POLICIES ENGL389 Topics in Writing: YA Writing Workshop
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LEE TORDA 310 Tillinghast Hall Bridgewater State University 508.531.2436 [email protected] www.leetorda.com Attend Zoom Class (when told to on the syllabus) by clicking on this link. |
All office hours for students will be held on Zoom until further notice.
Attend Any Zoom Office hours by clicking on this link. M&W 12:30-1:30 T 4:00-5:00 and by appointment Schedule a time to meet with me, during office hours or otherwise, by clicking on this link. |
Course Description
To begin, a little history: I often teach ENGL 489, Advanced Portfolio Workshop, and in that class many students who write fiction want to write fiction for Young Adults. I noticed that, more and more, there were students who wanted to write in this genre rather than what you might call literary fiction--the kinds of novels that might win things like the Booker Prize or the Now, currently at BSU, you can take an intro and an advanced fiction writing workshop--and you should because the skills you learn in those classes are the same skills you'll need to write any kind of fiction--but there has never been a place to write and workshop writing written specifically for Young Adults. And that is why I decided to offer this class.
A little more history: Nearly a decade ago, I had the chance to work with two BSU English majors as part of the Adrian Tinsley Program for undergraduate research. One student, who is currently a 9th grade teacher on the Cape, wanted to explore the ways YA fiction could serve as a gateway text to more canonical texts. A second student wanted to write a YA sci-fi/dystopian novel (her first novel was just recently published by McMillan and she is under contract to write three more YA novels for them). At the time, I was pretty far removed from YA as a genre. As a young person, I read all the biggies--Little Women, Little House on the Prairie, Anne of Green Gables. I was too old by the time books like The Baby Sitter's Club came out, but I nannied for a little girl who had me read them to her every Thursday when I watched her. And, of course, because every young person I loved was reading Harry Potter, I to read HP. But I had not spent a lot of time with current YA. So this summer was this amazing opportunity to learn a lot about the genre--and I was stunned and amazed at the remarkable, high quality writing that is out there. I think that YA writing is some of the most subversive, progressive writing out there. That realization combined with the opportunity to really study YA as a genre led me to want to teach about it. So for several semesters I've taught ENGL 344 Young Adult Literature and, now, this semester, I get to teach a writing workshop for those students interested in writing specifically for YA readers.
A proper description: In this class, we will read and write in the YA genre. We'll try to identify what YA actually means in this publishing moment (a lot of adults read YA, estimates indicate adult readers of YA might outnumber actual young adult readers. We'll try to determine what qualities YA shares with all fiction and nonfiction as well as consider what makes the genre unique (hint: it's not easy words and simple plots). You'll have the opportunity to write and have workshopped two 10-15 page selections. That could mean two short stories/memoirs or two sections of a longer piece. Thus, the class will help you to understand the nature of workshops and what is required of workshop participants. Finally, we will explore what it means to try to publish YA so that writing YA does not just seem like some fantasy, but something you might actually do (a lot of YA authors are not only authors).
Learning Objectives/Course Outcomes
In this course, students will
Texts
TBD. During our first face-to-face class we will determine our reading list based on what the class is interested in reading and more importantly in writing. Whenever possible required texts that are not novels or longer nonfiction will be provided to you as links on the syllabus for this course.
NOTE: Any text in light blue is a live link. It will take you to a related page on this website or to a reading, video, or podcast for our class.
Policies & Requirements
Attendance: The first two classes of this semester are online, but, after that, we meet face to face twice a week.Students are required to attend class regularly. What happens day-to-day in this class only works if we are all here and ready to work as much as possible; therefore, attendance is mandatory. Here is my policy on how absence will affect your evaluation in this class:
Covid-19 and attendance. We are all tired of hearing how these are unprecedented times--but they are. Attendance matters a lot to me. And I think you will quickly figure out that if you miss class you miss a lot. And this isn't high school. I will not, and am not required to, re-teach the class or classes you missed. So, I want to say that: come to class. It's the most important thing you can do to insure your success in this class. But if you test positive for Covid, you need to stay away from class for the required number of quarantine days and/or until you test negative. I would very much like for us to not be a super spreader event on campus. If you need to be absent due to Covid or a family member's Covid, let me know and we will work out how you will stay a part of a class. We can arrange for you to zoom in to class. Please note: zoom is not meant to serve as a replacement for attending class just becuase you don't feel like getting out of bed.
In-Class Mask Mandate. When we are inside together, we are required to wear a mask and to wear it correctly: snug and over the nose and under the chin. I will inform this mandate in our class. For the safety of everyone in our class and for myself, I am authorized by the administration to do so. Here are the guidelines I have been given: "If a student, who does not have a mask exemption, refuses to wear a mask, a faculty member should inform the student that they are required to do so. If the student continues to refuse to wear the mask, the unit member can dismiss the student from class and instruct the student to leave the immediate area. If the student continually refuses to leave the teaching area while still refusing to wear a mask, the unit member shall have the right to dismiss the class and shall report the incident to the university’s student conduct officer. Student refusals to wear a mask shall be treated as a student conduct violation and addressed through the code of conduct mechanisms at the university."
Informal writing/Reading Journals: For every reading, video, or podcast I assign to you, you are expected to produce a 500 word, typed, double-spaced response. Reading journals are a way to give you credit for the considerable work you must do as readers in this class. They will ask you to demonstrate that you've read the material and are prepared to work with it in class. You will be looking at our class texts as examples of YA and your analyses in these journals is a low-stakes way to try to get at what makes this genre unique. Complete details for this assignment will be available on our class website. Reading Journals count for 20% of your final grade in the class.
Informal writing/Writer's Notebook: Real Writer's Write every day. As part of learning the habits of real writers (as opposed to student writers) you'll keep a writer's notebook. Complete details for the Writer's Notebook will be available on our class website. You'll turn it in on Wednesdays and get them back on Mondays. If you want to actually keep a notebook, buy two: one to be writing in when I have the other one. The Writer's Notebook is worth 20% of your final grade I the class.
NOTE: Comments on both Reading Journals and Writer's Notebook are not evaluative but are meant to help you to be a strong reader of YA and to keep you producing ideas for your own YA writing.
Author Presentation: You will read up on a favorite author--their background, what they've written, awards they've won. You'll identify what about their writing inspires or fascinates you, locating what it is you'd like to learn from reading their writing. You'll also include anything you can learn about how they broke in to the YA business. As a bonus option, if you contact and interview the author you'll earn an automatic A for the project but it is not a requirement for the assignment. We'll share these author presentations in class as a way to learn about each other and to learn about YA as a genre and as a publishing field. Complete information will be available for the author presentation on this website. This low-stakes assignment is worth 10% of your final grade.
Formal Writing: You will write and have workshopped two selections of either fiction or nonfiction. They can be two stand alone pieces or they can be two sections from a longer piece. You'll workshop one piece before midterm and one piece after. Complete details about how to make your material available to your readers will be available on our class website. Each of your workshop installments is worth 10% of your final grade (20% total).
Workshopping: Workshops only work if all of the workshoppers take the job seriously--as writers, of course, but as readers just as much. So often, students write about how they learned as much by workshopping the writing of others as they did being workshopped themselves. Also, it takes work and time to read and respond to the writing of others (I should know). For each workshop, you will need to produce a written response for your writer. You'll give me a copy as well as a copy to your writer. Complete details on how to conduct yourself during workshop will be available on our class website. Your thoughtful contribution to workshop is worth 15% of your final grade.
Final Portfolio. You will revise your workshop materials and have the opportunity to one-on-one conference with me about your work. You'll put your material together in a final portfolio. Your portfolio will include a reflection on what you've learned about the genre as well as a reflection on your own revision work on your project. Your final portfolio, with revision and reflection is worth 10% of your final grade.
Evaluation
Information for the requirements for earning the “A”, “B,” and “C” grade are outlined for each assignment on the assignment page, all of which are located in the “assignments” folder on the Blackboard site for our course. If you do not complete the work required for one of those three grades, you will fail the course. There is no “D” grade. How much each assignment is worth towards your total grade is explained above and repeated here (as well as on each assignment page):
Reading Journals 20%
Writer's Notebook 20%
Workshop material before midterm. 10%
Workshop material after midterm 10%
Workshop Conduct as a responder
to other writers 15%
Author Presentation 10%
Final Portfolio 15%
WEEKLY UPDATE: As a way to help us make connections across conversations we have in class and in your reading journal posts, I will post an update each week that brings together your ideas in one place. Sometimes this will be a letter or a video. In any case, I will highlight really excellent points that you make in class.
At midterm and at the end of the semester you will receive a “grade-so-far” and a “final grade” letter respectively. They will be come attached to your your first pre-midterm workshop comments and to your final portfolio. In these letters you will receive a letter grade and an overview of your performance in the class up to that point: in-class performance, including in-class writing; Reading Journals; Workshop performance as a reader as well as a writer, with revision; and your reflection discussing your own progress and revision work.
To begin, a little history: I often teach ENGL 489, Advanced Portfolio Workshop, and in that class many students who write fiction want to write fiction for Young Adults. I noticed that, more and more, there were students who wanted to write in this genre rather than what you might call literary fiction--the kinds of novels that might win things like the Booker Prize or the Now, currently at BSU, you can take an intro and an advanced fiction writing workshop--and you should because the skills you learn in those classes are the same skills you'll need to write any kind of fiction--but there has never been a place to write and workshop writing written specifically for Young Adults. And that is why I decided to offer this class.
A little more history: Nearly a decade ago, I had the chance to work with two BSU English majors as part of the Adrian Tinsley Program for undergraduate research. One student, who is currently a 9th grade teacher on the Cape, wanted to explore the ways YA fiction could serve as a gateway text to more canonical texts. A second student wanted to write a YA sci-fi/dystopian novel (her first novel was just recently published by McMillan and she is under contract to write three more YA novels for them). At the time, I was pretty far removed from YA as a genre. As a young person, I read all the biggies--Little Women, Little House on the Prairie, Anne of Green Gables. I was too old by the time books like The Baby Sitter's Club came out, but I nannied for a little girl who had me read them to her every Thursday when I watched her. And, of course, because every young person I loved was reading Harry Potter, I to read HP. But I had not spent a lot of time with current YA. So this summer was this amazing opportunity to learn a lot about the genre--and I was stunned and amazed at the remarkable, high quality writing that is out there. I think that YA writing is some of the most subversive, progressive writing out there. That realization combined with the opportunity to really study YA as a genre led me to want to teach about it. So for several semesters I've taught ENGL 344 Young Adult Literature and, now, this semester, I get to teach a writing workshop for those students interested in writing specifically for YA readers.
A proper description: In this class, we will read and write in the YA genre. We'll try to identify what YA actually means in this publishing moment (a lot of adults read YA, estimates indicate adult readers of YA might outnumber actual young adult readers. We'll try to determine what qualities YA shares with all fiction and nonfiction as well as consider what makes the genre unique (hint: it's not easy words and simple plots). You'll have the opportunity to write and have workshopped two 10-15 page selections. That could mean two short stories/memoirs or two sections of a longer piece. Thus, the class will help you to understand the nature of workshops and what is required of workshop participants. Finally, we will explore what it means to try to publish YA so that writing YA does not just seem like some fantasy, but something you might actually do (a lot of YA authors are not only authors).
Learning Objectives/Course Outcomes
In this course, students will
- Learn about the literary qualities of YA, both fiction and nonfiction, some unique to the genre and others applicable across all genre
- Learn about what the YA publishing industry looks like at this time
- Read current examples of YA and identify what makes them Young and/or adult
- Learn workshopping skills as both a reader and a writer
- Produce 20-30 pages of revised writing for a YA audience.
Texts
TBD. During our first face-to-face class we will determine our reading list based on what the class is interested in reading and more importantly in writing. Whenever possible required texts that are not novels or longer nonfiction will be provided to you as links on the syllabus for this course.
NOTE: Any text in light blue is a live link. It will take you to a related page on this website or to a reading, video, or podcast for our class.
Policies & Requirements
Attendance: The first two classes of this semester are online, but, after that, we meet face to face twice a week.Students are required to attend class regularly. What happens day-to-day in this class only works if we are all here and ready to work as much as possible; therefore, attendance is mandatory. Here is my policy on how absence will affect your evaluation in this class:
- You are allowed three absences, free and clear, no excuses necessary
- After your three absences, any and all absences, regardless of the reason, will adversely affect your final grade in the course you miss them in. There is no such thing as an excused or unexcused absence.
- After six absences, you risk failing the course.
- Excessive late arrivals, more than five minutes, more than three times per semester, will accumulate to equal one absence.
- Absence is not an excuse for late work: assignments will not be accepted after the class period they are due.
- In-class work cannot be made up.
Covid-19 and attendance. We are all tired of hearing how these are unprecedented times--but they are. Attendance matters a lot to me. And I think you will quickly figure out that if you miss class you miss a lot. And this isn't high school. I will not, and am not required to, re-teach the class or classes you missed. So, I want to say that: come to class. It's the most important thing you can do to insure your success in this class. But if you test positive for Covid, you need to stay away from class for the required number of quarantine days and/or until you test negative. I would very much like for us to not be a super spreader event on campus. If you need to be absent due to Covid or a family member's Covid, let me know and we will work out how you will stay a part of a class. We can arrange for you to zoom in to class. Please note: zoom is not meant to serve as a replacement for attending class just becuase you don't feel like getting out of bed.
In-Class Mask Mandate. When we are inside together, we are required to wear a mask and to wear it correctly: snug and over the nose and under the chin. I will inform this mandate in our class. For the safety of everyone in our class and for myself, I am authorized by the administration to do so. Here are the guidelines I have been given: "If a student, who does not have a mask exemption, refuses to wear a mask, a faculty member should inform the student that they are required to do so. If the student continues to refuse to wear the mask, the unit member can dismiss the student from class and instruct the student to leave the immediate area. If the student continually refuses to leave the teaching area while still refusing to wear a mask, the unit member shall have the right to dismiss the class and shall report the incident to the university’s student conduct officer. Student refusals to wear a mask shall be treated as a student conduct violation and addressed through the code of conduct mechanisms at the university."
Informal writing/Reading Journals: For every reading, video, or podcast I assign to you, you are expected to produce a 500 word, typed, double-spaced response. Reading journals are a way to give you credit for the considerable work you must do as readers in this class. They will ask you to demonstrate that you've read the material and are prepared to work with it in class. You will be looking at our class texts as examples of YA and your analyses in these journals is a low-stakes way to try to get at what makes this genre unique. Complete details for this assignment will be available on our class website. Reading Journals count for 20% of your final grade in the class.
Informal writing/Writer's Notebook: Real Writer's Write every day. As part of learning the habits of real writers (as opposed to student writers) you'll keep a writer's notebook. Complete details for the Writer's Notebook will be available on our class website. You'll turn it in on Wednesdays and get them back on Mondays. If you want to actually keep a notebook, buy two: one to be writing in when I have the other one. The Writer's Notebook is worth 20% of your final grade I the class.
NOTE: Comments on both Reading Journals and Writer's Notebook are not evaluative but are meant to help you to be a strong reader of YA and to keep you producing ideas for your own YA writing.
Author Presentation: You will read up on a favorite author--their background, what they've written, awards they've won. You'll identify what about their writing inspires or fascinates you, locating what it is you'd like to learn from reading their writing. You'll also include anything you can learn about how they broke in to the YA business. As a bonus option, if you contact and interview the author you'll earn an automatic A for the project but it is not a requirement for the assignment. We'll share these author presentations in class as a way to learn about each other and to learn about YA as a genre and as a publishing field. Complete information will be available for the author presentation on this website. This low-stakes assignment is worth 10% of your final grade.
Formal Writing: You will write and have workshopped two selections of either fiction or nonfiction. They can be two stand alone pieces or they can be two sections from a longer piece. You'll workshop one piece before midterm and one piece after. Complete details about how to make your material available to your readers will be available on our class website. Each of your workshop installments is worth 10% of your final grade (20% total).
Workshopping: Workshops only work if all of the workshoppers take the job seriously--as writers, of course, but as readers just as much. So often, students write about how they learned as much by workshopping the writing of others as they did being workshopped themselves. Also, it takes work and time to read and respond to the writing of others (I should know). For each workshop, you will need to produce a written response for your writer. You'll give me a copy as well as a copy to your writer. Complete details on how to conduct yourself during workshop will be available on our class website. Your thoughtful contribution to workshop is worth 15% of your final grade.
Final Portfolio. You will revise your workshop materials and have the opportunity to one-on-one conference with me about your work. You'll put your material together in a final portfolio. Your portfolio will include a reflection on what you've learned about the genre as well as a reflection on your own revision work on your project. Your final portfolio, with revision and reflection is worth 10% of your final grade.
Evaluation
Information for the requirements for earning the “A”, “B,” and “C” grade are outlined for each assignment on the assignment page, all of which are located in the “assignments” folder on the Blackboard site for our course. If you do not complete the work required for one of those three grades, you will fail the course. There is no “D” grade. How much each assignment is worth towards your total grade is explained above and repeated here (as well as on each assignment page):
Reading Journals 20%
Writer's Notebook 20%
Workshop material before midterm. 10%
Workshop material after midterm 10%
Workshop Conduct as a responder
to other writers 15%
Author Presentation 10%
Final Portfolio 15%
WEEKLY UPDATE: As a way to help us make connections across conversations we have in class and in your reading journal posts, I will post an update each week that brings together your ideas in one place. Sometimes this will be a letter or a video. In any case, I will highlight really excellent points that you make in class.
At midterm and at the end of the semester you will receive a “grade-so-far” and a “final grade” letter respectively. They will be come attached to your your first pre-midterm workshop comments and to your final portfolio. In these letters you will receive a letter grade and an overview of your performance in the class up to that point: in-class performance, including in-class writing; Reading Journals; Workshop performance as a reader as well as a writer, with revision; and your reflection discussing your own progress and revision work.
Other Things to Know About
Plagiarism: I don't really think this should be an issue in a creative class, but it's worth saying: plagiarism will not be tolerated in our class. Students who plagiarize work in this class will be subject to the student code of conduct at Bridgewater State University. You can read that that policy by clicking on this link.
Students who require accomodations. Students who need special accommodations due to a documented disability should come to see me with written documentation of the specific disability and suggested accommodations before the end of the first week of classes. We can discuss specific accommodations at that time. It’s no big deal if you need accommodations, so just come see me—don’t put it off until midterm.
The Writing Studio. You will meet your writing fellow in the Writing Studio in the Academic Achievement Center every week. Located in the Academic Achievement Center, on the bottom floor of the Library, the Writing Studio is available to any and all students at whatever level of expertise you might be at.
Other Resources on Campus. There are a wide variety of services available on our campus that you might want to know about but also might just be too inundated with information to remember you have access to, so I'm including links to a variety of places on campus that I think you might want to know about. First and foremost is probably the counseling center and the wellness center. Other places you can go if you want to connect with folks: the Legacie Center, the Pride Center, the campus food bank, and Commuter Services. Making a connection to this campus is the number one way you'll get from day one to graduation.
Need some help figuring out how to be successful in your classes? Check out these successful learning strategies and support resources.
There are also some great folks in the Academic Achievement Center who can help you develop strong skills around time management, studying for tests, tallking to your faculty when you need help, and other habits of successful students. You can make an appointment with an academic coach (free for BSU students) by clicking here.
Title IX and Sexual Violence. The Office of Equal Opportunity and the Title IX Coordinator work to ensure that all members of the campus community flourish in a supportive and fair climate. See https://my.bridgew.edu/departments/affirmativeaction/SitePages/Home.aspx to learn more.
Syllabus/Policies Check-in Assignment: due by Monday at 1:50
Good for you. You got to the end of the policies. To reward you, you have the opportunity to earn one "A" for Acceptable for a Reading Journal simply by completing the following assignment.
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 blackboard to find out information about assignments, texts, course policies, due dates, and classroom expectations."
4. POST TO THIS CLASS DISCUSSION BOARD: Ask me one questions about any thing on my website for our class: policies, due dates, classroom expectations, assignments. You can't tell me you have no questions.
5.IN YOUR EMAIL TO ME: Include a meme or tic-toc of your choosing or design that sums up how you are feeling about being in school so far.
6. 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.
Plagiarism: I don't really think this should be an issue in a creative class, but it's worth saying: plagiarism will not be tolerated in our class. Students who plagiarize work in this class will be subject to the student code of conduct at Bridgewater State University. You can read that that policy by clicking on this link.
Students who require accomodations. Students who need special accommodations due to a documented disability should come to see me with written documentation of the specific disability and suggested accommodations before the end of the first week of classes. We can discuss specific accommodations at that time. It’s no big deal if you need accommodations, so just come see me—don’t put it off until midterm.
The Writing Studio. You will meet your writing fellow in the Writing Studio in the Academic Achievement Center every week. Located in the Academic Achievement Center, on the bottom floor of the Library, the Writing Studio is available to any and all students at whatever level of expertise you might be at.
Other Resources on Campus. There are a wide variety of services available on our campus that you might want to know about but also might just be too inundated with information to remember you have access to, so I'm including links to a variety of places on campus that I think you might want to know about. First and foremost is probably the counseling center and the wellness center. Other places you can go if you want to connect with folks: the Legacie Center, the Pride Center, the campus food bank, and Commuter Services. Making a connection to this campus is the number one way you'll get from day one to graduation.
Need some help figuring out how to be successful in your classes? Check out these successful learning strategies and support resources.
There are also some great folks in the Academic Achievement Center who can help you develop strong skills around time management, studying for tests, tallking to your faculty when you need help, and other habits of successful students. You can make an appointment with an academic coach (free for BSU students) by clicking here.
Title IX and Sexual Violence. The Office of Equal Opportunity and the Title IX Coordinator work to ensure that all members of the campus community flourish in a supportive and fair climate. See https://my.bridgew.edu/departments/affirmativeaction/SitePages/Home.aspx to learn more.
Syllabus/Policies Check-in Assignment: due by Monday at 1:50
Good for you. You got to the end of the policies. To reward you, you have the opportunity to earn one "A" for Acceptable for a Reading Journal simply by completing the following assignment.
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 blackboard to find out information about assignments, texts, course policies, due dates, and classroom expectations."
4. POST TO THIS CLASS DISCUSSION BOARD: Ask me one questions about any thing on my website for our class: policies, due dates, classroom expectations, assignments. You can't tell me you have no questions.
5.IN YOUR EMAIL TO ME: Include a meme or tic-toc of your choosing or design that sums up how you are feeling about being in school so far.
6. 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.