Final Project

Your final assignment will be a creative project that reflects your creative thinking about the topics covered in this course. You may focus on one specific issue, or your project can cover a number of points. I expect polished work, which has been well developed and thought through.

Here are a few suggestions for a creative project. Please do not feel limited to these options am open to a variety of projects and I encourage you to explore your creativity. Make sure to check in with me before starting a project. I want to make sure you are on track and don’t spend time on a project that won’t be accepted.

- A children’s book explaining one of issues we’ve addressed (for example gender, death, etc.) The book would have to be appropriate for the age group you determine and include illustrations (the visuals can be computer generated, complied from other images or created by a helpful friend).

- A blog (web log), which chronicles your opinions of the class issues and your reflections on the representations of the issues in popular culture. This option should be stared ASAP.

- A mini-documentary of one or more of the topics we’ve discussed in class.

- A ‘zine (an independent magazine) adapting you class work into a creative, readable format with visuals. The articles must address aspects of the issues we’ve discusses. Not all the text has to be yours (think about asking a friend to submit a poem, story, article about one of our class topics), but you should compose a majority of the writing. The visuals do not have to be your own.

- A comic book, graphic novel or collection of illustration panels that responds or relates to the class topics.

In addition to the creative piece, you will write a defense of your project. The project description essentially explains your creative piece and the underlying motives and message of your work. In the paper, you will explain the validity of your creative piece and how it beneficial to the understanding of the topic you’ve addressed. If you are unsure what to include in your essay, ask yourself the following questions.

- Why did I select this project?
- How did it feel to create this project?
- What influenced my decisions when creating the project?
- Who is the intended audience for my piece?
- How will the audience react?
- What is the underlying message of this piece?
- If someone objects to the validity of your piece, how would you respond?


To keep you on track, you will be submitting a series of short preparatory assignments reflecting the development of your ideas for the final product. They are as follows:

Final Project Freewrite (Due March 7): a one-page, typed exploration of project ideas. You may change the focus of your project after turning this in, just send me a quick email.

Final Project Research Summary (Due April 4): a summary of at least three items similar in execution or content to your project.

Final Project Proposal (Due May 2): a formal description of your project scope.

Final Project Draft Workshop (May 16): bring your creative project and three copies of your defense paper.

Final Project: Due May 23rd NO LATE WORK ACCEPTED!