Think - Act - Create

Art and Imagination

Please click on the following link:
https://www.google.ca/search?q=modern+art+image&hl=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=r RQ8UeDvC4TLqAHw54HgDA&ved=0CC4QsAQ&biw=1217&bih=608
and select any 5 images that you like but that are very different in character & atmosphere. Now focus on one of them and start freewriting about it for 5 minutes. Then look at the next one and start freewriting about that for 5 minutes. Repeat this process until you have written something about all 5 pictures. Now look only at your texts and see if you can combine them somehow into a larger whole. Feel free to change your freewriting pieces in any way you wish and to add text in between the 5 parts to connect and reinterpret them.

In this exercise you will listen to 5 different pieces of music. Please write down images (e.g. colors, sceneries, symbols, concrete objects) and /or emotions (e.g. happiness, sadness, anger, fear, love, peace, etc) and/or reflections on certain characters or people that come to your mind while listening to each piece. Please make sure you write everything down that you associate with the first piece of music BEFORE you go on to the next. Then listen to the next piece and write down spontaneously what comes to mind then (again, with the focus on images, emotions, and characters/people) while listen to that one etc. When you have listened to all 5 pieces – and written your 5 texts – re-read the 5 texts and see if you can create a whole out of these 5 parts without losing the contrast.

Here 10 different pieces of music. Please choose any 5 of them:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7HL5wYqAbU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Af372EQLck
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2F92LtIEChI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mng2S39CGQs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHSNZK4Je-Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDJPQ0ilaRU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZD_E0i1aRU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5loQ8tYeRU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxttAghqrv8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aj206-rR-IE

Cultural or Academic Event

Write about a Cultural or Academic Event you have attended this term in two styles that differ clearly from each other and comment on the effect that these stylistic differences have on the presentation and evaluation of the event in question. Possible contrasts you may consider choosing in this context include: detached-informative vs. polemic-emotional, objective vs. subjective, thoughtful/thought- provoking vs. entertaining/ funny, colloquial vs. formal, spoken vs. written. You can write this piece in any genre you wish but please choose the same genre both times.

Nature Walk

Please go outside, to a spot where you can experience some "Nature."

1) Walk around for a while to get rid of the stress and just enjoy the feeling of being free and having time and being out in the sun....

2) Then sit down and spend at least 10 to 15 minutes doing nothing - just sitting somewhere "in Nature." Please watch and listen to what is going on around you: the bird and insect sounds, for example, the wind, the waves, the sun, the grass, the moss, a squirrel, a gull, a tree etc.

3) Focus in on something you find particularly interesting (e.g. a plant, a rock, an animal, a cloud, the light, the movement of the air, the voice of the ocean, etc). Stay with that being or phenomenon for a while and imagine you are him/her/it or part of him/her/it. What would it feel like? How would your day look like if you were a rock or a squirrel etc?

4) Try to come up with a good personal and original definition of the being/phenomenon you have met.

5) Then write a story either about the being/phenomenon or about your encounter with him/her/it. You are welcome to do some research on the being/phenomenon you have observed and include what you learned about him/her/it but your story can also be totally imaginary/fictional/made up.

Breathe in the Sun, the Wind, the Air, the Smells and listen to all the Music around you!

Enjoy!

Museum of Antrhopology

Please choose an object/ artwork from the Museum of Anthropology that appeals to you. Spend at least 10 or 20 minutes just looking at it - and listening to what it has to tell you. Then write two descriptions about it: one that is very subjective/emotional, another one that is objective/rational. Use only your personal associations for the first description but some background information about the object/artwork for your second one. Try to bring out the contrast between the two descriptions.
Then try to imagine the story of your chosen object/artwork - that can be imaginative but should also do justice to the cultural and historical context of your chosen piece. Please tell this story in the form of a dialogue or monologue. The object/artwork may be one of the speakers in the dialogue or someone else may be talking about it. Make sure you add concrete details rather than remaining too abstract!

This exercise, too, is meant to be fun! Enjoy!

gudrun

Essay Sub-Genres

Please write the beginning (2 or 3 paragraphs) of an Academic Essay about a topic of your choice, then convert it into a General Interest Essay, a Personal Essay, and a Literary Essay. Please make sure that you write about the same topic in each of the 4 essay sub-genres and that your underlying thesis is the same as well. At the same time, please try to bring out the specific character of each essay sub-genre as clearly as you can and make the contrast between the four texts as strong as you can. You may have to modify the content of your essay to do justice to each genre - but please keep the gist of your main argument the same. Use as much stylistic variety as appropriate.

Enjoy!

Multi-Genre Exercise

Dear All,

Please choose 5 of the words listed below (or any other 5 words of your choice) as your keywords for a piece of writing that is composed of 3 different genres. Please make sure that the piece is coherent and makes sense - despite the switch of genres.

Words to choose from: dragon, snake, gold, silver, earth, water, fire, air, magic, music, dance, song, story, game, computer, phone, TV, coffee, store, bottle, ship, door, window, mirror, mask, gym, weights, boots, coat, lipstick, necklace, creation, test, love relationship, man, woman, blue, red, black, white glimmer, blanket, police, escape, hiding place, rice, fruit, margin, centre, pencil, string, theory.

Tip: your piece will probably be more original if you do NOT choose words that are obviously connected but words from different areas (e.g. instead of choosing: dragon, fire, red, gold, magic you may consider choosing: dragon, computer, blue, rice, lipstick, police).

No matter which words and which genres you choose, please make sure that you take the specific genre conventions as well as the situation and the context implied in each genre into consideration and that you try to bring out the specific character of each genre as well as its contrast to the other genres you have chosen. Please also keep your five words int he back of your mind throughout the piece and try to create connections and some kind of coherence within your piece despite the generic variety.

This exercise is meant to be fun!

Enjoy playing!

Gudrun