lauren boasso

Advanced Writing Final Creative Project

Guidelines for the Final Project Portfolio

This project focused on a theme of the students’ choosing (perpetuation of negative body image as a result of celebrity culture, unequal representation of women in sports, inequalities in access to education, environmental conservation, etc.). The selected themes guided the analyses. 

Part I: Photoshop Project

Part one:

Select an image that exhibits a clear visual argument, and edit it in some way to change the argument (in other words, make the argument your own). This does not have to be a major change. Something as simple as the addition or deletion of text, or the change of color, can alter meaning. This should result in one single image.

Part two:

Write a 1-2 page analysis justifying your design choices and explaining the following:

• The original argument of the image

• How you altered the argument

• How this transformation relates to your larger theme

Part II: Images In a Series

Part One:

Construct a series of 4-5 (maximum) different images. Think carefully about your options for creating a new idea through the arrangement of the series and refer to suggestions from our class readings (for example, Helmers talks about juxtaposition, contrast, etc.). You are working with narrowed parameters so you have to think at length about your design choices. Remember: if you are more comfortable working with and analyzing text, choose images that include text.

Part Two:

Write a 3-4 page analysis justifying your design choices and explaining the following:

• The original argument of the images

• How you have shaped a unique argument by arranging the images

• How this transformation relates to your larger theme

• Reference and cite at least two of the class readings. Use vocabulary and concepts from class readings (principles of visual rhetoric, the relation between image and text, etc.).

Part III: Reflective Cover Letter

This will be a one-page, open-ended letter that you include at the beginning of your portfolio as a cover sheet. In this letter, describe your thoughts on the strength of your project; which parts you struggled with the most and why; which peer suggestions you incorporated and which you didn’t, and why; and which parts you think succeeded best and that you would like me to focus on in my assessment.