ENG 203 Online: Introduction to World Literature
WRITING ASSIGNMENT #3: Creative Project
OVERVIEW
In this assignment, you will complete a creative project that thoughtfully responds to one course reading according to the directions below. The creative project consists of two parts: a creative piece (400-500 words) and a reflection on the creative piece (500-700 words). Both parts are required and equally important to the assignment. The creative piece is worth 8 points and the reflection is worth 7 points, for a total of 15 possible points for the whole creative project.
You will choose which course text your creative project responds to. You can choose any one literary text assigned in this course through Week 12 with three exceptions: you may not choose Welty’s “Petrified Man” (the subject of Writing Assignment #1) and you may not choose either of the two texts you wrote on for Writing Assignment #2. For example, if you wrote Writing Assignment #2 on Mexican Gothic and The Metamorphosis, you cannot use either of those texts for Writing Assignment #3.
So, given the above exceptions, possible course texts for this assignment are as follows:
· Liu Cixin, “The Poetry Cloud”
· Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Mexican Gothic
· One of the assigned versions of “Little Red Riding Hood” (your reflection must indicate which one version you are responding to)
· William Shakespeare, The Tempest
· Jocelyn Bioh, School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play
Your project should not use or reference any outside sources beyond your chosen course text and the course lecture videos.
PART 1: CREATIVE PIECE
Your creative piece can respond to your chosen course text in one of two ways:
Option 1. Write a pitch for an imagined adaptation of your chosen text in a different medium and set in a different time AND place than the original text; the pitch will take the form of a letter to a production/publishing/media company; your pitch must be 400 words minimum and 500 words maximum
Option 2. Write a piece of literature of your own—either a poem, piece of short fiction, short scene in play format, or a letter—inspired by your chosen text; the maximum length of your piece is 500 words; if you write a piece of short fiction, a play scene, or a letter, your piece must be 400 words minimum; there is no minimum word count if you choose to write one poem, but it must be at least 14 lines long and we expect that your poem’s language, length, and structure will be thoughtful, carefully chosen, and meaningful; if you choose to write haikus in response to Bashō’s work, then you should write 3-5 thoughtful and thematically related haiku
Instructions & suggestions for each option:
Option 1: If you choose the pitch option, then remember that a pitch is meant to be persuasive and to convince someone (in this case, a production/publishing/media company) to fund and support your vision for the project. Your adaptation can be in any possible artistic medium except the one the original text is in; possible mediums include, but are not limited to: a film, a miniseries, a TV show, a video game, a museum exhibit, a novel, a graphic novel, a short story, a poem (or poems), and a play. Your adaptation must change—that is, adapt—the original text in substantial ways. An adaptation creates a new vision for and version of a story, while still keeping the “spirit” of the original. Your adaptation must change the time and place of the original story, and this change in setting will likely lead to adjustments of other aspects of the story such as the characters, plot events, and/or the ending/resolution. Do not simply reproduce the original text in your adaptation.
Questions to consider include: When and where will your adaptation be set? Do you want to set it in the modern day or in a different time period (in the past or in the future)? How would such changes in setting affect the characters and plot? What medium will your adaptation be in? What are the advantages and allowances of that medium, and how can your adaptation take advantage of what that medium enables? You could pitch a film version of The Tempest. What genre would the movie be? What would be the style and tone? What kind of special effects or soundtrack might it include? You could pitch a video game version of Mexican Gothic. What characters, choices, or mechanics would the game contain? Would there be different levels to work through? You could pitch a graphic novel version of The Metamorphosis. What would be the style of the artwork? Which scenes would be visualized and why? (Your choices are not limited to these specific examples; these few examples are meant to show you some possibilities and to jumpstart your thinking.)
Option 2: If you choose the literature option, then your artistic creation (poem, short fiction, play scene, letter) must, in some way, respond to some aspect of the original text.
Inspired by Bashō’s poetry, you could write a series of 3-5 thematically connected haiku about your own travels or experiences with nature. You could write a letter to playwright Jocelyn Bioh, sharing your thoughts about beauty standards, beauty pageants, and/or bullying in response to the portrayal of those issues in School Girls. You could write a short play scene that imagines what Prospero ultimately does after The Tempest ends; he promised to give up his magic (“I’ll break my staff…I’ll drown my book”)—does he? You could write a piece from the grandmother’s point of view from Perrault’s “Little Red Riding Hood” that expands on her experience with the wolf. You could write a letter from one of the characters in “The Poetry Cloud,” or perhaps a poem (or series of poems) that you imagine could have been generated by the poetry cloud. (Your choices are not limited to these specific examples; these few examples are meant to show you some possibilities and to jumpstart your thinking.) Whatever you decide, your artistic creation should clearly and thoughtfully respond to the original text by extending, adapting, complementing, or drawing inspiration from some aspect of the text.
PART 2: REFLECTION
Your written reflection on your creative piece must be a minimum of 500 words and a maximum of 700 words. This reflection is a crucial part of this assignment. It is worth nearly half of the assignment grade (7 points out of the 15 points total for this assignment), and it also will help guide us as we read and grade the creative portion of your assignment.
In your reflection, you must thoughtfully address all four of these prompts:
1) Briefly explain your creative piece (which one original text you chose to respond to; whether you chose option 1 or 2 for the creative piece; brief overview of your creative piece)
2) Briefly explain your process for creating the piece (how did you decide upon your chosen original text; why did you choose that text; how did you brainstorm, compose, and finalize your creative piece)
3) Explain your creative piece’s engagement with the original text (how does it reimagine, respond to, build on, critique, or otherwise engage with the original text; if you chose option 1, what changes does your adaptation make to the original story and what are the significance and effects of those changes; if you chose option 2, what are the specific instances, passages, or issues from the original text that your creative piece engages with)
4) Reflect on what you learned about the original text as a result of working on this assignment (how has your understanding of or appreciation of the original text changed or deepened after this assignment; what do you notice now about the original text that you hadn’t noticed before writing this assignment)
GRADING & RUBRIC
All writing assignments will be graded based on a rubric. Both the creative piece and reflection are graded and represented on the rubric (see the Writing Assignment #3 Rubric for details). The rubric is available on Canvas and students are encouraged to look it over carefully during the composition of their assignment. The creative piece is worth 8 points and the reflection is worth 7 points, for a total of 15 possible points for the whole creative project (half points are possible).
REQUIRED LENGTH
If you choose the pitch option (Option 1), your pitch must be 400 words minimum and 500 words maximum. If you choose the literature option (Option 2) and if you write a piece of short fiction, a play scene, or a letter, your piece must be 400 words minimum and 500 words maximum. Poetry tends to be a more concise form; therefore, there is no minimum word count if you choose to write a poem, but it must be at least 14 lines long and we expect that your poem’s language, length, and structure will be thoughtful, carefully chosen, and meaningful. If you write haikus in response to Bashō, you should write 3-5 thematically related haiku (again, the structure and language will be thoughtful, carefully chosen, and meaningful). The written reflection must be a minimum of 500 words and a maximum of 700 words.
FORMAT & SUBMISSION
In the upper-left-hand corner of the first page, place your header information on four different lines: your name, instructors’ names, course name, and date. Then put your creative piece, followed by your reflection. Both parts of this project—the creative piece and the reflection—must be included in one text document (such as a Word document or PDF). The whole document must be typed, double-spaced, and written in 12-point Times, Times New Roman, Calibri, or Arial font with one-inch margins on all sides. Before you submit your project, take time to proofread it as your writing should be polished, clear, and free of errors. To receive credit for this assignment, students must upload one document—that includes the creative piece and the reflection—to the Writing Assignment #3 link in the Week 12 module in Canvas. You cannot submit your document as an attachment to a submission comment. The student is solely responsible to make sure their assignment has been submitted correctly.
