After selecting a topic and conducting research to identify influences foryour creative process, you need to create an outline for your written statement which will serve as a plan for your creative piece. Consider the outline as the bones of what will grow into your Magnum Opus.
Lesson Objectives
- identify the components of a successful project statement
- produce an outline for the statement
- critique at least two student outlines using criteria established in the web lesson
Writing The Outline For Your Statement
Now that you have a better understanding of your project and researched potential influences for your creative process, you can move toward developing an outline as a plan. The outline is the bones that can be a guide toward developing your creative piece and eventually build into your written statement. The best way to create your outline is to use the paragraph chart in the GELO assignment description (download the PDF from the Final Project page) as your guide. The paragraph chart for the statement in the assignment description is excerpted below. Consider this outline as a mini-version of your statement, and it will be the foundation you will build on. The peer review process will give you an opportunity to give and receive feedback on your outline. You can change it at any time.
Anatomy of The Outline
| Paragraph | |
|---|---|
| Issue and Position | Declarative statement (sentence or more) about your selected issue, message, experience, or problem. |
| Context | List the medium you will use (painting, dance, infographic, tilework, etc.) along with the symbols (colors, design, images, sounds, etc.) and the meaning of each symbol that you will use to communicate your message |
| Perspectives and Evidence | List the influences from your research that you will use in your work: people, philosophies, texts, etc. Include in-text citations from your research |
| Conclusion | Describe the main purpose of your piece; what do you want the audience to get from engaging with it? |
| References | Formatted references (without annotations) in any style. |
For Discussion in Canvas
Produce and submit an outline of your written statement for in-class peer review, and provide constructive criticism to at least three of your classmates using the paragraph chart in the GELO assignment description. You must provide constructive criticism. Telling someone they did a great job does not earn credit.
For Your Creative Journal
Sketch out a prototype or plan for your Magnum Opus. This should be a detailed plan of your piece. For example, if you are writing a song with music, then you should have the lyrics and your ideas of the sounds you will use to insert feelings. If you are making a short film, you need a story board for your scenes, script, etc. If you are building, painting or sculpting something, then sketch it out first.
The most difficult part of developing the creative piece is building the confidence to get started. You have already begun the process of developing your creative piece by selecting a topic, deciding on a medium, conducting research, and playing with ideas in your journal. The next step is to create a prototype, a plan, of your Magnum Opus to get a sense of where you want to go. Many famous artists sketched their masterpiece before creating it. This not only helps get a feel of the direction you will go, it will also help you visualize, experiment and explore ways to get what is in your imagination into reality. Take a look at a few pages from the creative journals of a few famous artists below.
When you complete your Outline and prototype/plan, start working on your Magnum Opus.