Collage Assignment

Collage Assignment

Due Thursday at the beginning of the hour

Your task is to create a collage that will introduce you to the class and make you visible to us and yourself. You may use any materials you would like: magazine clippings, photos, drawings, clip art, etc. and mount this onto construction paper. This will be shared with the class and displayed throughout the trimester so please don’t put anything on it that you will want back.

While this sounds like a pretty simple task (and it really is), I do want you to consider the following as you create your collage and short introductory paragraph:

What is your individual identity? Are you are son, daughter, athlete, actor, musician, employee, friend, student, church-goer, brother, sister, etc? What things make up who you are as an individual? What “social worlds” are you a part of? You don’t have to include everything, but do include the ones that are most important to you.
What is your cultural identity? Race, class, gender, age, sexuality, ethnicity, religion, etc. When you think of the word “culture” it might take on a different meaning for you than others. What does culture mean in terms of your identity? If you don’t think you have a “culture,” then maybe think about what cultural forces in society affect you on a daily basis and how.
What are the influences and conflicts between your individual and cultural identity. How do these identities come into conflict?

Process:

Find images that represent your individual and cultural identities and the influences and/or conflicts between these. There is no right or wrong way to do this. Your goal is to give us a visual of who you are as a person. What “social worlds” are you a member of?
Type up OR neatly handwrite a BRIEF informal paragraph that will be mounted on the front of your collage that explains points 1-3 above. It will explain some of the things on your collage.
You will share your collage and paragraph to the class on Wednesday and Thursday. I am planning about 5 minutes per student
Please put your name somewhere on the FRONT of your collage.

Model:

I will show you a collage I did for a class this summer. (We did it in 20 minutes in class). Here is a paragraph I would write for my collage. (I hope your collage is prettier than mine. Don’t agonize over it, but I don’t want crap either!) I would type it in a small font; mine is in 10 point Arial Narrow font.

I identify most with being a single mother of three boys; the mother bear and her cubs signifies that you can mess with me, but don’t mess with my kids or family members. The family at the top of the collage signifies that my family ties are a bit untraditional, but even so, everyone in my life is well-adjusted and doing fine. The “comeback kids” headline at the top of my collage says a lot about me. I am someone who doesn’t give up too easily, and if I get knocked down, I will always get back up and bust my butt to achieve my goals. The lake picture shows that I love a good book and family time. My busy life makes me need lots of sleep. Culturally, my mother was born in Spain, thus the bullfight, but was raised in Mexico. My dad was an Irish-German New Yorker and the Statue of Liberty is for him. The middle picture shows my conflict. It seems I always have to balance between things, and my life is a constant juggling act. Work vs. home; friends vs. family; Hispanic vs. white. Because of my “white” upbringing, I don’t identify much with being Mexican, and so my strongest loyalties are with my individual identity. This is a conflict for me because I look Mexican on the outside, but inside have always felt very “white” and sometimes wonder where I fit in.