MA in English Portfolio

Working with your instructor and peers in ENG 6910, the candidate should select a minimum of two projects (with a cumulative length range of roughly 20-40 double spaced pages) for revision and submission that best exemplify the strengths of the student's writing, researching, and critical thinking abilities.

1. At least one of these projects should demonstrate evidence of substantive research and analysis on a focused topic.
2. Each piece must be substantially revised. Early in the semester, you will submit a revision plan using feedback from the original instructor as your starting point. As you revise, you will receive additional feedback and suggestions from both your ENG 6910 instructor and peers.
3. The portfolio should contain both
   1. the original, graded manuscripts with comments
   2. the substantially revised copies of the original works.

For this component of your final portfolio, select one of your projects and transform it into a public-facing work. The remix recontextualizes your existing work for a new purpose, context, or audience, with the goal of turning a program project into a real-world text. While the work need not be published or accepted in the end, you are encouraged to identify a genuine public context and audience to guide your revision process. You might consider one of the following options:

• Reimagining your seminar paper as an academic conference presentation
• Adjusting your project to meet the submission requirements for an academic journal
• Transforming your project for a local workshop, non-profit organization, or community group
• Adapting your work for a public-facing digital space, such as a professional blog, podcast, or online publication
• Repurposing your project as instructional or curricular material for a specific educational context

You’ll need to introduce your portfolio with a 3-5 page, double-spaced critical analytical narrative that defines the rationale for (a) the student's course of study in the degree program and the methodologies pursued in that course of study, (b) the revision choices made by the student in consultation with the first reader, and (c) the remix project. Think of this narrative not as an autobiography of your time in the program, but as an explanation of the projects in the portfolio: why they matter, how they reflect your ideas, the academic problems that interest you, how your thinking has changed over time, the reasons for your revisions and what you accomplished in revising as you did.

The narrative should cover:

1. Why these works were selected;
2. How each work originated in the candidate's course work;
3. An explanation of the revision strategies applied to each work and the reasons for them;
4. An explanation of the remix project: which work was selected, the public context or audience chosen, and the reasoning behind those choices;
5. How the experience of creating, researching, and revising the work increased the candidate's learning, or otherwise reflects their growth and development as a scholar and/or teacher in English studies.
6. A clear indication of which project or projects serve as evidence of "substantive research" (at least one must do so).

These questions might help as you generate ideas for your narrative:

• What were your goals/objectives in pursuing an MA?
• What new theories or methods from your classes had the most impact on you?
• How did those theories or methods inform the work you did in the MA program?
• How do your portfolio papers reflect your own incorporation of those theories or methods in your academic work?
• How will you use what you have learned in the MA program in your current/future academic, job, or career goals?

Students will receive a syllabus for ENG 6910 that outlines course requirements, including reviewing sample portfolios, developing a revision plan, participating in discussion boards, significantly revising previous projects, and working closely with small peer review groups.

If students successfully complete the work in ENG 6910, they can submit a final portfolio for evaluation by the two portfolio readers (the ENG 6910 instructor and Graduate Coordinator).

​The evaluation of the final portfolio will be based on the following five criteria: 

1. Evidence of substantive research;
2. Coherence of arguments/conclusions;
3. Effective use of critical vocabulary and analysis in chosen areas of concentration;
4. Overall clarity of expression;
5. Compliance with scholarly conventions of research writing and citation.

The grade for ENG 6910 is S/U. A grade of S indicates that the student has successfully completed the capstone experience.