English
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English Discipline Portfolio Description
The English Discipline Portfolio (EDP) is designed so that the English discipline can assess its major. As part of that assessment measure, English requires that all majors submit a writing portfolio at the end of their St. Norbert College career. The instructions for this portfolio are described below.
Self-Reflective Essay
Your portfolio will have a self-reflective essay that provides detailed information about your experience as an English major in relationship to the mission and the vision of the English discipline. Overall, your essay should address the following three areas that constitute the mission and vision of the English discipline at St. Norbert College.
- The
mission of English is to embrace and contribute to the overall mission of the College: “St. Norbert College is a catholic, liberal arts college embracing the Norbertine tradition of community and is committed to providing an educational environment that is intellectual, spiritually and personally challenging.” Examine how has English challenged you to engage in the following:
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- The Norbertine tradition of community—to interact inside and outside the classroom
- The intellectual challenge—to have conversations about literature
- The spiritual challenge—to connection literature with spiritual concerns
- The personal challenge—to challenge students to participate in community
- The specific
vision of English is as follows:
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Coverage: to explore the broad canvas of English and American literature, which we recognize as an evolving rather than static body of work
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Skills: to foster the essential skills of critical inquiry through academic writing
Critical theory: to introduce students to the theoretical debates that frame the study of literature; to include this theory throughout the English curriculum
Language: to allow students to engage in the study of a foreign language and/or the study of the history of the English language
Artistic creativity: to provide students with the opportunity to pursue creative writing
Service to community: to provide students opportunity to serve the College and outside communities through academic organizations, extra-curricular service projects, etc.
- Finally, please address the following concerns in the final part of your essay:
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- What are the greatest strengths of the English major and what would you improve if you could?
- What are the greatest strengths of your portfolio?
- What areas in your writing do you feel you can improve?
Please note: Your self-reflective essay should be arranged following the categories defined above. Within this limit, however, you can be as creative as you wish.
Portfolio Essays
You will include one essay from each English class that you took at St. Norbert College for a total of 10 works. If you took more than 10 English courses, choose your 10 most representative essays from only 10 courses. If you are a transfer student, you may include up to two essays from English courses from other institutions. Your essays may range from personal/reflective essays, creative writing, to research essays, as defined briefly below:
Personal and Reflective Essays
Essays that asked you to reflect personally on the literature that you were studying.
Critical Essays
Essays that asked you to analyze literature critically without secondary research sources.
Research Essays
Essays that required you to integrate secondary--critical--sources to support your own critical thesis.
Creative Essays, Fiction, Poetry, Drama
Works that are creative in nature. If you include poetry, please submit at least three poems per class. If you submit from the other categories, limit to one work.
Arrangement of Essays in Portfolio
Arrange your essays in the portfolio from the lowest number to the highest number, as shown below:
- 100-level classes
- 200-level classes
- 300-level classes
- 400-level classes
Please note: not all students will have material for each of the above categories. Remember, your portfolio
must be limited to 10 works total.
Description of Each Assignment
Please include a brief description of the assignment at the beginning of each essay or creative piece that you include in your portfolio. The description should include the following:
- Class
- Instructor
- Date of Assignment
- Overview of the assignment: purpose, etc. (1-3 sentences)
List of English Courses at St. Norbert College
Finally, to help give the English discipline a quick overview of your English career at the college, please provide a list of all English classes taken at St. Norbert College. If you are a transfer student or have taken English classes at other institutions, please create a separate category that lists those classes.
For this list, provide the following information (arranged from first year to senior-level courses):
- Course number and title
- Instructor for the course
- List of all writing assignments done
Organization of the English portfolio
Please arrange your portfolio in the following order:
- Self-reflective essay
- List of courses taken
- Portfolio essays (arranged from 100-400-level classes)
Storage of English Portfolios
Students are responsible for saving their critical essays for the English portfolio. You should create a folder on their M: drive and label it English portfolio. Next, they should create subfolders named for each English class (i.e., English 150, English 305, English 489).
Please note: when you are ready to hand in your portfolio, please make a CD-ROM copy of your portfolio from your M: drive and have a copy of your portfolio bound from the St. Norbert College Copy Center or other copy center. You may get blank CDs from the English discipline if you wish.
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