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M10-Journal Prompts

Module 10 - Our World

JOURNAL PROMPTS

Directions: Choose one or more of the following prompts and update your class journal by responding to the question or questions in the prompt. Try to write roughly a page on each prompt you select. Refer back to your journal as the course progresses to see if you are experiencing progress in meeting your goals.

Journal Prompt #1: Nature & Technology

Look at Chris Jordan Links to an external site.’s digital images. Include images from his various themes; Midway, Running the Numbers, Intolerable Beauty and In Katrina’s Wake. Describe how you think his work reflects the ideas about nature, knowledge and technology. In addition, make a comment about the aesthetic nature of his work. Can we find a sense of beauty in the underbelly of consumer societies? What about in destruction and over-consumption? Be specific in your answers. Give additional examples or references if you want.

Journal Prompt #2: Compare and Contrast Form and Content

The theme of ‘Mother and Child’ is common to most world cultures, but the form and content within the theme changes. View the two examples from this theme below, then compare and contrast them in terms of their forms and the content they reflect. Read the descriptions about each of the works to help you determine any difference, but use your own words to describe the works. Be specific in your answers. Your descriptions should include:

  • Subject matter: What does the work represent?
  • Formal qualities of each work and their visual effects on the viewer
  • Areas of focus: What’s included and what isn’t?
  • Issues of content: what meaning do you get out of each work? Is it different for both or the same? Why? Why not?
  • What context is each work seen in? Does that make a difference in the content?

Find a third image from this theme on your own and include it in your discussion. Make sure your choice represents a different culture than the first two (African and western European). Be sure to include a link to your choice and use proper citation for any source material you refer to.

Here are links to the first two works: