Creative Project

Autumn 2011 | Mr. Silas Hansen We have looked at various types of writing this quarter, including academic writing and online writing through The Blog Project. Now, we will take the skills we have learned for those two types of writing and apply it to a different genre: creative writing specifically creative nonfiction. Carefully taking audience and genre conventions into account, you will create a creative writing project that is related to our course theme of identity. You have two options for this assignment: 1.) Write a 5-8 page personal essay using the genre-conventions we discuss in class on Monday, November 21st and provide a 1-page, double-spaced explanation for your choices in terms of language/tone, structure, and your use of ethos, pathos, and logos. -or2.) Write and draw a 10-12 panel comic (that still follows the genre-conventions we discuss in class on Monday, November 21st) and provide a 1-page, double-spaced explanation for your choices in terms of the realism of the drawings, the panel-to-panel transitions, and your use of closure. Completing the Assignment If you choose to write a 5-8 page personal essay 1.) Begin with the in-class writing prompts from Monday, November 21st. 2.) Write an essay that deals with issues of identity race, ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic class, sexual orientation or gender identity, etc. The definition of identity is very broad, and can include anything that identifies you with a specific group of people, including a sports team or other extracurricular activity, should you be uncomfortable writing about one of the aforementioned topics. 3.) Make sure to do the following: a. Show conflict, either between your own identity and the group which you are/were a part of, or between your own identity and a group that you are/were not a part of. b. Depict the complexities of character and honestly show your own flaws. c. Depict more than one self on the page show yourself in the past, as well as yourself in the present. How does your present self look back on your past self? What does your present self know now that your past self does not? d. Write in a tone that is appropriate for creative writing think about the audience and what they will expect. e. Employ ethos, pathos, and logos in your essay in creative ways.

4.) Revise the essay to make sure it flows from one subject to the next; change the wording of the prompts I give you in class to fit in with the tone of the essay and with your own voice. 5.) In a one-page, double-spaced document, explain the choices you made in your essay. How did you decide what type of language and tone to use? How do you see yourself establishing/employing ethos, pathos, and logos throughout the essay? How did you decide to structure the essay to flow? If you choose to write/draw a 10-12 panel comic 1.) Begin with the in-class writing prompts from Monday, November 21st. 2.) Decide how best to depict the essay in comic form. You may create a rough sketch for what you want the comic to look like and/or what information you want to include in which panels. 3.) Make choices about how realistic you want the people in your comic to look, which panel-to-panel transitions you will use, how you will use closure for your storys benefit, etc. You may choose to re-read the excerpt from Scott McClouds Understanding Comics, which is available on Carmen. 4.) Create the comic, making sure to do the following: a. Show conflict, either between your own identity and the group which you are/were a part of, or between your own identity and a group that you are/were not a part of. b. Depict the complexities of character and honestly show your own flaws. c. Depict more than one self on the page show yourself in the past, as well as yourself in the present. How does your present self look back on your past self? What does your present self know now that your past self does not? d. Write in a tone that is appropriate for creative writing think about the audience and what they will expect. e. Employ ethos, pathos, and logos in your essay in creative ways. 5.) In a one-page, double-spaced document, explain the choices you made in your comic. Why did you decide to draw your comic in this particular style? What does that do for the reader, or what does that signal? How did you decide which panel-to-panel transitions to use? How did you decide to structure the comic? How do you see yourself establishing/employing ethos, pathos, and logos throughout the story? Due date: A rough draft of the creative project is due in class on Monday, November 28th for peer review (if you do not have a rough draft, your grade will be lowered according to the policy on the course syllabus, and you will be given an unexcused absence). Final copies of the creative project are due to my mailbox in Denney 421 no later than 5pm on Thursday, December 1st.