How can art be used to deepen our understanding of the complex topics addressed in Toni Morrison’s novel, Beloved?

Essential Question of the Week: How can I avoid making a chore out of creating art by relying on the text for inspiration and motivation. 

Coming into this project I did not anticipate the work I would have to put in artistically in order to produce a product that I am proud of. While planing, I was much more concerned with the analytical aspects of my project than creating art and producing art.  Being that this is my first time producing art consistently and on a schedule, I have found it is way more work than I anticipated and I am frequently frustrated and uninspired by what I create. I knew in order to successfully do my senior project I would need to develop tools to combat the struggles I am experiencing. In doing so, I have started to identify some things that work for me and some that don’t so I can use this knowledge to help me continue. When thinking about ways I am demonstrating grit my ongoing list of senior project do’s and don’t’s come to mind because they have consistently helped me persevere.  The two most helpful strategies have been listening to the Beloved audiobook while I work and discussing the novel and my ideas with another person. I’ve found that keeping the words of the novel close to me throughout my process helps me maintain focus and increases my stamina by prevents me from falling into artistic ruts that block inspiration. Talking about passages from Beloved with others helps me come up with ideas for other projects and also gives me insight into how the viewer will receive the art.