Assignments

Portfolio

 
Your Portfolio represents your best and most comprehensively revised work of the semester. It will contain one project and two response papers. Revisions will not consist of simple line edits, but rather major structural transformations on a paragraph-level and page-level.
 
Your submission will contain the following documents, totaling approximately 20 pages double-spaced:
  1. Table of Contents (1 page): Include a title for each item
  2. Cover Letter (2 pages): How have you grown as a writer and a thinker over the course of the semester? How do your selections and revisions reflect this growth?
  3. Project Draft (4-6 pages)
  4. Project Revision (4-6 pages)
  5. 2 Response Drafts (4 pages total)
  6. 2 Response Revisions (4 pages total)

Your portfolio will be assessed in connection to how it meets the Student Learning Outcomes for this course:

  Levels of Achievement
Criteria
Needs Improvement
Meets Expectations
Exceeds Expectations
Modality
  
 

Demonstrates facility with writing across a variety of modalities, integrating research, creative writing, and literary analysis.

  
Intersectionality
  
 

Demonstrates methods for reading and writing through critical, cultural, and intersectional lenses.

  
Observation
  
 

Demonstrates observations of the world through critical and creative lenses.

  
Research
  
 

Demonstrates attention to information literacy, supporting observations and innovations with a variety of sources

  

Manifesto

Create a manifesto that sets forth your vision for the future, using nonfictional approaches to create institutional change.

There are many ways to begin writing your manifesto: you might start with your core values (e.g. compassion, belonging, honesty, or creativity), symbols you identify with (e.g. trees, flowers, or bridges), or institutions you care about (e.g. education, health care, public assistance, or family).

Your manifesto should contain these three elements:

  1. Principles (set of beliefs)
  2. Symbols (guiding images)
  3. Harmony (conflict resolution)

You have the freedom to be creative in the format of your manifesto. Alternatives to the essay format include: Program Proposals (such as for an after-school program or business); Infographic (such as for a clothing line or urban planning proposal); a Doctrine (such as for a cooperative living space or community group).

Length: 5 pages, double-spaced

Research at least 5 sources to support your manifesto. These may include news articles (in the case of contemporary issues), peer-reviewed articles, books, literary influences, or other reliable sources. Insert your research as explanatory endnotes to signal how the research defined or influenced specific passages of your manifesto. At least 2 of these sources should come from the assigned course readings.

Feminist Utopia/Dystopia

Create your own feminist utopia/dystopia that is both intersectional and informed by research. You may choose to write speculative fiction (4-6 pages), poetry (3-4 poems), or creative nonfiction (4-6 pages).

Intersect issues of gender with at least one other category of social or cultural identity, such as race, sexual orientation, ability, class, age, ethnicity, religion.

Research at least 5 sources to support your creative work. These may include news articles (in the case of contemporary issues), peer-reviewed articles, books, literary influences, or other reliable sources. Insert your research as explanatory endnotes to signal how the research defined or influenced specific passages of your creative text.

Response Papers

Writing response papers in advance of class sessions when we discuss a novel is a great way to develop independent critical thought. Read as much of the novel as you can before writing your response. Each response paper should be two pages long, double-spaced, and be submitted on Blackboard before class. For each response paper, you have the option to do a free response. Here are a few ideas to inspire your free responses.

 
Perform a close reading of a passage, or of a recurring image. Close readings benefit most from deep engagement with definitions and connotations. Draw upon the Oxford English Dictionary to dig deeper.
Research historical or cultural contexts of the novel. This research might include authorial information or historical events alluded to in the novel. Rather than simply report this research, describe how your research offers further insight into the novel.
Produce a creative text that responds to the novel. Perhaps you've grown an affinity to a minor character, and you want to write a poem from that character's perspective. Or you want to write a scene or chapter from a different perspective. In each case, be sure to make explicit references to the original text
Investigate interdisciplinary connections. The beauty of literature is that it offers many possible avenues for the study of the world. In science fiction, in particular, the novels often invoke revisionary approaches to everything from government, architecture, religion, privacy, and much more. Try researching references to other disciplines to add to your experience of the novels.
Connect to current events or issues. You might draw upon the case studies from the week before, or other issues you are aware of. How does the novel's fictional approach to these issues change or deepen your understanding of the issues?

Rubric

To encourage independent thinking and experimental approaches to the novels, all points awarded to the response papers will be assigned pass/fail. At the same time, a rubric will be used to encourage specific learning outcomes.

 
  Levels of Achievement
Criteria
Needs Improvement
Meets Expectations
Exceeds Expectations
Analytical Thought
  
 

Engages with specific textual elements; or performs close readings; or creates specific references to texts

  
Independent Thought
  
 

Demonstrates creative observations of the text; or envisions alternatives; or draws inspiration from the text