Magnum Opus

Magnum opus (alchemy) - Wikipedia
Alchemical symbol for Magnum Opus (The Great Work)

The final project is your Magnum Opus, a personal masterpiece, that will demonstrate what you have learned in this class. It will consist of a creative project accompanied by a one-page (single-spaced) statement that references elements from the humanities that influenced your ideas, methods and meanings in your creative project.  This lesson will address the criteria and expectations for the Magnum Opus and introduce the step-by-step activities for project development.

Lesson Objectives
  • identify criteria and expectations in the Magnum Opus (GELO) assignment description
  • recognize the expectations of the creative piece and written statement for the Magnum Opus
  • recognize steps to develop the Magnum Opus
The Assignment Description

Until now you have been analyzing work created by others and practicing right-brain activities. These exercises are designed to prime you for your final project, your Magnum Opus, which is YOUR personal statement communicated through a creative expression.

The Magnum Opus consists of two parts:

  • a creative piece that communicates a specific issue, experience, message, meaning, or problem from your perspective
  • an accompanying statement that interprets your creative piece for the audience
The Creative Piece
Innovation is not creativity or invention - Strategies by Design

The creative component of your Magnum Opus can be produced using any medium in the humanities; You can choose one of the mediums covered in this class, or you can use an expressive medium that was not covered such as various digital medias (gaming, app development), stand-up comedy, sermon, etc. Your expression can also be an innovation or invention. You are encouraged to produce something that relates to your major, interests, or something that is important to you. Feel free to produce a traditional piece of art such as a painting, sculpture, song, etc., and you can build off of something that is already in your creative journal. You can also create something in a medium that is not covered in this course such as an app, a logo, a building project, a garden design, a culinary project (such as a decorated cake or squash carving), a skateboard, etc. Innovation and invention are creative activities that qualify for this assignment.    

The creative project should address a topic (a specific issue, experience, message, meaning, or problem) that is important and significant to you. Your topic can be something deeply personal (such as finding self-love, discovering a religion, overcoming trauma, etc.) or you can address larger social or global issues (such as discrimination, animal rights, environmental destruction, a public health concern, etc.) There are few limitations here. What matters is that the issue is important enough to you that you want to address it and share it with others through a creative piece.

Keep in mind, this is not an art class. The creative piece will not be evaluated by its aesthetic value. It will be assessed by your use of symbols to communicate meanings and your description of the influences from the humanities that informed your work. Visit the Creative Expression weblesson to review the criteria. You will provide information about your intentional use of symbols, meanings and function in your written statement.

The Written Statement

The Statement is the written component of the Magnum Opus, and it provides an explanation of your creative piece. It should detail the research you performed prior to creating the piece by defining and describing your topic; interpreting the symbols, meanings, and purpose of your piece; identifying your influences from the humanities; and delivering a message to the audience engaging with your piece. This is a research-based statement, and this means that you are required to conduct research on your selected topic and explore influences for your creative piece before creating your piece. Your research should help you further develop the concept behind your topic, find influences to develop your piece, and identify useful techniques to create your piece. Visit the Statement weblesson now to review the criteria.

The Written Statement will be used to assess the General Education Learning Outcome (GELO) for Critical Thinking for this course which is defined as ‘Demonstrate the skills necessary for analysis, synthesis, evaluation, decision-making, critical and creative thinking, and the creative process.’

To review the GELO assignment description and the grading rubric, download and print the PDF below.

Steps to Develop Your Magnum Opus

If you have never done this before, do not worry! This module is designed to take you through the process step-by-step, and you will have the opportunity to give and receive feedback every step of the way.

Step 1 – Select a Topic to define the issue, experience, problem and/or message you want to communicate in your big expressive piece and identify the creative medium (painting, app, photo, dance, etc.) you plan to use. You can change your topic and medium at any time. This is just to get you started. The peer review process will give you an opportunity to give and receive feedback on your topic.

Step 2 – Research the Topic and create an Annotated Bibliography. Your paper must have at least five scholarly sources. You can use references from any previous research conducted in this class; any references included at the end of the web lessons; or scholarly references located through the library databases listed in the Bibliography web lesson. The peer review process will give you an opportunity to give and receive feedback on your scholarly sources.

Step 3 – Create an Outline of the Statement to organize your researched data into topics and to develop the main theme for your creative piece. The outline is the bones that you will build into your Statement. Use the chart in the GELO writing assignment description to organize your outline. The peer review process will give you an opportunity to give and receive feedback on your outline.

Step 4 – Produce the Magnum Opus and Written Statement. This is where you concentrate on writing; style, structure, spelling, grammar, etc. for your Statement and receive feedback on your creative work. The peer review process will give you an opportunity to give and receive feedback on your writing.

After reviewing the assignment description and rubric, move on to Topic Selection to begin developing your Magnum Opus.