Details for Final Creative Assignment: The Text/Image Broadside

Thursday's final class meeting is going to be really fun and active. Tomorrow's class (Tuesday, Dec 12) will be mainly a work day. I'll also be meeting for brief conferences with each student. 

Here is a link to a series of over 130 text/image broadsides. You might get inspiration from taking a look. I collaborated on one of the prints, "Language Survival Guide."

I want to clarify a few things about the assignment.

1.) Make sure that you copy the quotation from your chosen story verbatim. Word for word. Check it once and check it twice. Did you get the capitalization, spelling, and punctuation right? Remember to include the author's name and the story's title. 

2.) If you really want to hand-letter it, do so with purpose and care. Too often I see the text added as an after-thought. 

3.) I changed my mind about one thing: the text does not have to appear at the base of your image. You are free to incorporate it in any way you see fit. 

4.) No recycling of old art for this assignment. You need to make something new. OK?   

Send me an email message if you have questions: csmith@dcad.edu.

Online Exhibition of Wordless Novels

 

Click here for the online exhibition

Essay Details for Lynd Ward's "Gods'Man" and William Joyce's "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore"

 Hooray! This is the final writing assignment of the semester. Congratulations! You're almost there. 

Some students asked for clarification about this final essay. Here goes.

The essay should be single-spaced (1-2 pages) and can integrate visual images from the two stories. This is not required, but it is an option open to you. 

Likewise, secondary sources aren't required, but you are free to use them. 

In your essay, write about your experiences reading one or both of these wordless stories. What are the advantages of "reading" a story made purely of images? Are there disadvantages? Does a wordless text place more responsibility on the reader? Less? Do you think our culture is moving toward wordless communication? Emojis for example. Is this a beneficial thing? The questions above are not a laundry list to be answered in order. Instead, they serve as a guide to related questions and issues. Follow your own path as long as it's related in some way to the spirit of the questions above. 

Lovingly and carefully revise and edit your essay before uploading it. 

This is due no later than 3:30 pm on Thursday, December 7.

Questions: csmith@dcad.edu

Example of Creative Broadside: Very Basic

Reminder: Your final written essay is due this Thursday by yhe start of class.

 Please be sure to give this essay enough time and tender loving care. Try to find all of your casual errors and correct them. 

We talked about using images (figures) in your writing. I formatted two examples, one with a single column and one with two columns. You are not required to incorporate images into your essay, but if you want to, please do it right. 

Here is a link to the double-column format.

And here is a link to the single-column format.

Two Great Essays about Lynd Ward's Wordless Novels

Hello R&C Students, 

Please read/skim these two essays for tomorrow's class.  You will need to copy and paste the URLs. 

You do not need to read every word. Find the main idea. Be ready for discussion tomorrow.  --- Casey

Faust Animated

 

This animation gives the basic plot to the "Faustian Bargain" theme in art, literature, and real life. At its core, a "Faustian Bargain" is the trading of spiritual and moral values for money, fame, sex, riches, etc. At first, the trade seems pretty good. Eventually, however, it turns out to be a very bad deal: painful death, infamy, poverty, loneliness, etc. Lynd Ward's Gods' Man follows this pattern. 

It can't be coincidental that Scott McCloud, author of the justly famous Understanding Comics, put a Faustian Bargain at the center of his graphic novel, The Sculptor. Check out this video.