The Spanish Civil War Kevin Ward
Title of Project Student Name
# Documented Hours 55
Actual
Project Credits Nora Whalen
Grade StudentÕs Advisor
Rubric:
(4=Exceeded, 1=Attempted)
Goals Research Quality
of Product
Process
and Improvement Project
Management
Not Applicable _______
Minnesota
Graduation Standard/Profile Fulfilled:
American Literature: Modernism; Historical Context; World History: Global Conflict: 1914-1945; Geography: Interconnection; Arts: Creation and Performance; Arts: Creation and Evaluation
Reflection/Evaluation
of Work:
For this project, I created a painting and gave a
PowerPoint presentation about the Spanish Civil War. I read an Ernest Hemingway novel (that IÕve been reading for
the last few months) and looked at other resources to learn about art, history,
and literature. I met with Geri,
Anni, and Ray to learn about the history of Spain, the art of Picasso, and the
two world wars in the 20th century.
My biggest strength for this project was managing
my time. I followed my calendar
closely, checked in with my advisor, and responded well to feedback. I do not usually do that so well, so I
was impressed.
However, I struggled in creating my painting. I procrastinated about the subject,
changed my mind half way through the project, and only met with Geri once. It was rushed and only demonstrated
some of the elements of art.
I learned about American Modernism, which is a
ÒmovementÓ in American to use, in writing, stylized ways to call attention to
themes that are immediately, socially relevant. Hemingway, for example, wrote in very simple sentences in a
repetitive fashion, sometimes very formally (like using ÒthouÓ) to show the
separation of cultures as the American tries to help the Spanish rebels.
I learned about art from talking with Geri (I
know Ð only once!) about the basic elements of art: color, tone, balance,
etc. I do not know them very well,
but I knew them well enough to create a painting about the bombing in Guernika
connected with the bombing in Vietnam and in Iraq. It was in Spain that the Condor Legion of the Germans
developed the notion of Òcarpet bombingÓ to wipe out targets, and I thought
about connecting that to other wars in my painting that combines photos I found
on the internet with some colors I added.
I know it looks like a glorified collage, but I sort of like it.
I earned the history standards mostly through
reading and talking with Ray. He
made sure I understood the basic causes, events, and effects in both World War
I and World War II, which I demonstrated to him orally. I also learned a bunch about the
conflicts in Spain between the Basque region and the ÒrestÓ of Spain. This conflict has manifested itself
after the war into resentment about where PicassoÕs mural was located and into
terrorism (via the ETA) that has plagued Spain for the last three decades or
so, culminating in being accused of terrible train bombings in Madrid (although
it was later proved to have been done by Islamic terrorists).
If I am completely honest, I earned a B for this
project. The research went well,
the time management was excellent, and I presented the information
clearly. However, I did not do a
very good job on the painting or in working with Geri. I rushed through my reading of
Hemingway, and I think I could have gone deeper in thinking about how Picasso
and Hemingway responded to war through art. I know Picasso was against war, but Hemingway seemed to be
both in love and in hate with it.
Anyway, the project rubric, when I checked it off had most of the checks
either in Achieved or Met, so a B makes sense to me.
My next project needs more focus. I like doing interdisciplinary work,
but doing a painting and a presentation was too much this time. I need to have one main final product
to share in the future.
Date/Block Student Signature Advisory Team Signatures
Advisory
Team Comments: