Decide what you will do for your creative project, choosing one of the options from below or proposing your own. Write a TOPIC PROPOSAL memo that details what you plan to do.
Unit 2: Advanced Notice – Creative Project Presentation
Midterm Creative Project Presentation
NOTE: This assignment is not due until Unit 4, with the Topic Proposal due in Unit 3. This is an important assignment, so I wanted you to have time to start thinking about it and ask questions.
Overview
At the end of Unit 4, you will present to the class a creative project you have produced. This assignment is worth 22% of your final grade, so please take it seriously.
What you will do:
- Decide what you will do for your creative project, choosing one of the options from below or proposing your own.
- Write a TOPIC PROPOSAL memo that details what you plan to do. Turn it in during Unit 3. You must address all of the following details in order to receive full credit (30 points). Please follow the traditional format of a business memo – Microsoft Word has templates for these.
Explain:
—The form your project will take
—Your aim or focus
—The readings from class that inspired your project
—Any supporting ideas and/or examples
—How the project will demonstrate your understanding of/engagement with the readings and ideas from class
—How the project will help your classmates see the reading(s) in a new way
—The sources you anticipate using
—Any questions or concerns you might have.
—Tentative timeline for completing the different aspects of your project.
- Produce the CREATIVE PROJECT, which should relate to and engage with the literature we have read in class. Please feel free to discuss the project with me at any point in your process (brainstorming, drafting, revising). You can choose to focus on broader topics, such as “Why Early Fiction is Different From Modern Fiction,” or you can choose to focus on more individual aspects of the literature, such as a single author or text, or a time period or location. If you are producing a written piece, such as a fictional narrative or creative research paper, it should be at least 4 pages. Your project must have a clear creative component. Thus, if you are doing a research paper or something similar, you will need to have a poster or visual component to explain your process and research (students in the past have researched particular authors and produced multimedia PowerPoint presentations). Remember when choosing your topic to play to your strengths – creative writing, acting or directing, painting or photography, dancing or singing, researching, cooking, or designing websites. For example, I had a student in teacher education create a children’s book about the 18th century, and a student in computer science create a video game of Frankenstein. Your project should be well-organized, neatly presented, and thoroughly edited. It should reflect significant effort and critical engagement with the readings. The creative project is worth 100 points.
Options for Project:
—Write and perform a dialogue that reflects the literature we’ve read
—Turn one or more of the texts we’ve read into a screen play or theatrical play
—Create a photo narrative with an explanation of how it reflects the literature
—Create an art piece or dance that reflects the literature
—Write a short story that imitates the form/language/themes of the literature we read in class
—Re-write a literary text from a different perspective or in a different setting
—Produce a film (fictional narrative or documentary) that reflects the literature
—Set up a website that reflects the literature
—Read and analyze more literature by an author we discussed in class
—Do in-depth research on a particular literary tradition, genre, author, or text from class and present it in a creative way
—In connection with the literature we’ve read, research a detail mentioned in the text and explain why it is so important. Present it in a creative way.
—Write a series of lesson plans to introduce the literature to children
—Put two (or more) of the authors we’ve read in conversation with one another
—Find references in modern culture to a text or texts we’ve read, analyze how and why they are being used
—Compare and analyze different translations of a text
—Suggest your own!
- In addition to the project itself, write a 3 page (minimum) REFLECTION about your project and process. The reflective essay is worth 90 points.
—Explain your project and how you went about creating it – What research or preparation did you have to do? What materials did you need? Who did you consult? How long did it take? What kinds of obstacles did you have to overcome to do this project? If you worked in groups, how was the work divided up? Did everyone contribute equally?
—Explain why you made the choices you did regarding your project – Why focus on that reading or that author or that theme? Why did you choose that format or medium? Why did you organize it in that way? Why choose those pictures or that music? Be specific.
—Explain the theoretical or philosophical implications of your project and its significance as it relates to this class – What did you learn about the readings/authors as you did your project? How does this project give you (and your classmates) a new perspective into the readings? How does approaching a reading through this creative angle reveal something different than if you had simply written a paper? Does the project suggest any larger ideas about literature or art or humanity in general? Or what about more narrowly – does it reveal anything about you personally?
You should also include a Works Cited page listing all the sources you used for the project.
- The last component of your Midterm Project is to present it to the rest of the class (30 points). You will create a short (3-5 minute) video to the class showing and explaining your project and its significance. Your video should be well-prepared, clear, and easy to understand. Things you should talk about during your video:
—What is your project? How does your project connect to our class? How does it give a new perspective or greater understanding of the literature we read? How might your project make connections across boundaries (readings, time period, nation or ethnicity, culture, gender or race or sexuality or religion, class or economic status, genre or form)? You can use your reflection piece as a guide for this part of the presentation, since presumably you will have already answered some of these questions in that essay.
—Share an excerpt or example from the project itself. For example, if you make a video, I would like you to give a brief summary of it and then show an excerpt. Similarly, if you write a short story, I would like you to give a brief summary of it and then read an excerpt.
—End your presentation with 1 discussion question for the class. The questions should link the project to our class readings and/or discussions.
Your video can be a simple one showing you speaking, or you can create a PowerPoint with voiceover, or you could do something more elaborate if you have the requisite skills.
- You are expected to watch as many of your classmates’ presentations as you can. The discussion questions asked at the end of each video presentation will provide an extra credit opportunity in the Unit 5 discussion.