Monday, May 14, 2012

Assignment for the week of May 14:

Planning Stage

  • You should be searching for the pictures you want to use in your blog.  You need to have 5 photos each (not per group).
  • You can also take pictures with your camera(phone).
  • When you find the picture that you want to use
    • save it on your flash drive
    • OR save it to the computer and then upload it to your email.
  •  After you find your pictures, you need to decide on the text that you want to use.  The majority of the text must come from your essay/story/poem; you may also use text from the fiction, poetry, films, television shows, or songs that you reference in your essay/story/poem.  

Implementation Stage

  • When you have found/created your images and chosen your text (from your own essay/story/poem and from any other text you mention in your essay/story/poem), you are ready to create your blog.
  • The directions are located on this blog (scroll down).
  • You will create one post per group.
    • Decide on the order for the stories, and then figure out how to transition between the stories.
  •  Only publish when everyone in your group is finished with his/her work.
  • You may have to do some work at home.
     

Friday, May 11, 2012

How to log-on to your class's blog:
  1. Go to blogger.com.
  2. Type in the email address and the password - njwilliams2@cps.edu; EpicSound.
  3. Find the blog for your class - each class has its own blog.
  4. Each group will create their own post.  Do not publish your post until everyone is finished  with their part of the post!
  5. You need to title your post (something other than "Hello Martians"). You need to include the first names of every member of your group in the heading of your post.

Thursday, May 10, 2012


The following is the full assignment for your final.
Click here to read the original essay by Margaret Atwood. 

Hello Martians
Allegory: a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.
Margaret Atwood uses three literary texts to describe America to the Martians.  These texts are all from the same time period and all have the same overall comment about the U.S. right now: that it is contradictory, even puritanical and at times hypocritical.
How does America appear to you?  If beings from another planet landed in your backyard, how would you describe America to them?  What is the overall concept that you would present?  What work of literature, art, music, film, or television would you use to represent this idea?
Part I: Planning
1.     Figure out how you would represent your idea of America – this concept should be boiled down to one word, but then must be explained in your written piece. (Remember, you can be positive if you’d like.)
2.     Choose three artistic pieces that exemplify your conception of America.
3.     Explain exactly how these three artistic pieces represent your idea of America.
Part II: Writing
1.     Start with aliens landing in your yard.  They want to know about America.
2.     Tell them what others might think of the U.S., especially in light of current and historical events.
3.     Use your three artistic pieces to explain what America really is – at least in your opinion.
a.      You must explain each work of art separately.
b.     You must relate each work of art to a current idea that supports your concept of America.
c.      Be specific.  Your reader needs to understand what you are asserting.
4.     Include the aliens’ reactions.  Include humor or misunderstanding.
5.     Do the aliens accept your view?  Do they fully understand?
Part III: Visual
            Directions and explanations are forthcoming.
Part III: Visual
You will create a visual representation of your Martian essay/story/poem.  Each group member must create his/her own visual representation that the group will then assemble as a complete work.  Look to Maira Kalman’s work on the New York Times website, and her work in And the Pursuit of Happiness for inspiration.
Requirements:
·       Show your essay/story/poem through text, photos, pictures, and drawings.
·       Incorporate aspects from the works of art you chose into your depiction – quotations from movies, songs, T.V. shows, or literature; stills from movies or T.V. shows; images of the visual art.
·       Take your own photos to represent ideas in your essay/story/poem
·       Use “found” images from the Internet or magazines
Your finished project must include:
·       Five images – at least three with accompanying text
·       200 words (separate from the image text) – at least 125 must be words from your essay.
·       Your entire essay must be expressed in the final project.  I should be able to read blog and read your essay and get the same idea from both.

Assignment 1



Read some of Maira Kalman's work on The New York Times website:
"'I lift My Lamp Beside the Golden Door'"
"The Inauguration. At Last."
"Back to the Land"

Answer the following questions with your group members:
  1. How does Kalman organize her story?
  2. Explain the aspect of the stories that strike you most.
  3. What is the effect of Kalman's use of different media in her story?
  4. How does Kalman use different types of pictures to tell her story?  Explain the effectiveness of the pictures .
  5. Kalman uses different amounts of text in places in her story.  Sometimes the text furthers the story, sometimes the text comments on the picture.  Choose one example of each instance and discuss each instances role in telling the story.
  6. Overall, what is Kalman suggesting about America?
  7. Do you like any of the stories?  What is appealing about them? OR, what is unappealing about them?
  8. How can you use Kalman's work as an example for your own project?
 After you look at the examples of Kalman's work and you answer the above questions, work with your group to plan your own blogs. You have two options:
  • Option 1: do one blog that consolidates all of your stories into one (if you do this, the blog will be longer than the directions suggest)
  • Option 2: do three or four mini-blogs that represent each of your stories separately (number of blogs depends on the number of members in your group).
You should spend class time working together to create an overall vision for the blog.

Homework: locate or create images for the blog.