Project Descriptions
Sophia B. | Scrapbook
The Adventures of the Ex-Colored Man
This scrapbook describes the journey across the United States and Europe, that the Ex-Colored Man endured. In the scrapbook, each of the four main places he visited describes his feelings and the sights he saw through a written passage. The Ex-Colored Man goes through many ups and downs in each city, therefore the passages for each page were written from his perspective. There are several pictures on each page helping to describe some parts of his adventure in that city, to help visualize the city and the people he interacted with. Before someone reads the passage for a city, they should go to Spotify and scan the code on the page, for a song belonging to that city and era. The songs help the reader immerse themselves in the story, and feel as though they are experiencing the city also.
Brady D. | 3D Timeline
The Ex-Colored Man’s Notes of Life
I chose to create a timeline because there are a lot of events in the Ex-Colored Man’s life that shape how he looks at himself and how he views society. This project shows my interpretation of the text and of the Ex-Colored Man’s life because I am interpreting which moments affected the Ex-Colored Man the most as well as how they affected him. I chose to create the project using music notes because music was very important to him all throughout his life. The events are shown through drawings and are attached to the noteheads of several music notes which are made out of construction paper. Each notehead has a drawing and a flap underneath the drawing. Underneath each flap is a written explanation of the event or period of time and how it affected the Ex-Colored Man. Each music note is a different color and each color symbolizes the Ex-Colored Man’s overall mood or way of looking at life during that period of time. The music notes are attached to one of three yardsticks which are strung together in a vertical and parallel fashion.
Ella Q. | Picture Book
My Life In Pictures
Through this book, you will find pictures of events that happened in the Ex-Colored Man’s life. These events were chosen because I felt they had the most impact on his life. From the beginning of his life to the end, you will find a picture to represent significant moments in Ex-Colored Man’s life. Included with each picture is a short description of why I chose the event and how it impacted the Ex-Colored Man’s life. It starts with his original childhood home in Georgia to being told to sit down with the rest of the black children, to falling in love with the opera singer. Each drawing should help paint a picture of what those events may have looked like for the Ex-Colored Man.
Izzy R. | Piano Timeline Painting
The Key Parts of the Journey
A keyboard was chosen because of the significance of music, piano music specifically, in the Ex- Colored Man’s life. The painting on the keyboard follows his life in four stages: his youth, before he turned 18 and graduated; his life in the South and New York; his life with his millionaire friend; and the remainder of his life back in the U.S. after he parted ways with his millionaire friend. During each of these stages, there are many events that took place, and these are represented with different images. Each image depicts a key event in that stage and they are ordered, from left to right, to match as they occurred in his life.
Mariah S. | Mannequin Head Symbolism
The Ins and Outs of the Ex-Colored Man
The Ex-Colored man had a complicated relationship with his identity. Growing up he believed that he was a white boy, only to find out that he was actually black. This revelation began the two-sided life of the Ex-Colored man, one where he was black, and one where he was white. For my project, I decided to draw symbols on a mannequin head and mask. The mannequin head represents the Ex-Colored man as a black man, and the mask represents his life as a white man. Each symbol represents a part of his life that impacted him as a person whether or not he was white or black.
Amara W. | Colored Pencil Drawings
The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man
These drawings portray the different places that the Ex-Colored Man traveled to, and how he felt while staying there. Colors represent the happiness that he would feel when he would be in these places, and the sketch pencil represents the depression and doubt that he would feel due to his situations. Connecticut half colored represents the happiness he felt with his mother and the sadness after her death. Georgia is Without color to represent his hatred of the city and its people. New York uses color on top with sketches on the bottom to show that on the surface it seemed like a great place to be, but in reality, it was awful. Paris is last, and everything is in color to show that the Ex-Colored Man liked being there, but everything has a shadow to represent the doubt he felt.