This assignment asks you to practice your listening and writing skills to communicate the role sound plays in establishing setting in a creative work. You’ll also reflect on your writing experience–an important aspect of #iterativedesign thinking.
Task
Visit: https://www.window-swap.com/ and click the “open a new window somewhere in the world” button. You’ll be looking through a stranger’s window to the scene outside of it. Turn your volume up so you can hear the ambient sounds in the background. They might be sounds coming from outside the window (cars, birds, rain, etc.) or they might be sounds coming from inside the space (music, conversations). If you can’t hear any ambient sounds, click the “open a new window” button to move to a different window. (Note: sometimes the sound is very quiet, so you should make sure your volume is turned up and you’re in a quiet place to listen).
Watch and listen to the window recording for at least 2 minutes. As you listen, take notes on the following:
What do you hear?
Whose window do you think you’re looking through? What do you think you know about the person or people who live there based on what you hear?
What does the sound you hear tell you about the world immediately outside the window? Where is the window located? How is the space outside the window used? Who and/or what uses it?
What else do you notice?
Your responses to the questions above are the start of your **listening notes **for this assignment. Listen carefully and try to write down everything you hear, no matter how small.
Click the “open a new window” button 4-5 more times taking** listening notes** in the same manner on each new window. Again, if you find a window where there’s no sound, click to a new one.
Write a **poem or very short story (no more than 500 words) **using one of the windows as part of the setting, character, or plot. You must reference or use the ambient sound from the window in some way.
Write a 300-500 word reflection on the relationship between sound and setting. Your reflection should do the following:
Describe your experience of listening to the ambient sounds and incorporating them in your poem or short story. What was most interesting to you about this process? What was the most difficult or challenging part?
Describe your process of listening and writing. Sample questions you might discuss (you do not have to answer all of these questions–use the most useful or relevant ones as a guide):
Where did you complete these tasks?
Did you complete the listening and creative writing process in one sitting or did the process take multiple stages?
Did you revise any of your work? If so, what did you revise and why?
If you had more time to complete this assignment, what would you do next?
Describe your understanding of the relationship between ambient sound and setting. What does sound tell us about the world around us? How can it be used in various creative mediums, like literature and film, to create certain moods or effects on the audience? For example, in a story the sound of rain might be ominous if it’s part of a thunderstorm, but it might be joyful if it breaks a terrible drought. What role does sound play in the poem or story you wrote? What effects does it create?
Before the deadline, convert your work into a pdf and upload it to the Dashboard. You should submit your listening notes for 5-6 windows, your poem or short story (no longer than 500 words), and your 300-500 word reflection. ~450-1,200 words total
Criteria
Your assignment will be assessed for the following LOs:
#medium -** #iterativedesign**
In order to receive a 3 or 4, you will need to make sure you’ve taken and submitted detailed listening notes that demonstrate your close listening skills. You will also need to make sure the poem or short story you submit utilizes some of the ambient sounds from your listening notes in a meaningful way. In other words, try not to simply mention traffic sounds in a sentence. Instead, incorporate detailed descriptions of sound in a way that helps the reader understand the setting of your poem/short story. You might also use sound to help the reader understand details about the characters or plot of your piece. You will be evaluated on the extent to which you’ve incorporated descriptions of sound in your work, not on how “good” or artistically successful your creative writing is. Finally, your reflection should be a thoughtful and thorough description of your experience, process, and understanding of the relationship between sound and setting.
Assignment Information
Length:
~400-1,200 words total
Weight:
12%
Learning Outcomes Added
IterativeDesign: Apply iterative design thinking to conceive and refine products or solutions.
Medium: Describe, analyze, and utilize distinctive characteristics of communicative and expressive mediums at the level of form and structure.