Tuesday, May 22 and Wednesday, May 23- organizing your projects

Below you will find a recap of the project instructions.

Personal Photo Project DUE Thursday, MAY 24

DUE Thursday, MAY 24

At this point, you should have completed taking the images for the project. Now you have two days to organize the work, complete the prezi or slides / graphic organizer and reflection. All work needs to have been shared with me by Wednesday midnight. Similar to to the photojournalist project, we can move quickly, if the material has been shared.

Personal photo project details.

Part 1: select your theme and send along by midnight tonight (homework grade- 10%)

Part 2: written component of project: All due on Thursday May 24 (writing grade-50% category)  directions below in section 2

Part 3: sharing out your project: (class participation)  directions below in section 3

Personal Photo Project is due on Thursday, May 24

Of what will this consist?

    You may, of course, take as many pictures as you wish, but you will share only 10 images with the class.

Can I have more?
   No.

How will these be shared?
    You may have them on a Prezi or a Power Point or some other similar program.

So what are the parameters for taking these pictures?
      You must have an theme, that is a clearly defined point to unify your series of photos. This is not to be a haphazard collection or arrangement of images or a visual summary of a holiday or trip, but a thoughtfully planned out goal that unites an idea and demonstrates your proficiency in using various photo techniques to convey your ideas.

  

 Can it be from some place I already took pictures?

      No, these are new images that demonstrate you have an understanding of the rules of composition, as used to express your photo objective.

What type of pictures must these be exactly?

  You may organize these how you wish, but within the pictures you must demonstrate your understanding the following:

        close-up

        medium-range shot

        establishing shot

        accurate use of phi grid or rule of thirds AND  Fibonacci spiral

        horizontal and vertical format

        understanding of the horizon line placement

        conscious use of lighting

        varied perspective (tilting up or down to convey meaning)

        conscious framing
        awareness of depth of field, symmetry, pattern, texture, lighting 

PART 2

GRAPHIC ORGANIZER FORMAT.

Please use the following and send along.

If you need a hard copy for your personal presentation, print one out for yourself.

Photojournalism Project written component                    Name____________________________________________

Photo project objective statement: What was your theme?  Describe your process of taking the photos, including any pleasures, frustrations and obstacles you encountered.  Reference specifically some of your images. (250 words)

        

           For each of your images, complete the following                                                                                                                 

                 

1	setting/ time	brief description of image	type of shot/ technical goal be specific as to what camera technique you have employed and why?
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

                               

    PART 3                                            I

Presentation of your work

You will have already sent in the written component of

 your project.

In the manner similar to how you presented your

 photojournalist, you will create a power point or prezi of

 your work.

There will be a total of 11 slides

Slide 1- your photo with full name This may be formal or

 informal and written out and the title of your project.

Slides 2-11: your picture and a cut line for each one. 

 There is to be nothing else on the slide. You will explain your images, as you have written them on the graphic organizer you have already sent me. If you need a copy of your organizer, print one for yourself.

Friday, May 18 and Monday, May 21 personal ekphrasis writing

A little sartorial advice for those who opt to wear suits. The personal ekphrastic assignment is below the article.

Men's formal suit rules and trends: Are we wearing socks or what?

How to look smart when you're styling yourself this season.

Christopher Turner · CBC Life · May 16

(Credit: Christopher Turner, Photography by Ryan Emberley)

Dressing up for a wedding or any formal event can be challenging for most guys. After all, there is an art to wearing a suit that has us trying to balance seasonal trends with standard menswear style rules that are steeped in tradition. Before you suit up for your next formal event (hello, summer weddings), read through ten of our favourite menswear style rules, and find out what the trends are to ensure you'll impress even the most sartorially aware guest at your next formal function.

Fit is key

The fit of your suit is everything. It doesn't matter how much you spent to get dressed up, if your suit doesn't fit you properly, it simply won't look good. Trend watchers have been embracing the trim-fitting suiting aesthetic for years. But still, one of the biggest mistakes men make when they buy a new suit is they buy it too large. Pay attention to the fit of your suit before heading to the cashier: make sure your knuckles are even with the bottom of your jacket, and your jacket sleeves fall where the base of your thumb meets your wrist. Mostly importantly pay attention to the fit of the shoulders, making sure that the shoulder pads end with your shoulders. Unsure if your off-the-rack suit is the right fit? Take it to a tailor and double check.

Button up — properly

Wait… there are rules for buttoning up your suit jacket? There are, and thankfully they are easy to follow. In this case the trend follows tradition. Every time you slip on your suit jacket, the bottom button should remain undone. Single breasted or double breasted, it doesn't matter. It's a menswear style rule that should always be followed to ensure a cleaner silhouette. When you're ready to take a seat, you're safe to unbutton your jacket to avoid wrinkles and keep the buttons from popping.

Showing off some cuff

The correct shirt sleeve length and jacket sleeve length is a hotly debated style topic, and is personal decision to the dresser. The challenge? You want to show a bit of the shirt cuff peeking out from your suit jacket, but not too much. The trend these days is to ensure that half an inch of your shirt cuff is peaking below the jacket sleeves.

The right tie length, and the tie for right now

One of the simplest menswear style rules if often the most ignored. If you are wearing a tie with your suit, the bottom of your tie should reach the belt buckle or the waistband of your trousers. No exceptions. Next? Nothing against that trusted navy neckwear hanging in your closet, but tie trends dictate that you should be wearing a knit tie this summer, or a skinny tie with fine vertical-stripes, a dark floral print or a uniform-inspired badge.

Upsize your bow tie

If you are keeping up with menswear trends and aim for your suited-up look to be fresh, replace your tie with a bow tie and you're already winning. This season the trend is to go big or go home with a bow tie that measures 2.5 inches or 3 inches in height instead of the standard 1.5 inches. The bigger, butterfly bow tie looks sophisticated, adds a bit of personality and is the size most commonly spotted on designer runways and the red carpet.

The debate: Socks or no socks?

There is something undeniably cool about the menswear trend of wearing a tailored suit with bare ankles. This easy, undone formal look is a spring/summer menswear trend that's a favourite on designer runways and makes a serious style statement. However, do wear a pair of no-show socks with your leather dress shoes for maximum comfort. Of course, this trend isn't for everybody. So if you're not onboard with the "sun's out, ankles out" menswear trend, no problem. Just remember if you do choose to wear socks, they should be pulled up high enough so that when you are sitting down there is no leg showing.

No belt too?

Wearing a belt with your suit is an old menswear tradition that is being challenged by the impossibly cool, sartorial set. The argument behind the no belt trend — and menswear aficionados having their belt loops removed by their local tailor — is that if you have a good-fitting pair of trousers, there's no need for a belt. These days it's all about personal preference. When getting ready, think carefully about whether your belt adds to the outfit or takes away from it.

Always match up your shoes

Some trends never change, like this one. If you are wearing a belt with your suit you need to remember to match your leathers. If you're opting for a brown pair of shoes, you should be wearing a brown belt to match. If you're wearing a black pair of shoes, you should be wearing a black belt to match. You get the point. The colour grade doesn't have to match perfectly, but always avoid a black/brown, belt/shoe combination. 

  

The do's and don'ts of pocket squares

The main rule of wearing a pocket square (and you should always be wearing a pocket square) is that it shouldn't exactly match your tie. While the colours of your tie and pocket square should complement each other, replicating your tie colour or pattern with your pocket square is a tested way to look like you've tried way too hard. Don't ever do it. Follow the trend and try wearing a bold pocket square that not only complements your suit and tie, but sparks a conversation too.

And finally, the proper way to spray cologne

Another trend that never changes is how you spritz your fragrance. Many men wear cologne on formal occasions, but most men don't actually know how to wear it the right way. Don't spray and walk out the door. Don't spray fragrance on your clothes. Lightly mist your fragrance on you wrists, neck, behind the ears and chest. Generally a distance of 3-6 inches is recommended.

*******************************************************************************************************

PERSONAL PHOTO PROJECT UPDATE:

You will have next Tuesday and Wednesday (May 22 and 23) to organize your photos into the presentation format, write up your reflection and complete the graphic organizer.

Presentations begin on Thursday, May 24.

See below for today's work. This is the last writing assigment.  Be mindful there are very few grades to be added in. 

Marchal Duchamp's Nude Descending a Staircase and X.J. Kennedy's poem, which follows, by the same title is to illustrate how ekphrasis is used in poetry.

Nude Descending a Staircase

Toe upon toe, a snowing flesh,
A gold of lemon, root and rind,
She sifts in sunlight down the stairs
With nothing on. Nor on her mind.

We spy beneath the banister
A constant thresh of thigh on thigh--
Her lips imprint the swinging air
That parts to let her parts go by.

One-woman waterfall, she wears
Her slow descent like a long cape
And pausing, on the final stair
Collects her motions into shape.

As stated previously ekphrasis, which was created by the ancient Greeks, uses one art form to respond to another, so as to envision the thing described as if it were physically present. In some cases, the subject never really existed, making the ekphrastic description a demonstration of both the creative imagination and the skill of the writer.  

 Murray's The Stranger in the Photo  was the exemplar for how you would write your own response to the photo you were asked to bring into class.  If you did not complete the assignment, please check it out, so you know what is expected in the following assignment. (Any not received have a zero; so at least get it in for 50 points)

YOUR ASSIGNMENT: 

Part 1: Everyone needs a picture of him or herself that is at least five-years old.  (This is the homework assignment from Monday. You will receive either 100 or 0 points.)

Using the essay by Donald Murray as a general model, look at your photo. Take time to study facial expression, the body position and gestures. What is the context? Project yourself back to that moment. Where were in your life? What were your expectations- for the moment?  for the long run? Maybe your long run was only a month away. Compare this to where you are now. This is not a goal oriented essay, as in what would I like to be when I grow up. Ask yourself honestly, who you were then? To make it interesting, use vivid imagery and other figurative language devices such as metaphors or similes. Make the reader connect with this photo, much as Murray did. Careful with the tone. Murray offers no regrets, rather he creates a world into which the reader may step. This should be no fewer than 400 words. Grading:  language conventions / sense / beautifully and articulately expressed. Make this a masterpiece.  This is the last major writing assignment.

Wednesday / Thursday May 16/17 Ekphrastic writing part 1: MODEL

  Wednesday / Thursday May 16/ 17 ekphrastic writing

BY this Thursday, please bring in a photo of yourself THAT WAS TAKEN AT LEAST FIVE YEARS AGO TO WORK WITH ON THURSDAY. THAT MEANS BETWEEN AGES 0-13. THIS should BE A PHYSICAL COPY. THE PICTURE MAY INCLUDE OTHER PEOPLE.
        IMPORTANT: THIS IS A HOMEWORK GRADE- A SIMPLE 0 OR 100. NO EXCEPTIONS. 
Learning targets:
 I can cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
I can analyze a complex set of ideas or sequence of events and explain how specific individuals, ideas, or events interact and develop over the course of the text.
I can determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to provide a complex analysis; provide an objective summary of the text.
I can analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of the structure an author uses in his or her exposition or argument, including whether the structure makes points clear, convincing, and engaging.
I can establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which  I am writing.
Please read this essay by Donald Murray and respond to the following based upon the reading; send along as usual. Your responses should be fully, fleshed-out, complete sentences that weave in textual evidence. They should demonstrate a level of sophistication that one associates with college level writing. This is due by midnight tomorrow, after which the assignment is worth only 50 points.  

Read the questions before the essay.

1. What textual and contextual elements indicate this column's particular audience?


2. Identify what you believe to be Murray's central argument.

3. How does Murray's comment on our "ability to stop time in the way" mesh with the inclusion of the photograph? How does the comment deepen our understanding of his argument?

4. Examine the photograph. How does the presence of the photograph itself contribute to Murray's effort to communicate? How, if at all, would the absence of the photograph change the essay's argument?

5. Speculate how would the absence of a caption alter your reading of or response to the essay?

6. Respond: how would replacing the existing caption with each of the following captions affect your reading?
a. "Paratrooper Donald M. Murray, 1944"
b. "The Stranger in England, 1944"
c. "A soldier in rakish disregard..."

The Stranger in the Photo Is Me by Donald M. Murray

I was never one to make a big deal over snapshots; I never spent long evenings with the family photograph album. Let’s get on with the living. To heck with yesterday, what are we going to do tomorrow? But with the accumulation of yesterdays and the possibility of shrinking tomorrows, I find myself returning, as I suspect many over 60s do, for a second glance and a third at family photos that
snatch a moment from time.

In looking at mine, I become aware that it is so recent in the stretch of man’s history that we have been able to stop time in this way and hold still for reflection. Vermeer is one of my favorite painters because of that sense of suspended time, with both clock and calendar held so wonderfully, so terribly
still.

The people in the snapshots are all strangers. My parents young, caught before I arrived or as they were when I saw them as towering grown-ups. They seemed so old then and so young now. And I am,to me, the strangest of all.

There is a photograph of me on a tricycle before the duplex on Grand View Avenue in Wollaston I hardly remember; in another I am dressed in a seersucker sailor suit when I was 5 and lived in a Cincinnati hotel. I cannot remember the suit but even now, studying the snapshot, I am drunk on the memory of its peculiar odor and time is erased.

In the snapshots I pass from chubby to skinny and, unfortunately, ended up a chub. Looking at the grown-ups in the snapshots I should have known. In other snapshots, I am cowboy, pilot, Indian chief; I loved to dress up to become what I was not, and suspect I still am a wearer of masks and costumes.

It would be socially appropriate to report on this day that I contemplate all those who are gone, but the truth is that my eyes are drawn back to pictures of my stranger self.And the picture that haunts me the most is one not in costume but in the uniform I proudly earned in World War II. I believe it was taken in England from the design of the barracks behind me. I have taken off the ugly steel-framed GI glasses, a touch of dishonesty for the girl who waited at home.
My overseas cap with its airborne insignia is tugged down over my right eye, my right shoulder in the jump jacket is lower because I have my left hand in my pocket in rakish disregard for the regulation that a soldier in that war could never, ever stick a hand in a pocket.

The pockets that are empty in the photograph will soon bulge with hand grenades, extra ammunition,food, and many of the gross of condoms we were issued before a combat jump. This GI item was more a matter of industrial merchandising than soldierly dreaming—or frontline reality.The soldier smiles as if he knew his innocence and is both eager for its loss and nostalgic for those few years of naiveté behind him.

I try once more to enter the photograph and become what I was that day when autumn sunlight dappled the barracks wall and I was so eager to experience the combat my father wanted so much for me. He had never made it to the trenches over there in his war. When that photograph was taken, my father still had dreams of merchandising glory, of a store with an awning that read Murray & Son. I had not yet become the person who had to nod yes at MGh when my father asked if he had cancer, to make the decision against extraordinary means after his last heart attack. When this photo was taken, he had not yet grown old, his collars large, his step hesitant, his shoes unshined.

Mother was still alive, and her mother who really raised me had not died as I was to learn in a letter I received at the front. The girl who wrote every day and for whom the photo was taken had not yet become my wife, and we had not yet been the first in our families to divorce two years later.I had not yet seen my first dead soldier, had not yet felt the earth beneath me become a trampoline as the shells of a rolling barrage marched across our position.

I had no idea my life would become as wonderful or as terrible as it has been; that I would remarry,have three daughters and outlive one. I could not have imagined that I actually would be able to become a writer and eat—even overeat. I simply cannot re-create my snapshot innocence.I had not had an easy or happy childhood, I had done well at work but not at school; I was not Mr. Pollyanna, but life has been worse and far better than I could have imagined.

Over 60 we are fascinated by the mystery of our life, why roads were taken and not taken, and our children encourage this as they develop a sense of family history. A daughter discovers a letter from the soldier in the photograph in England and another written less than a year later, on V-E day. She is surprised at how much I have aged. I am not.I would not wish for a child or grandchild of mine to undergo the blood test of war my father so hoped I would face as he had not. In photos taken not so many years later I have a streak of white hair. It is probably genetic but I imagine it is the shadow of a bullet that barely passed me by, and I find I cannot enter the snapshot of the smiling soldier who is still stranger to me, still innocent of the heroic harm man can deliver to man.

—The Boston Globe

Tuesday, May 15 personal photojournalism project directions

IMPORTANT: This Thursday is the last day to bring in the picture of yourself that was taken at least five years ago. It should be a printed image. It may include other people. This is a homework grade (10%) category. You will receive either a 100 points or a zero. Thank you to those who have already brought theirs in.

 

Personal Photo Project DUE Thursday, MAY 24

DUE Thursday, MAY 24

You will be working primarily on your personal photo project outside of class, although there will be class time to write up the material and organize your images into a power point or prezi. 

Personal photo project details.

Part 1: select your theme and send along by midnight tonight (homework grade- 10%)

Part 2: written component of project: All due on Thursday May 24 (writing grade-50% category)  directions below in section 2

Part 3: sharing out your project: (class participation)  directions below in section 3

Personal Photo Project is due on Thursday, May 24

Of what will this consist?

    You may, of course, take as many pictures as you wish, but you will share only 10 images with the class.

Can I have more?
   No.

How will these be shared?
    You may have them on a Prezi or a Power Point or some other similar program.

So what are the parameters for taking these pictures?
      You must have an theme, that is a clearly defined point to unify your series of photos. This is not to be a haphazard collection or arrangement of images or a visual summary of a holiday or trip, but a thoughtfully planned out goal that unites an idea and demonstrates your proficiency in using various photo techniques to convey your ideas.

  

 Can it be from some place I already took pictures?

      No, these are new images that demonstrate you have an understanding of the rules of composition, as used to express your photo objective.

What type of pictures must these be exactly?

  You may organize these how you wish, but within the pictures you must demonstrate your understanding the following:

        close-up

        medium-range shot

        establishing shot

        accurate use of phi grid or rule of thirds AND  Fibonacci spiral

        horizontal and vertical format

        understanding of the horizon line placement

        conscious use of lighting

        varied perspective (tilting up or down to convey meaning)

        conscious framing
        awareness of depth of field, symmetry, pattern, texture, lighting 

       

       
  PART 1 

  By midnight tonight, please send along your thematic choice. Once you have made a selection, you will start to see opportunities to capture the idea. As it is very important to have a focus, I am counting the receipt of your thematic selection as a homework grade. Anything not received by tonight is only worth 50 points. 

Below is a possibility list:

• Beauty of simplicity
• Capitalism – effect on the individual
• Change of power – necessity
• Change versus tradition
• Chaos and order
• Character – destruction, building up
• Circle of life
• Coming of age
• Communication – verbal and nonverbal
• Companionship as salvation
• Convention and rebellion
• Dangers of ignorance
• Darkness and light
• Death – inevitable or tragedy
• Desire to escape
• Destruction of beauty
• Disillusionment and dreams
• Displacement
• Empowerment
• Emptiness of attaining false dream
• Everlasting love
• Evils of racism
• Facing darkness
• Facing reality
• Fading beauty
• Faith versus doubt
• Family – blessing or curse
• Fate and free will
• Fear of failure
• Female roles
• Fulfillment
• Good versus bad
• Greed as downfall
• Growing up – pain or pleasure
• Hazards of passing judgment
• Heartbreak of betrayal
• Heroism – real and perceived
• Hierarchy in nature
• Identity crisis
• Illusion of power
• Immortality
• Individual versus society
• Inner versus outer strength
• Injustice
• Isolation
• Isolationism – hazards
• Knowledge versus ignorance
• Loneliness as destructive force
• Losing hope
• Loss of innocence
• Lost honor
• Lost love
• Love and sacrifice
• Man against nature
• Manipulation
• Materialism as downfall
• Motherhood
• Names – power and significance
• Nationalism – complications
• Nature as beauty
• Necessity of work
• Oppression of women
• Optimism – power or folly
• Overcoming – fear, weakness, vice
• Patriotism – positive side or complications
• Power and corruption
• Power of silence
• Power of tradition
• Power of wealth
• Power of words
• Pride and downfall
• Progress – real or illusion
• Quest for discovery
• Quest for power
• Rebirth
• Reunion
• Role of men
• Role of Religion – virtue or hypocrisy
• Role of women
• Self – inner and outer
• Self-awareness
• Self-preservation
• Self-reliance
• Social mobility
• Technology in society – good or bad
• Temporary nature of physical beauty
• Temptation and destruction
• Totalitarianism
• Vanity as downfall
• Vulnerability of the meek
• Vulnerability of the strong
• War – glory, necessity, pain, tragedy
• Will to survive
• Wisdom of experience
• Working class struggles
• Youth and beauty

PART 2

GRAPHIC ORGANIZER FORMAT.

Please use the following and send along.

If you need a hard copy for your personal presentation, print one out for yourself.

Photojournalism Project written component                    Name____________________________________________

Photo project objective statement: What was your theme?  Describe your process of taking the photos, including any pleasures, frustrations and obstacles you encountered.  Reference specifically some of your images. (250 words)

        

           For each of your images, complete the following                                                                                                                 

                 

1	setting/ time	brief description of image	type of shot/ technical goal be specific as to what camera technique you have employed and why?
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

                               

    PART 3                                            I

Presentation of your work

You will have already sent in the written component of

 your project.

In the manner similar to how you presented your

 photojournalist, you will create a power point or prezi of

 your work.

There will be a total of 11 slides

Slide 1- your photo with full name This may be formal or

 informal and written out and the title of your project.

Slides 2-11: your picture and a cut line for each one. 

 There is to be nothing else on the slide. You will explain your images, as you have written them on the graphic organizer you have already sent me. If you need a copy of your organizer, print one for yourself.