSU email does not work very well and so probably the best thing to do is to share it by copying the link and then emailing it to the author. Please cc me on that email so I can give you credit for the work.
Link to Ashley’s piece:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kB7LdUff6mMC3gosGxkxWngVo-WGqZT5R3xou3F8Wa4/edit?usp=sharing
Link to Isabella’s piece:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MB4TDJXKiWZNY1TDdlRr4TW2w_nxu6-U5GyeSvZv924/edit?usp=sharing
8 October 2025 WEEK SIX
Click here to attend ENGL 489 Advanced Portfolio workshop.
READ: From the 2025 Pulitzer Prizes. The finalist for Local Reporting (all three articles), The finalist for Breaking News Reporting (all seven articles). The winner for Criticism (first two articles). IN-CLASS: ICRN on readings. How do these pieces tell a story? Think about this philosophically and practically. DUE: Writer’s Notebook. Also, in-class, second workshop for Rethink/Revise. All-Class discussion on possible class project revising the core document introduction to be more accessible to students.
FOR THE WORKSHOP
Here are the links to Glenn’s and Anna’s pieces. The links are set so that anyone can open them and edit. But don’t just start reading and commenting. It’s important that you follow these steps so that we all aren’t writing on the same copy.
- Open up the link.
- Click on “File” leftmost option in the menu bar at the top.
- From the drop-down menu select “make a copy”.
- Rename your copy as “title of piece.your last name” So, for instance, I have saved Isabella’s piece from last week as “NeverQuite.Torda”. This way Isabella knows who is commenting on her piece.
- Click on the little pencil icon in the top right corner of the document. From the drop down menu, click on “suggesting”.
- When you are ready to share (no later than class time), click on “share” upper right corner, and make it available to the writer. It’s been my experience that sending it directly from google to a BSU email does not work very well and so probably the best thing to do is to share it by copying the link and then emailing it to the author. Please cc me on that email so I can give you credit for the work.
Click here to access Anna's Piece
15 October 2025 WEEK SEVEN
Click here to attend ENGL 489 Advanced Portfolio workshop.
READ: The editor’s introduction (Hugh Howey), Form 8774-D (Alex Irvine), The Blade and the Bloodwright (Sloane Leong), and John Hollowback and the Witch (Amal El-Mohtar) from The Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy 2024.Read, also, this blog from Howey on self-publishing. And, finally, this article on Romance. (Let me know if it doesn’t work). IN-CLASS: ICRN on readings. What makes genre fiction genre fiction? How does “genre fiction” tell a story?
FOR THE WORKSHOP
Here are the links to Paul’s, Alexandra’s, and Nina’s pieces. The links are set so that anyone can open them and edit. But don’t just start reading and commenting. It’s important that you follow these steps so that we all aren’t writing on the same copy.
- Open up the link.
- Click on “File” leftmost option in the menu bar at the top.
- From the drop-down menu select “make a copy”.
- Rename your copy as “title of piece.your last name” So, for instance, I have saved Isabella’s piece from the first week as “NeverQuite.Torda”. This way Isabella knows who is commenting on her piece.
- Click on the little pencil icon in the top right corner of the document. From the drop down menu, click on “suggesting”.
- When you are ready share (no later than class time), click on “share” upper right corner, and make it available to the writer. It’s been my experience that sending it directly from google to a BSU email does not work very well and so probably the best thing to do is to share it by copying the link and then emailing it to the author. Please cc me on that email so I can give you credit for the work.
Follow this link to Alexandra's Piece
Follow this link to Nina's Piece
22 October 2025 WEEK EIGHT
Click here to attend ENGL 489 Advanced Portfolio workshop.
READ: The very brief introduction to Pushcart Prize. Read, also “Day Care” (Mary Gordon) p. 38, “Winners” (Merritt Tierce) p.89, “The Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time” (Austin Smith) p.177, and “The Zamindar’s Watch” (Nishanth Injam) p.161. IN-CLASS: ICRN Thinking about the modern short story–who writes them, why, how do they do it? Does it feel different than what we read last week? ALSO: Editing for Rhetorical Power workshop. Have ready and available your working draft of your Revise/Rethink. Overview of Midterm Portfolio requirements. Overview of Final Project. Guest Speaker: Enrica Gabriele Smith, Staff Assistant/Writer, BSU Grants & Sponsored Projects. DUE: Writer’s Notebook.
29 October 2025 ASYNCHRONOUS CLASS (I’m at a conference) WEEK NINE
DUE: Midterm Portfolio. Please upload your midterm portfolio materials in your Google Drive for 489 by Friday, 31 October 2029. Make it scary good. POST: midterm portfolio reflection to Class Discussion Board. READ: First 60 pages of The Catch: A Novel. POST, Also: Book Club journal on first 60 pages to Class Discussion Board. NO Writer’s Notebook DUE THIS WEEK.
5 November 2025 WEEK TEN
Click here to attend ENGL 489 Advanced Portfolio workshop.
READ: “Self-Portrait as Coriander Seed” (Abby E. Murray) p.36, “Naturalized” (Hala Alyan) p.73, “Fairy Bells” (Aaron El Sabrout) p. 102, “The Beginning According to Mrs. God” (Lily Greenberg) p. 216, “The End of Wildness” (Gail Griffin) p.251, “This Close” (Richard Hoffman) p.64. IN-CLASS: ICRN on Poetry. What does Poetry look like now? Also, Explanation of Professionalization Presentations and sign up. READ, ALSO: the next 60 pages of The Catch: A Novel. IN-CLASS: Book Club Journal to Class Discussion Board. DUE: Writer’s Notebook.
Follow this link to sign up for your presentation topic. Type your name next to the topic to claim it. We are a small class and a seemingly friendly one so if you have a topic you’d really like to do that someone else claimed, please reach out and see if you can reach a compromise. If you really don’t care, wait until others sign up before you sign up.
12 November 2025 No Wednesday Class. Tuesday schedule of classes
19 November 2025 WEEK ELEVEN
Click here to attend ENGL 489 Advanced Portfolio workshop.
READ: Dear Medusa (A Novel in Verse), Read, also, this article from The Los Angeles Times, and this article on adult readership of YA Lit. IN-CLASS: ICRN on Dear Medusa and the state of YA literature. READ, ALSO: the next 60 pages of The Catch: A Novel. IN-CLASS: Book Club Journal to Class Discussion Board. DUE: LAST Writer’s Notebook.
26 November 2025 Classes do not meet. Thanksgiving Holiday
DUE: your draft of your final project in the google drive by Friday, 28 November 2025.
3 December 2025 WEEK TWELVE
Click here to attend ENGL 489 Advanced Portfolio workshop.
READ: Feeding Ghosts: A Memoir. IN-CLASS: ICRN: The graphic novel. Read, also, this substack article on the rise of the graphic novel. IN-CLASS: First all class workshop on our final projects. READ, ALSO: the next 60 pages of The Catch: A Novel. IN-CLASS: Book Club Journal to Class Discussion Board.
10 December 2025 WEEK THIRTEEN
Click here to attend ENGL 489 Advanced Portfolio workshop.
Have read your assigned READ: “The Crows of Karachi” (Rafia Zakaria) p.338, “Care Warning” (Brenda Miller) p.347, “Glossary of Centralia, Pennsylvania (Abby Manzella) p.351. IN-CLASS: ICRN Creative Nonfiction–not your teacher’s five paragraph essay. IN-CLASS: Second (and final) all class workshop on our final projects. READ, ALSO: the next 60 pages of The Catch: A Novel. IN-CLASS: Book Club Journal to Class Discussion Board.
17 December 2025 Final Exam Period WEEK FOURTEEN
Click here to attend ENGL 489 Advanced Portfolio workshop.
READ: Finish The Catch: A Novel. IN-CLASS: FINAL ICRN and discussion of The Catch: A Novel. DUE: Final Portfolio. Time in class to produce your reflection to share (last Discussion Board). Five minute Presentation on Interview with an Author (reflection due in portfolio). DUE: Your Professionalization Presentations.