ILO #1) Practice and/or analyze creativity as a dynamic process.
This semester we have explored “making & doing” music through lessons, studio classes, discussions, personal practice, performances, and journaling. The goal of these experiences is to help you build the ability to create a musical performance on your own. Our “toolbox” is designed to help you through the many stages of development in this creative process.
In a one-page paper, reflect on how your work this semester has helped you grow & develop as a [instrument] player and musician.
- Consider: Are there any specific elements (lessons, studio class, etc.) that helped you grow the most? What processes have you developed to further your personal musical growth & creativity? How effective was this in helping you create your jury performance? What can you take from your jury preparation and performance and apply to the next piece? What would you change in your process for the next piece? What have you learned this semester that you will put into practice for the future?
- If the composer of your performance piece listened to your performance, what would they think in terms of interpretation, style, technique?”
Note: The submitted pieces for this artifact were the calligraphy artwork and the reflection paper.
Prompt:
Your final project in this calligraphy course is designed to synthesize your learning and demonstrate your artistic, cultural, and personal engagement with Chinese calligraphy. The project consists of three components: a calligraphy artwork, an oral presentation, and a written reflection. Each component should be thoughtful, carefully prepared, and reflective of your individual journey through Chinese calligraphy.
Project Components:
- Calligraphy Artwork
- Content: Choose a character, idiom, or poem that resonates with you personally. You may select from ancient texts, modern poetry, or any meaningful phrase or character, as long as it is relevant and significant to you. You can make your choice from some websites such as
- Style: Choose a calligraphy style that aligns with your chosen content. You may work in Seal Script, Clerical Script, Regular Script, Running Script, or Cursive Script. Consider how the script style contributes to the aesthetic and thematic tone of your work.
- Layout and Composition: Plan an appropriate layout, including character arrangement, balance, and blank space. The composition should be thoughtfully designed to enhance the visual impact and convey the essence of the text.
- Presentation: Present your artwork either physically or digitally to the class.
- Exhibition: Submit the physical copy of your artwork to the instructor as part of the exhibition at the Department.
- Oral Presentation: Prepare any visual aids or handouts that will assist in explaining your piece.
- Overview: In a 5–7 minute presentation, explain your choice of content, including why you chose the specific character, idiom, or poem.
- Significance: Discuss the historical or cultural significance of your chosen content and how it connects to our modern life.
- Personal Connection: Explain how the content resonates with you personally. Describe what emotions or ideas you aim to express through your work and how your chosen style supports this.
- Reflection on Style and Composition: Briefly discuss how your choice of style and layout enhances your artistic and thematic goals.
- Reflection Paper (500 words)
- Cultural Significance: Reflect on the cultural and historical significance of the content you selected. Consider its origins, traditional use, and how it aligns with themes in Chinese philosophy, values, and/or society. Explain how this content resonates with you personally.
- Personal Reflection: Describe how this project has shaped your understanding of Chinese calligraphy and its value. Reflect on the challenges and successes you encountered in the creative process, from initial planning to final execution.
- Submission: Submit your 500-word reflection paper digitally to instructor’s email by December 12 @11:59pm.
This final project is an opportunity to express your understanding of Chinese calligraphy as both an art form and a cultural practice. Let your work reflect your unique perspective and the skills you have gained throughout this course. I’m looking forward to your final masterpieces!
Assignment 6: Final Series
Assignment Description:
Students will create a series of 2-dimensional artworks using the technique(s)/media of their choice. These techniques/media include any used over the course of the semester. Students should be thoughtful about which techniques/media will best express their personal visual language and ideas. The final series will include at least 3 artworks that relate to each other in some visual and/or conceptual manner.
Student Outcomes/Learning Objectives:
- Gain experience working iteratively with a subject and/or concept
- Identify the 2D techniques/media that best suit a student’s personal visual language and ideas
- Work experimentally/playfully in order to grow, learn, and think through making
- Develop creative project management skills
Assignment Requirements:
- Artworks can be any size (no minimum or maximum within reason)
- The final series will include a minimum of 3 artworks (no maximum!)
- Artworks must relate to each other in some visual and/or conceptual manner
- Regardless of final size/number of artworks, students must make steady and continual
- progress on the assignment from date of introduction to due date
Considerations:
- You may continue to work with the research/subject matter/imagery from Assignment 5 if you feel you have more to learn/explore.
- Assess your strengths, weaknesses, and interests. What would you most like to explore in this final assignment? Your project must be both challenging and engaging: self-motivation is essential.
- Think beyond material exploration and avoid drawing the same subject in different media. Instead, create a series with a consistent approach that develops a theme or concept. If using frequently used imagery, aim to present it with a fresh, unique perspective.
Materials & Tools:
- Consult with [instructor] to acquire materials and tools needed to complete the project
Final Project (Assignment 6) Reflection
Please respond to each of the following questions in 3-5 sentences.
- What did you discover (formally and/or conceptually) through working iteratively in your final series?
- How did experimentation (during the semester or in direct preparation for this assignment) play a role in your series?
- How did your peers respond to your work during your final critique- did anything surprise you about their responses?
- How might you continue to develop this series (visually and/or conceptually)?
ILO #2) Analyze the purpose and impact of a creative act or process.
Translator’s Note (reflective essay on literary translation)
The Task:
In this final essay you will analyze the purpose and impact of the artistic choices you made in your literary translation. Your essay should begin with a clear and specific statement of your translation goals and the approach you adopted to achieve these goals (your thesis). Then, in the body of your essay, walk me through the particular artistic choices you made to accomplish each of your goals. Be sure to point to specific examples and explain what you were trying to do and what effect you think you have achieved in each case.
The “translator’s notes” we read from Bartsch and McCarter can serve as models for this essay.
Questions to consider:
- What aspects of the original did you hope to convey in English and how?
- What specific translation problems did you confront? What were your solutions?
- What features of the original did you decide to sacrifice?
Some possible elements to address:
- Rhythm (Did you use a meter? Adopt a different approach?).
- Specific words and/or grammar that are hard to translate from Latin to English (either to capture the literal meaning, the aesthetic effect, or both).
- Sound effects: alliteration, assonance, consonance, elision, rhyme, etc.
- Word-order patterns and other rhetorical devices (hyperbaton, enclosing word order, overlapping (abab), chiasmus (abba), anaphora, asyndeton, etc.).
- The relationship of poetic line and sentence structure (enjambment, end-stopping).
- Diction/word choice (How does your translation approach the “epic” language of the original? Did you go for more modern-sounding language? Archaic? Time-less? Something else?)
Community Engagement Experience Reflection Essay
Introduction
In this essay, you’re going to reflect on and evaluate your experience as an attendee and community member at one of the following three experiential activities.
Select an Experiential Activity
Select one of the three options listed below to experience and reflect on for this assignment. You are absolutely welcome to participate in more than one, but you must choose at least one.
- Saturday, Sept 14 – Hispanic Heritage Celebration, Central Park, Northfield. You must experience at least 2 performance acts. Central Park is walking/biking distance from campus.
- Saturday, Sept 21 – Mahkato Wacipi (Powwow), Dakota Wokiksuye Makoce (Land of Memories Park), Mankato. See information for visitors here. Reserve your seat on the Taylor Center bus – leave at 11:45am from Buntrock, (Grand Entry at 1:00pm), leave Mankato at 4pm, arrive on campus at 5pm. Note: $7 entry fee – Taylor Center may cover limited # of tickets if you register before September 13.
- Alternative for those who are not able to attend any of the above options: Schedule a 1.5 hour block in your calendar and watch the entirety of Jennifer Weir’s recently released documentary “Finding Her Beat” about the all-woman Taiko performance she convened at the Ordway in 2020. Plan to watch the entire documentary in one sitting, and take notes during your viewing experience.
Assignment
In an essay of minimum 1000 words, reflect on your experience during the activity you chose to participate in. Draw on our readings and class discussions about what community engagement can look and sound like and what the potential benefits and risks may be.
- Create an interesting and relevant title to open your essay.
- Start the essay by introducing the activity you chose. Where and when did it take place? Who was hosting or organizing and who was participating? Use as many descriptive details as you can and identify individual names if you can find them out (ask questions during the event when appropriate!).
- Then, evaluate the purpose and outcome of the event. These two things can be disparate. Why was this event launched? What effect did it have on the immediate community? Has this event run for multiple years? If so, what has it’s outcome been over time?
- Refer to at least two examples of community engagement from class readings or discussions in connection with your own experience participating in the activity you chose. Maybe you noticed a similar approach to community engagement in the activity you experienced, or a different approach from what one of the authors we’ve read narrated in their article or chapter. Make sure to cite the 2 sources you refer to either with a footnote or an in-text citation and a bibliography entry in a Works Cited list at the end of your essay.
- How were you personally impacted by the experience? Share feelings, thoughts, about how you felt during the experience and what interactions prompted these feelings. How did this experience connect to your own sense of purpose or vocation?
Note: This is not an ethnographic essay assignment, and therefore it is not primarily focused on description and interpretation of your sensory observations, but I encourage you to use the tools of ethnographic observation and writing to communicate your understanding of community in that space. For example, if you noticed that the space felt welcoming, what practices did you observe that you can cite to explain the reason for this welcoming feeling? Maybe there was a specific person designated to greet newcomers – describe their behavior and demeanor. Maybe the schedule was flexible rather than being rigidly enforced by the MC – so you might describe a few specific instances where flexibility was demonstrated by the organizers to accommodate different participant needs.
Literary Modernism Essay (15%)
Write a 3-4 page essay (1,000-1,200 words, double spaced) on literary modernism. Compare any of the modernist literary works (novel, short story, or poem) we have read in this course with a single premodern one from earlier courses. As you do so, consider why the authors engaged in composing their texts and what effects each literary work has on you and other readers. In other words, how does your chosen modernist text differ from the older one in terms of purpose and impact?
Think no less of form than meaning. Consider the complete texts and select key passages where you compare differences in terms of language, style, and narrative technique.
You are not expected to conduct any research for this assignment. While contextual information helps to set up a comparison, you should spend no more than half a page on it. The main focus should be on comparing and analyzing the texts—and the analysis should be fully your own.