Introduction:In our first four weeks, we’ve looked at how our early ancestors struggled to survive against nature and how our sense of self began to form as we interacted with the world we live in. While the first humans had a different struggle than we do (survival has been altered significantly, for sure), they still had to “think” to both survive and solve ongoing problems like building a better shelter, preparing and cooking foods more effectively, developing new techniques to acquire necessities or improve access to them, finding ways to work with others and build a community, and… you get the picture.
Task:So, now that we’re getting “visual,” that’s what your first essay is going to be – a visual argument on one of the challenges we’ve discussed that early humans had faced. Make the viewer think – consider your piece as something one would see in a museum – about the challenge by using various images that depict it and tell a story of how humans coped, or perhaps couldn’t cope, with this challenge. To create your visual text, you may work digitally, making one PowerPoint slide. Or, if you wish, you can create a physical poster/canvas and upload a photo of it. Either medium is okay; play to your strengths. Whatever visual elements you choose to include, they must be of your own discovery (not from the class materials here in the course). In other words, don't be lazy; find pertinent illustrations, pictures, images on your own that are relevant.
Here are some of the challenges you can choose from (just choose and focus on one):
- surviving in the wild
- learning to hunt and gather
- staying put and working the land (the advent of farming, agriculture)
- facing and overcoming fear
- controlling the ego to co-exist with others
- “coping” with the unknown (the mystery of what makes things happen)
- succumbing to the irrational for the sake of the group
- reaching for enlightenment above and beyond the norm – or not (and just adhering to the “status quo”)
Or you can come up with one of your own understanding of a challenge that you saw in the topics we discovered. The above are just suggestions; you may have a different take on something we studied in class that intrigues you. Go for it! (Just make sure there’s a clear connection to what we’ve addressed in the course.)
Requirements:Your main requirement is to include one key quote from one of our readings or videos, which will create the theme of your visual argument. You can use additional text on the visual, but the main key quote should be prominent. For example, several lines from “Survival of the Adaptable,” or a key point from chapter one inCivilization and Its Discontents, or a major insight from the BBC Documentary on human instincts, or from “How Fear and Anxiety Drove Evolution,” a sentence from “Prehistory and the Conditioned Imagination,” etc.
In terms of argument, you can use a variety of visuals (like a collage) that correspond directly to the quote, complicate it, or show contradictions. Your text, overall, should make readers think - and it should raise questions. (You know, like an exhibit in a museum makes one think.) Abstract or more “obtuse” responses are encouraged, yet your artist statement (see below) will have to explain the choices you have made as an artist.
The Artist Statement:
With your visual, you should submit an artist statement that includes the following layers:
- Discuss your choice for thetheme of the visual. Why did you select the text and key quote? What made you want to pursue this angle further?
Explain your main “argument”(or thesis) for the piece. What do you want viewers to think about or question when they see your visual text? What do you hope they take away?
Comment on the creative process. Reflect honestly on the artistic, creative, or critical thinking you did to put the piece together. What inspired you to take this route? What subtle details do you hope your viewers notice? (If you’re less confident about the artistic results, take your readers into the process and deeper thinking you did to put the piece together. Explain your intentions as a scholar/artist.)
Your statement should betyped, well-edited, and proofread. It should be aminimum of 500 words, 12pt. font, Times New Roman, double-spaced. Be sure to respond to all of the above layers. Likewise, it is also okay to refer to additional quotes from the class text(s) to help you explain your connections and insights. Citation requirements for this project are loose, but page numbers should be cited within the artist statement when quoting from a source that does have page numbers, likeCivilization and Its Discontents(a favor to your readers). Do it like this: (Freud 16).
Sources; Book (likeCivilization and Its Discontents),
https://nautil.us/issue/53/monsters/how-evolution-designed-your-fear
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6-HAPgVsv4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvAVjGMEHA0
The main source will be the book.