Dr. Alex E. Blazer Course Site Syllabus
In Class Activities Scholarly Criticism Discussion Board
Paper 1 Paper 2 Research Project

 

Hungry Artists and Exquisite Corpses

Liberal Studies 310: Creativity, Winter 2008

Section 01 MWF 1:00-1:50PM, 1110 Mackinac Hall

Section 04 MWF 9:00-9:50AM, 1110 Mackinac Hall

In Class Activities

1. Annotating Scholarly Criticism

Friday, January 11: In a threefold effort to 1) conclude our discussion of Joyce's creative process, 2) practice annotating scholarly criticism for the final research project, and 3) get know each other, you will write a 75-100 word paragraph summarizing one of the articles in the Norton critical edition. I'll assign the article in class on Friday and you will bring your annotation to class on Monday.

 

A good research annotation,

Monday, January 14: Share your individual annotations and then collectively compose an annotation that your entire group thinks best summarizes the journal article. Your group will present this annotation to the class.

2. Picasso's Guernica

For our first day of Guernica, we're going to practice highlighting and generalizing important concepts regarding the creative process. Break into groups of four or five and then develop out Arnheim's key passages involving creativity.

  1. "Notes on Creativity": Describe one or two theories of creativity as defined and summarized by Arnheim in "Notes on Creativity."
  2. "The Painting": What does Arnheim say about the creative process for this particular painting?
  3. "Steps toward Guernica": As Arnheim exhaustively explains Picasso's sketches, he also provides maxims about the creative process. First, find and mark four or five such passages; then, generalize what Arnheim's concept of creativity entails.

3. A Book of Surrealist Games

In order to understand Surrealism, we're going to break into groups and place games like Exquisite Corpse from A Book of Surrealist Games.

Scholarly Criticism

Discussion Board Response

Blackboard Post: You will respond to a reading, and post your response to our course discussion board at Blackboard > Discussion Board. The response should

Informal Presentation: You will also be responsible for a brief, informal presentation which introduces the key issues and possible themes of the text as you see them and also broaches issues for class discussion. Just as you will lose credit if you submit your post late, if you are absent on the day you're supposed to present, you will lose half the credit.

 

Due Dates:

  1. Your discussion board response will be due in Blackboard > Discussion Board on the Friday before we discuss an essay in class. If you do not submit your response to Blackboard at least one day before the text is discussed in class, you will fail the assignment.
  2. Your brief, informal presentation will be due on the day we discuss the reading in class. This date is approximate for we sometimes fall a day behind.
  3. I will return your graded response to you in Blackboard > My Grades > Discussion Board Response by the next week.
  4. For example, we are scheduled to discuss Kafka on Friday, 1-18. Therefore, the summary will be due in Blackboard > Discussion Board by Friday, 1-11. In class on Friday, 1-18, the respondent will informally present her reading of Kafka and I will grade her response and return it to Blackboard > My Grades > Discussion Board Response by the following week.

Note: It is your responsibility to remember to post your response on time.

 

Section 04 MWF 9:00AM [Scroll down for Section 01 MWF 1:00PM]

Blackboard Due Date Presentation Due Date (Approximate) Reading Student
F, 1-11 F, 1-18 Kafka, "A Hunger Artist"

Nicholas Kusto

Alexa Hansen
F, 1-18 M, 1-21 Mee, Hotel Cassiopeia Natalie Carolan
F, 1-25

Anderson or Blair

Ariel Wick

Caws or Falsetta

Holly Fawcett
F, 1-25 M, 1-28 Arnheim, The Genesis of a Painting Renee Bass
W, 1-30 Tomkins, "Marcel Duchamp" Jolie Crison
F, 2-1
M, 2-4

Tomkins, " Robert Raushenberg"

Johnathan W. Foote
W, 2-6

Piirto or Bloom

Britta Stifler
F, 2-8

Freud or Kristeva

Rachel Koch
F, 2-8 M, 2-11

Bigsby

 

Tzara

Josh deJong
W, 2-13 Hopkins John Pfieffer
F, 2-15 Breton

Mike Hadraba

Julie Moss

F, 2-15

M, 2-18 Dali Darcy Farac
F, 2-22
M, 2-25
Jamison, Touched with Fire (1-100) Jennifer Roberts
W, 2-27

Jamison, continued (101-90)

 
F, 2-29

Jamison, concluded (191-270)

Jill VanDeRiet
F, 2-29 None Spring Break None
F, 3-7 F, 3-14 MacGregor

Joel Bodbyl

Nick Noel
F, 3-14 M, 3-17 Barrantes-Vidal Dayna Frownfelder
Park and Simpson-Housely Ben Kleyn
W, 3-19 Rhodes Katie Witt
F, 3-21 Shelley, Frankenstein Zach Page

Ryan Shafer

Phil Sieb
F, 3-21 F, 3-28 Moers or Johnson Ashley Sprick
Mellor or Butler  
F, 3-28 M, 3-31 Watson, The Double Helix Michelle Graves
Melissa Tarrant
F, 4-4 Stent Lauren Heltsley
Medawar or Lolf Stephanie Roach
F, 4-4 None None None
F, 4-11 None None None
F, 4-18 None None None

 

Section 01 MWF 1:00PM [Scroll up for Section 04 MWF 9:00AM]

 

Blackboard Due Date Presentation Due Date (Approximate) Reading Student
F, 1-11 F, 1-18 Kafka, "A Hunger Artist"

Reuben Beattie

Nick Gascho
F, 1-18 M, 1-21 Mee, Hotel Cassiopeia Lyndsey Pietrangelo
F, 1-25

Anderson or Blair

Elizabeth Conklin

Caws or Falsetta

Benedict Hahnenberg
F, 1-25 M, 1-28 Arnheim, The Genesis of a Painting Ryan Bell
Ashley Wilder
W, 1-30 Tomkins, "Marcel Duchamp" Laura Stinar
F, 2-1
M, 2-4

Tomkins, " Robert Raushenberg"

Samantha Hotchkin
W, 2-6

Piirto or Bloom

Natalie Thomas
F, 2-8

Freud or Kristeva

 
F, 2-8 M, 2-11

Bigsby or Tzara

Amanda Sheppard
W, 2-13 Hopkins Josh Cassidy
F, 2-15 Breton Kelly Ryder

F, 2-15

M, 2-18 Dali Sabrina Brooks
F, 2-22
M, 2-25
Jamison, Touched with Fire (1-100) Bettie Groenhout
W, 2-27

Jamison, continued (101-90)

 
F, 2-29

Jamison, concluded (191-270)

Ashley Bieber
F, 2-29 None Spring Break None
F, 3-7 F, 3-14 MacGregor Vanessa Heuck
F, 3-14 M, 3-17 Barrantes-Vidal Kevin McCarty
W, 3-19 Rhodes Brad Bice
F, 3-21 Shelley, Frankenstein Kareesa Franklin
Katie Mellama-DeLange
F, 3-21 F, 3-28 Moers or Johnson Andrew Kovatch
Mellor or Butler Jeff VanSolkema
F, 3-28 M, 3-31 Watson, The Double Helix Tom Mitsos
Katie Rabbitt
F, 4-4 Stent  
Medawar or Lwoff  
F, 4-4 None None None
F, 4-11 None None None
F, 4-18 None None None

Short Paper 1

In the first three weeks of the course, we have discussed at length the relationship of the artist's life (filial, educational, social, political, sexual, psychological) to her artistic theory, creative process, and artistic production. We have also discussed the relationship between the artist's creation and the audience's reception. For the first short paper, write an essay on either Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man , Kafka's "A Hunger Artist," or Mee's Hotel Cassiopeia that explores how the aesthetic theory, process, or product is influenced by either the experience of the artist or the role of the audience. Your focused and thesis-driven analytical essay should use textual evidence (direct quotations) to prove your understanding of the dialectic between life and art.

Short Paper 2

While the first paper located the creative process in the artist's life experience, this paper asks you to either investigate a conception of the creative process or to discuss the creative process within the context of a work of art. You have two different options for this paper.

  1. Compare and contrast two different understandings of the creative process according to two different authors: Arnheim, Tomkins, Bloom, Freud, Kristeva, Tzara, Breton, Dali, Hopkins, and Jamison. For example, you could compare and contrast the the Dadaist and Surrealist versions of creativity using the Dadaist Tzara and the Surrealist Breton. Or you could compare and contrast anxiety with manic-depression using Bloom and Jamison, or you could find an interesting combination of your own. Where does the creative process converge, and where does it diverge—and why?
  2. Interpret a work of art, literature, or film, either from in class (but not one which you wrote your first paper on) or of your own choosing (yet subject to my approval--if you do not obtain my approval, you will not do well on the paper) and discuss the creative processes that may have operated in its formation. In other words, your paper should thematically analyze a creative work and conceptually discuss the creative processes that went into it by using at least two authors we hve read who talk about the creative process (Arnheim, Tomkins, Piirto, Bloom, Freud, Kristeva, Bigsby, Tzara, Breton, Eluard, Dali, Hopkins, and Jamison). For instance, you could analyze a work by Duchamp and his Dadaist creative process of found object using Tomkins, Bigsby, and Hopkins; or you could analyze a work by Dali and discuss his paranoiac-critical method using his own writing, or Hopkins' or Breton's. Or you could select a work outside of class to interpret, run it by me, and discuss the possible creative processes that generated it.

Research Project

We have discussed how the lives of artists (Stephen Dedalus, the hunger artist, Joseph Cornell) influence their creative process, compared and contrasted the creative processes of art movements (Dadaism, Surrealism, and the avant-garde), and analyzed the relationship of psyche to creativity (unconscious and dreams, anxiety of influence, manic-depression, the art of the insane). Now is the time for you to pursue your interest regarding art or science and the creative process. For the final project, select an artist (poet, prose writer, musician, painter, sculptor, etc) or scientist who is researchable (you must be able to find magazine articles, scholarly journal articles and book chapters on her work and her creative process using our research handout). Your 8-10 page research paper, which must incorporate at least 5 secondary sources, will both interpret the artist's work and analyze her creative process.

 

The goals of the final project are as follows:

  1. analyze a work of art or science
  2. understand and discuss the creative process
  3. conduct your own research regarding the artistic/scientific process
  4. formally present your work in progress to the class

Research Project: Conferences

In an effort to make sure that everyone is on the right track and has a little bit more time to work on the annotated bibliography, I am cancelling class on Friday, April 4. However, I will be in my office all day holding conferences about the research project. If you are having trouble, have questions, or have not done as well as you would have liked on previous papers, I encourage you to schedule a meeting.

 

Friday, April 4
Student
9:00
Ariel Wick
9:10
Alexa Hansen
9:20
Ashley Sprick
9:30
Joel Bodbyl
9:40
Jolie Crison
10:00
Michelle Graves
10:10
Nick Gascho
10:20
 
10:30
Rachel Koch
10:40
Kevin McCarty
12:00
Katie Rabbitt
12:10
 
12:20
 
12:30
 
12:40
Laura Stiner
1:00
Katie M. DeLange
1:10
Tom Mitsos
1:20
 
1:30
Kareesa Franklin
1:40
 

Research Project: Annotated Bibliography

To help you in your analysis of the work and the creative process that generated it, you must conduct research. Annotate 12-15 journal articles, and books/book chapters and magazine articles that discuss your artist, her work, her creative process, and/or the artistic movement of which she is a part. While you should strive to have the same number of each, you must have at least 3 journal articles and 3 books; use magazines if and only if you cannot find scholarly sources.

 

As we practiced earlier in the semester, a good research annotation of 75-100 words,

To format your annotated bibliography, provide the MLA styled citation, then follow it with your annotation. Alphabetize the bibliography by the authors' last names.

 

Due Date: Monday, April 7 in Blackboard > Assignments > Annotated Bibliography by midnight.

Research Project: Presentation

You will share your research findings and your paper in progress to the class in a 7-10 minute presentation. While the annotated bibliography asks for straight research, your presentation should begin to make sense of the research and articulate your reading of the artist's work and her creative process. Because the presentation is due for most of you before the final paper is due, your controlling idea will be considered a work in progress: you don't have to present your final thesis, just your working thesis regarding the meaning of the work and the process that generated it. However, your presentation should be well-organized and well-prepared: tell the class what you learned (research) and what the artist's creative process is.

 

Section 04 (MWF 9:00AM)

 

Date
Student Artist/Scientist
M, 4-7
Ariel Wick Pablo Picasso
Alexa Hansen Man Ray
W, 4-9
Jill Konynenbert Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
Nick Noel F. Scott Fitzgerald
Britta Stiffler Marc Chagall
F, 4-11
Josh deJong Isaac Newton
Natalie Carolan George Lucas
Rachel Koch Richard Feynman
Nicholas Kusto Michel Gondry
M, 4-14

Michelle Graves

Stephen King
Julie Moss M. C. Escher
W, 4-16
Holly Fawcett Emily Dickinson
Joel Bodbyl Benjamin Franklin
Melissa Tarrant The Beatles
John Pfeiffer Foo Fighters
F, 4-18
Johnathan W. Foote Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam
Katie Witt Eminem
Darcy Farac Elvis Presley
Ashley Sprick Maya Angelou
T, 4-22

Dayna Frownfelder

Stephen King
Phil Sieb Jean-Luc Godard
Jen Roberts Virginia Woolf
Ryan Schafer Leonardo da Vinci
Lauren Heltsley Martha Graham
Zach Page Alfred Hitchcock
Ben Kleyn Marilyn Manson
Jolie Crison Vincent Van Gogh

 

Section 1 (MWF 1:00PM)

 

Date
Student Artist/Scientist
M, 4-7
Kareesa Franklin

Madonna

Nick Gascho Alejandro Jodorowski
Benedict Hahnenberg Claes Oldenberg
W, 4-9
Natalie Thomas Sylvia Plath
Kevin McCarty Bob Dylan
Lyndsey Pietrangelo L. Frank Baum
F, 4-11
Katie Rabbitt Rainer Maria Rilke
Kelly Ryder Edward Munch
Josh Cassidy Salvador Dali
M, 4-14
Amanda Sheppard

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Betty Groenhout Ansel Adams
W, 4-16
Andrew Kovatch Radiohead
Elizabeth Conklin William Faulkner
Tom Mitsos The Beatles
F, 4-18
Ryan Bell Tupac Shakur
Brad Bice M.C. Escher
T, 4-22
Reuben Beattie David Bowie
Ashley Bieber Bob Dylan
Laura Stinar Stephen King
Jeff Van Solkema Jackson Pollock
Samantha Hotchkin Frida Kahlo
Vanessa Heuck Schumann, Manfred

Research Project: Paper