Eminent creator : Elon Musk

by / On February 8, 2022 / In English and Literature, Undergraduate

Paper Expectations. The paper will be due Tuesday, May 10, during the last week of classes. It should be 8-10 pages in length, double spaced, 12-point font. You need to provide a Cover Page with a title and picture, and a Works Cited page identifying sources of citations. The cover and works cited pages do not count towards the 8-10 pages.

Focus of the Paper. At 8-10 pages, you will not have enough room to go into depth about your Creator’s entire career. What I don’t want is a biography of your creator, or a listing of their accomplishments. I am interested in what you can tell me about their creative process focusing on the process that led up to one of their great breakthroughs, preferably the breakthrough that changed their domain and established their reputation, including what they did to gain acceptance from the members of their Field.

I will be looking to see you apply specific ideas we’ve read and discussed in class. The three most important sources are Davis’ Creativity is Forever (esp. Chapter 5: Creative Person and Chapter 6: Creative Process), Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s Creativity (esp. Chapter 3, 7-9). I also recommend Howard Gardner’s essay, “Creators: Multiple Intelligences” (on Blackboard) and the opening chapter of his book, Creating Minds both of which you will find on Blackboard. Among the ideas that you may draw on are:

Personality Traits (16 categories of traits)
Biographical Characteristics (Relationship to Birth Order, Mental Illness?)
Creative Abilities (Frank Barron and others)
Eminent Creativity (Tannenbaum, Walberg, Bloom, Feldman and Simonton)
Steps in the Creative Process (Torrance, Wallas, CPS Model)
Creative Process as a Change in Perception (Imagery-Creativity Connection, Bisociation)
Csizszentmihalyi’s ideas (Where is Creativity, Person/Domain/Field, Lives of Eminent Creators)
Howard Gardner’s ideas (Multiple Intelligences)
You do not have to agree with the ideas you cite, but express your own developing ideas on creativity and the creative process in relation to the ideas we’ve talked about in class. As with any creative project, remember to have some fun along the way.