Mentor Text Memoir ENGL489 Advanced Portfolio Workshop
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LEE TORDA 310 Tillinghast Hall Bridgewater State University 508.531.2436 ltorda@bridgew.edu www.leetorda.com |
Spring 2019 Office Hours:
W 3:30-4:30 R 11:00-12:00 F 11:00-12:00 And by appointment. Want to make an appointment? Click here. |
Overview: If it is not clear from the syllabus, policies and reading list for this class, I believe that essential to the professionalization of a writer is being a committed and skilled reader. This first assignment asks you to briefly assess and creatively express those texts that you've encountered--perhaps in school and perhaps not--that have shaped you as a writer. That could mean they have inspired you to want to write. It can also mean that they taught you something about writing--why you want to write, what you want to write, what you think writing does in the world for readers, etc.
We'll workshop these texts in class the second week of class. I'll collect them the week after that. In addition, you'll read your piece out loud to at least some of your classmates at that time as well.
Finally, this first short assignment is also meant to introduce you, as a part of this class, to how workshops will run in 489 (should feel pretty familiar), as well as to how I will comment on your writing and engage in discussion of the texts you produce as part of class.
EVALUATION
The Mentor Text Memoir is worth 10% of your grade. In order to earn a B for that 10% you must:
In order to earn an "A" grade you must:
In order to earn a "C" grade you must:
Turn in a draft in the third week of class.
If you do not make a "C" grade you will fail the 10% of your final grade that is accounted for in the MTM.
- The text I'm asking you to produce should be 500 words.
- Please type and double-space your work.
- Have a good title and not, please, Mentor Text Memoir.
- Your subject should be clear to you--though you may opt to talk about ten books (though unlikely) or one book (quite possible) or three (also quite possible) or whatever. That is up to you. But how you write about your texts, the point you are making about them, that is yours alone to do. I encourage you to be true to the writer you are or the writer you want to be. Though admittedly I envisioned this assignment as a short piece of creative nonfiction, feel free to be as creative as your piece merits--you can experiment with form and genre if you choose, BUT please keep in mind the essential question of this assignment and do try to answer it: what texts have affected you in terms of the kind of writer you are and you want to be.
We'll workshop these texts in class the second week of class. I'll collect them the week after that. In addition, you'll read your piece out loud to at least some of your classmates at that time as well.
Finally, this first short assignment is also meant to introduce you, as a part of this class, to how workshops will run in 489 (should feel pretty familiar), as well as to how I will comment on your writing and engage in discussion of the texts you produce as part of class.
EVALUATION
The Mentor Text Memoir is worth 10% of your grade. In order to earn a B for that 10% you must:
- participate in the MTM workshop during the second week of class
- respond thoughtfully and with care to your classmates draft.
- turn in your workshop draft along with your revised piece in the third week of class
- complete the writer's reflection (in-class) the day the MTM is due.
In order to earn an "A" grade you must:
- Do all of the things required of a B grade
- Use the workshop comments to revise your piece thoughtfully in ways that are visible to me as a reader
- Make the effort to craft an elegant or thoughtful or innovative or clever or funny bit of writing in whatever genre most appeals.
In order to earn a "C" grade you must:
Turn in a draft in the third week of class.
If you do not make a "C" grade you will fail the 10% of your final grade that is accounted for in the MTM.