Format: This may be a traditional assignment, such as an academic essay, or a creative response in another medium, including film, fiction or poetry, or visual arts. You can write a song, create a game, create a virtual museum exhibition, paint something – basically any medium you want is open to you. Because of the online nature of this course, you will just need to make sure that there is a way to share your work electronically (this can be as simple as sending a photograph of a painting, but the project can also be a fully digital work).
Goal: The aim of the assignment is to give you a chance to engage critically and creatively with one or more of the works we have read this semester and to give your audience (i.e., your classmates and me) the opportunity to understand these works in a new or deeper way.
Why we are using this format: We have studied a long tradition of artists and creators who respond to a combination of texts, religious traditions, and cultural works to produce their own artistic works. For example, Chaucer reworked the Italian poet Boccaccio (whose poem the Teseida was Chaucer’s inspiration for the Knight’s Tale), and his work in turn inspired Shakespeare. Milton, meanwhile, was very familiar with Chaucer and Shakespeare, and all three reworked Biblical texts and traditions. This assignment asks you to choose one or more media and to participate in this long tradition (Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, and now you!). A traditional academic essay is actually meant to do just what this project asks you to do: you should understand the original work, engage with it critically, and then respond creatively in your writing in a way that brings a deeper understanding and appreciation in your reader. This type of writing is highly valuable (and is an option for this assignment as well), and you have already done work of this sort with your short writing assignments. But I find that many students produce some of their best engagements in other media, just as many artists throughout history have done.
How long should my project be?: Naturally I get this question a lot for these types of assignments, and it is always tricky to answer, as something being longer or bigger doesn’t really mean more substantial in all ways. But as a general guide, the following would be about normal: a short story or essay of 10 double-spaced pages; one 3-minute song; a group of 6-8 short poems; a 5-minute video; one board game w/rules and playing pieces.
How do I submit my project?: You need to submit two things: 1) If it is okay with you for your classmates to be able to see your final projects, please upload it directly to this Google Drive folder(opens in new window). Sometimes students include personal details in their projects that they don’t want to share with other students (or don’t want to share for unspecified reasons – no need to explain!). That’s fine too – in that case, just email me a file or link to your project and indicate that you do not want to share it with anyone but me, and I will grade it but not share it. 2) In addition to uploading your project, please submit on Moodle a short (one or two paragraphs) description of the goals of your project and how you chose to do what you did, including how you imagine those reading/viewing/hearing will gain a deeper understanding or new perspective. The main thing I am looking for is creative and critical engagement that 1) demonstrates your understanding of the subject and 2) helps those experiencing your project to learn about the topic or see things in a new light. Your summary should make the case for how your project achieves those goals (you may find it helpful to be overt about this, e.g., “I demonstrate my own understanding by…” and “I help others to gain a deeper understanding by…”).
Proposal: By 5pm on Monday, Apr. 15, please email me a description of 1) what you’re planning to do, 2) the scope of your project – e.g., length in terms of pages or minutes, and 3) how your project will constitute creative and critical engagement with one or more texts or concepts from this semester.
