1. Write a diary entry, reflection, short story, or a poem of approximately 500 words by hand. Take a photo of your work. You may opt to reflect on a moment of your day, comment on a news story you've encountered, or theorize about readings with which you've engaged. Alternately, you may opt to write creatively. Whatever genre you select, the goal is to write "manually" (from Old French manuel, from [and later assimilated to] Latin manualis, from manus "hand"). Include a short (250-300 words) commentary about your manual production of text in which you address the following questions:
Do you normally write by hand or type? Did you find this task difficult or easy? Explain.
What did you do when you made a mistake or wanted to change your writing? How did you edit your work? Did your choice of media play a part in how you edited your work?
What do you feel is the most significant difference between writing by hand and using mechanized forms of writing? Which do you prefer and why?
2. Choose a five-letter word and print it twice using potato stamps (a short tutorial on how to create these stamps is available below). The word cannot have repeated letters. Try to make both copies as identical to each other as possible. Take a picture of both copies together and post it in your personal space along with a reflection on the process of preparing, crafting and producing both copies (approximately 300 words).
You may use the following questions to guide your reflection:
Was there something particularly challenging in the process?
How much time did it take for you to create the stamps?
Have you notice anything particular about the letters that you have chosen to reproduce?
Considering the time and effort that took you to create a 5-letter word, how do you feel about the mechanization of writing?
Was there something particularly challenging in the process?
No, I’m an art teacher so I found the process easy and fun. I can imagine that some people may have been tripped up by needing to turn some letters backwards for proper printing.
How much time did it take for you to create the stamps?
Less than an hour, including choosing a font, cutting out paper versions to trace onto my potatoes and then carving each one and painting/stamping them.
Have you noticed anything particular about the letters that you have chosen to reproduce?
In retrospect, all the letters in "voice" are also letters in my first and last name.
Considering the time and effort that took you to create a 5-letter word, how do you feel about the mechanization of writing?
I would have preferred to use a word that was more “my choice”. I would have gone with something funny or tongue in cheek, but the rules not to repeat letters and tp only use five made it harder. I also would probably not have done a word at all if left to my own devices, I would have done a design instead.
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