Entries Tagged 'Assignments' ↓

I want to state right off that this is stolen material, and I can’t even cite the source because I don’t remember which instructor came up with it. All I can say is that it was one of our wonderful TAs in the English Department.

Anyway, the assingment went something like this:

1. Pick an abstract word like love or hope or …grammar. (Cheers to Hartwell!)
2. Find an image that you believe captures your conception of the abstract word.
3. Research the various meanings, portrayals, conceptions of the word.
4. Write an essay on how the image you chose reflects or negates those meanings.

The reason I like this so much is because there’s a lot of creative freedom to the assignment and because it asks the student to articulate a very complex idea.

And, well, if I had time, I’d like to do it myself, which I suppose is the test for any assignment.

We’ve been doing lots of theoretical readings for class, and I’ve actually enjoyed them quite a bit.  I like that the possibilities behind the word “composition” feel almost limitless.  I also like, though, that this past week we got to spend a little time thinking about the actual practical application of our ideas.  So, I’ve decided to post assignment ideas now and then.    I also want to urge everyone else to take up the torch.  This way we’ll have a greater pool from which to draw when then time comes. (Hmm…a torch and a pool…conflicting metaphors.)

 Inspiration: Mystory

Part 1 (one page) Research (light research) a minute area of biological science: could be the muscles that control the eyelid, could be the membrane surrounding a simple cell, could be the chemical reaction within the body that creates methane.  Gather vocabulary and definitions.

Part 2 (3 pages) Write a narrative (story) that incorporates the information gathered in part 1.  The story may be about yourself, someone you know, or someone entirely fictional. 

Purpose (theory): Foreign matter forced into an oddly shaped box often generates creativity. 

 As an aside, I’m reading Ulmer’s textbook and I discovered something new about mystory, something I find a little frightening.  The ”image of wide scope” that you discover through the process of doing a mystory is like a window into your psyche.  I prefer to keep the shades drawn…