In-Class Exercise: What's the Opposite of a Gun?

 

Watch this video.

Take a piece of copier paper.

Draw an image of something that is the opposite of a gun. 

Write the name of it underneath.

On the back, write a sentence or two explaining why you chose it as the "opposite of a gun."

Sign your name to it.

Do more than one of you finish early. 

Tutorial Workshop: This Thursday in the Writers Studio from 11:00 to 1:00

💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯Please take advantage of this wonderful opportunity. I will be in the Writers Studio on Thursday, April 28, from 11:00 to 1:00. Stop by and get a final check before uploading your essay no later than 1:00 that day. If you can't make this time, please let me know and we can try to figure out another plan. 

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Handy Checklist for Final Essay

 

Q: What is the CBLDF?

 

A: The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund

Today's In-Class Assignment: Your Perfectly Formatted "Works Cited" Page

 This is fairly easy if you pay attention to directions and details. 

Once you show me a perfectfully-formatted MLA Works Cited page (with at least three sources) you will be free to leave class early. 

Here is the link to the Purdue OWL site for formatting an MLA Works Cited page.

Upload to Populi (5 pts)

I'll be around to address questions.  -- Casey

Today's Group Activity: Finding Great Sources and Examples

This exercise is really simple and really fun. With two other classmates, you're going to compile a quick bibliography. You can use JSTOR (hint hint) or Google or some other search engine. 

Find five (5) articles or essays that address the issue of artistic freedom and censorship in smart insightful ways. 

Copy and paste that information into the class discussion board. You have 45 minutes before reporting back to the class.  -- Casey   

Class Presentations on Tuesday, April 12

Today in class everyone will present a draft of their plan for the Delaware Contemporary Project. 

You will be scored on a scale of 5.

5 = excellent draft, directly useful for final version

4 = spotty draft, good ideas but not fully realized

3 = needs work, not terribly useful for final version

Each student will only have about 5 minutes. It will be a brisk presentation. Please comment and make suggestions for your classmates. It's part of your participation grade and it's fun. 

After presenting their work, everyone will need to address the following questions:

What do your artwork and literary text have to say about the idea of narrative? How do your two pieces connect to the original piece in the Delaware Contemporary? Be as specific as possible. In your understanding, not the dictionary, how is a story different from a narrative? Explain.

An International View of Artistic Freedom

I linked to this amazing resource in an earlier post, but I forgot to highlight it in class today. Ambitious students will check it out. Keep learning. Right? 

Case Studies in 20th and 21st American Art Censorship

It is fair to say that the controversy surrounding the photographs made by Robert Mapplethorpe that were exhibited in the late 1980s remains to be the most well-known case of artistic censorship in recent American history. Here is a short article by the lawyer who defended the right to exhibit these photographs. The effects of this case are still seen today. 

Also in 1989, a young Black art student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago named Dread Scott made headlines for his artwork involving the American flag. 

Certain politicians and other people want to prevent art (visual, literary, theatre, dance, music, etc.) from being exhibited or distributed on the grounds that it makes some people "uncomfortable". It is not a matter buried in the deep past. As I type, legislators throughout America are trying to pass laws that would make it illegal to teach and exhibit "controversial" works and ideas. Sometimes the issues aren't even very controversial. Who could deny that racism isn't a real thing and a real problem? Who could deny that people experience sexuality and gender in ways that are not explicitly heteronormative? Who could deny that violence against women and trans people shouldn't be taken seriously? Well, sadly, the answer to these questions is "Plenty of people," and they're trying to pass laws to enforce these ideas. They do this by censoring and silencing people who have different ideas. 

This document, The State of Artistic Freedom, 2021, summarizes the problems that artists (a/k/a content creators) continue to face.

Start to take notes, search J-STOR, bookmark websites, freewrite. You will be writing your essay on these ideas. 

Introducing the Final Module: Censorship is Complicated!

 

This is a great introduction to a very wide and complicated subject: Censorship in the Arts. 

What do you think about it? Why? After we quickly go over this document, every student will write a comment on our class discussion board. If you finish before your classmates, start to reply and comment on their posts. We will have a discussion after everyone has posted. 

Here's the question: Should artists sometimes be forced to restrict their artistic ideas and practice? Or should they be free to do whatever they please? Why? Explain. 

A Couple of Questionable Videos about Narrative

 

Yes, but art can also tell a narrative. It doesn't have to be writing.

This animation about narrative is a little bit better.

Schedule for the End of the Semester

We have only nine (9) class sessions left in the semester. Please make every effort to come to these nine classes fully prepared to participate in discussion and critique. Of course, make sure your assignments are uploaded on time.

Two assignments remain: 

The Delaware Contemporary Project (two parts: art & writing), and the Final Essay (20 pts).

I have pushed back the Delaware Contemporary Project a tiny bit. Your finished drafts will be due no later than 1:00 pm on Tuesday, April 12. On that day, every student will make a brief (5 minute) presentation at the front of the class. Have a sketch or a concept drawing ready to show, and also have a draft of the writing component ready to share. This will count for 50% of your final grade for this unit, so don't blow it off. 

Your final submission is due no later than 1:00 pm on Tuesday, April 19. No late submissions will be accepted because we need to get the work to the jurors at The Delaware Conemporary, so they have time to select what they believe to be the best work.

The Final Essay will be introduced on Thursday, April 7. It is due no later than 1:00 pm on April 28. The assignment centers on the theme of censorship in the arts and will require you to write argumentatively to support a debatable position. This essay will incorporate at least three (3) reputable secondary sources and be formatted in MLA style. The minimum length is seven (7) developed paragraphs with a "Works Cited" page at the end. This should demonstrate your best writing of the semester. Show me what you have learned. Students who do a brilliant job with this final assignment are likely to improve their final grades. A draft of this essay is due no later than 1:00 pm on Tuesday, April 26 (50%), and the final is due no later than 1:00 pm on Thursday, April 28.

Questions:  csmith@dcad.edu