portfolios ENGL493 Seminar in Writing & Writing Studies:
The History of the Personal Essay
|
Need to be in touch with me?
LEE TORDA 310 Tillinghast Hall Bridgewater State University 508.531.2436 [email protected] www.leetorda.com |
Fall 2016 Office Hours:
M/W 11:30-12:30 T 11:00-12:00 and by appointment. Need to make an appointment? Click here: https://goo.gl/3CqLfo |
Overview. Portfolios work in different ways in different classes. Sometimes they are used to simply collect the work that a student has done over a period of time. Sometimes they are used to mark progress via revision. And sometimes they are used as a way to assess student work—not simply his writing work but his effort and progress in class. Finally, portfolios in the creative world are a showcase of an artist's best, most representative work.
The portfolios you will turn in will do a little bit of all of those things. The portfolio is a chance for you to collect and reflect on your work, to think about what you’ve done well and what you still need to learn. I’ll ask you to write about this in a reflection letter that you include with the portfolio. Another way you will showcase your progress is through revision. You’ll write about this in your reflection letter as well.
Both times you turn in a portfolio, I will use them as a way of assessing your effort, your progress as a writer and as a student, and the quality of your written work. I will read the portfolios and include a lengthy letter to you when I return them. That letter will detail your entire career in this class up to that point. It will give you feedback on the quality of the portfolio itself, and I will give you a letter grade that marks your progress in a way that is valued by the college.
MIDTERM PORTFOLIO DETAILS
As part of your midterm portfolio, you'll turn in the following:
1. A selection of your reader's notes. I would like you to turn in one or two of your reading journals that reflect a moment of learning for you about the genre. What I mean is, select one or two journals where you really felt like you were learning something about the genre, about how to read the genre or about how to write about texts in the genre. If you feel like you haven't figured that out yet, pick journals that show me that. In either case: INCLUDE A HALF PAGE, single-spaced, TYPED REFLECTION ON WHY YOU PICKED WHAT YOU PICKED. One half page for ALL of your selections, not a half page for each selection. There is no need to revise or otherwise change these notes and they can be the same notes that you used for either your first or second set of enhanced reader's notes.
2. A revision of your first enhanced reader's notes. Include the original draft you turned in to me (not the one from workshop, but the one you turned in to me). Include also, a half-page, typed reflection that tells me how you revised and how that revision changed or improved or messed up the notes.
3. Your completed second set of enhanced reader's notes. We will workshop these in class, but I will not be collecting drafts prior to the midterm. There is no need to include your workshop draft with these notes. What you elect to enhance from the reader's notes you have already written so far is up to you.
4. Your completed 3.5 experiment essay. Include the workshop drafts and any in-class work we did on these essays. Include a half-page, typed reflection that identifies how this essay fits on a spectrum of academic to personal essay writing.
5. A midterm portfolio reflection letter. You will have time in class to complete this letter, and it is my expectation that you will use that time. You should use your time out of class to work on the materials due in the portfolio. You can have notes ready, but my expectation is that you'll do this in our class the day the portfolio is due. Bring your laptop or make arrangements to type your reflection letter on a campus computer. You can email the letter when you are done with it. Here is your prompt: In roughly two, double-spaced pages typed, explain to me what you think you understand so far about the genre of the personal essay. What are the characteristics of the genre. Use the essays we've read in class to prove your point.
I'll give you manilla envelope to put your materials in--no need for folders or binders or the like. I'll read and respond to your materials and write you a midterm grade letter. You'll get that back within a few weeks of turning it in.
The portfolios you will turn in will do a little bit of all of those things. The portfolio is a chance for you to collect and reflect on your work, to think about what you’ve done well and what you still need to learn. I’ll ask you to write about this in a reflection letter that you include with the portfolio. Another way you will showcase your progress is through revision. You’ll write about this in your reflection letter as well.
Both times you turn in a portfolio, I will use them as a way of assessing your effort, your progress as a writer and as a student, and the quality of your written work. I will read the portfolios and include a lengthy letter to you when I return them. That letter will detail your entire career in this class up to that point. It will give you feedback on the quality of the portfolio itself, and I will give you a letter grade that marks your progress in a way that is valued by the college.
MIDTERM PORTFOLIO DETAILS
As part of your midterm portfolio, you'll turn in the following:
1. A selection of your reader's notes. I would like you to turn in one or two of your reading journals that reflect a moment of learning for you about the genre. What I mean is, select one or two journals where you really felt like you were learning something about the genre, about how to read the genre or about how to write about texts in the genre. If you feel like you haven't figured that out yet, pick journals that show me that. In either case: INCLUDE A HALF PAGE, single-spaced, TYPED REFLECTION ON WHY YOU PICKED WHAT YOU PICKED. One half page for ALL of your selections, not a half page for each selection. There is no need to revise or otherwise change these notes and they can be the same notes that you used for either your first or second set of enhanced reader's notes.
2. A revision of your first enhanced reader's notes. Include the original draft you turned in to me (not the one from workshop, but the one you turned in to me). Include also, a half-page, typed reflection that tells me how you revised and how that revision changed or improved or messed up the notes.
3. Your completed second set of enhanced reader's notes. We will workshop these in class, but I will not be collecting drafts prior to the midterm. There is no need to include your workshop draft with these notes. What you elect to enhance from the reader's notes you have already written so far is up to you.
4. Your completed 3.5 experiment essay. Include the workshop drafts and any in-class work we did on these essays. Include a half-page, typed reflection that identifies how this essay fits on a spectrum of academic to personal essay writing.
5. A midterm portfolio reflection letter. You will have time in class to complete this letter, and it is my expectation that you will use that time. You should use your time out of class to work on the materials due in the portfolio. You can have notes ready, but my expectation is that you'll do this in our class the day the portfolio is due. Bring your laptop or make arrangements to type your reflection letter on a campus computer. You can email the letter when you are done with it. Here is your prompt: In roughly two, double-spaced pages typed, explain to me what you think you understand so far about the genre of the personal essay. What are the characteristics of the genre. Use the essays we've read in class to prove your point.
I'll give you manilla envelope to put your materials in--no need for folders or binders or the like. I'll read and respond to your materials and write you a midterm grade letter. You'll get that back within a few weeks of turning it in.