Things You Should Look at Before You Start Writing:
Suggestions for Effective Essay Structure
Paper One: Clothing Style Definition & Description: The History of your Clothing Stylings (500 words -- diagnostic)
As we begin our exploration of how piecing together cloth both reflects and constitutes identity, think about how you have changed the clothes you wear and how your wear them as you have grown up. Did you dramatically change your wardrobe when you came to college? What clothes do you wear the most and why? Are your weekend clothes different from your weekday clothes? Do your reserve certain outfits for certain occasions?
Paper Two: Writing your "Real" Material Quilt (2000 words)
Need a pattern? Try this list of free patterns online: http://www.freequiltpatterns.info/. I liked this site off the list: http://equiltblocks.com/cgi-bin/browse.cgi?35,24.
Using the
fabrics you've chosen, construct/fasten a mini-quilt square of 12" x 12"
dimensions. Select one pattern with a particular historical/personal resonance
and explain the significance or context of the pattern-- "Log Cabin" quilts
usually emblematize home and hearth and settling frontiers. How does the context
relate to your own experience-- have you ever tested boundaries? what new ground
are you settling? You will need to use quotations, ideas, or examples from the texts
we've been discussing in class. Please see the MLA section of A Writer's
Reference on how to do the citations.
Then, examine your finished square and speculate in writing about how it alters the conventions of the quilting genre: what "need" does it satisfy? is it more purely art or craft? or graded "material"? What do your choices reflect about your own style, economics, and investments?
Remember quilting is all about process. Did you finish? Why or why not? Are you happy with your square? Why or why not? Did you enjoy the process of making the square? What aspects were (not) enjoyable?
This essay should be that's 3-4 pages; it will be graded not on the technical sewn quality of the quilted object, but on the written reflection upon the selected materials, design, and context analysis. I will be looking for detailed description as well as an attention to process/ cause and effect.
Paper Three: Comparison and Contrast (6-7 pages)
In this assignment, you will compare and contrast the making of your "real" and "virtual" quilt squares as modes of artistic expression. You should consider the following questions as you make your comparison: How do each present different aspects of your identity? Did you create a new sort of self as you created your squares? Are all aspects of that identity equally available to all readers of either square? Explain why or why not. How did your experiences in making and using your quilt squares correspond to any of the readings during the term? How did the medium of the square play a part its creation?
What I'm looking for hear is your ability to use the texts we have read throughout the semester to examine critically why you interacted in the way that you did with both your virtual and material quilt squares. In other words, don't just say that you were able to depict a certain aspect of your personality, but rather discuss what about the medium you are talking about enabled you convey that thought.
If you so choose, you can do this project as a web project . . .
Additional/ different requirements for papers done in web form: