Based on your readings in Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration, what do you see as the most important aspects of art, creativity, and imagination in prison? You should give a few specific examples of artists from the book that illustrate and support your thinking.

Prompt
Write an essay that answers the following question:
Based on your readings in Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration, what do you see as the most important aspects of art, creativity, and imagination in prison? You should give a few specific examples of artists from the book that illustrate and support your thinking.

As always, I’d challenge you to go beyond superficial observation or vague pronouncements (human creativity is important) and instead, explain your thinking and offer examples.

Other questions you might consider:

Does art belong in prison?
What is the purpose of prison– to punish, rehabilitate, make amends or some combination of all?
Can art in prison restore an individual’s psyche, sense of self, humanity, morality, love, or anything else? And if so, how?
Are there unjustified or immoral punishments in prison?
What are the moral boundaries around treatment of incarcerated individuals? For instance, is it okay to exploit their labor without paying them? Is it okay to torture them in solitary confinement? Are we okay with the social, emotional and economic costs that incarcerating huge swaths of our population inflicts on children, families, friends and communities of the incarcerated? And how does prison art challenge any of these notions?

Organization
I will be looking for a short introduction that introduces the book, the author, and what her project was. You can also write a few sentences about how this book changed your ideas about art, imagination, incarceration, or justice, if it did. Your last sentence should state a thesis that answers the question above.

In each body paragraph, you should explore ONE way art and imagination function in prison. I imagine you will end up with 2-3 body paragraphs. In each paragraph, provide examples of artists that illustrate your thinking, quotes from Fleetwood, and your own reasoning to support your ideas. It’s very important that you explain your ideas. So, for example, don’t just say, “Art offers a way for incarcerated people to express their pain.” You would need to explain how it allows them an emotional outlet and why that’s important, and give examples as support. You could develop your analysis further by comparing and contrasting how art functions outside of prison with how it functions in prison. How is the function similar or different?

If you have time, you can include a very short conclusion that wraps up your thinking, but if you run out of time for the conclusion, that’s okay too.

Important Notes
This essay exam is open note and open book.
You will have 2 1/2 hours to complete the exam once you start, and you must finish it in one sitting. It’s due on Sunday, 10/30 by 11:59 p.m. but you can do it anytime that works for you between Monday, 10/24-Sunday, 10/30.
Since this is an exam, you should not consult with your classmates on the exam.
You can use images in your essay if you want to include images of the artwork. If it takes a lot of time for you to insert the images, don’t worry about that part. You should spend your time writing.
Double-space your response and use a 12-point, Times New Roman font.

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