Medieval Zine

Instructions:

"Zines can touch on a variety of topics from music and art, to politics, sexuality, humor and personal memoir. Their content may be written, drawn, photographed, collaged, or any other form of combining words and imagery. A zine’s structure may be narrative, journalistic, comic-like, or completely abstract!...Culturally and historically, zines have served as a powerful outlet for content considered to be too niche, risqué, or outside of the mainstream, in terms of more traditional/commercial forms of publication. A zine can be produced with the simplest of tools, and easily distributed low-to-the ground, outside capitalistic or potentially oppressive systems: amongst friends; in local gathering places or homes; at fests designed to celebrate them!" - “The Bindery: What Is a Zine?”

Here is our opportunity to get creative! We have encountered different types of medieval literature as well as discussed various topics and ideas. Now you will identify something you want to share with an audience outside of our class and create a zine around that topic. We will workshop in class what this genre of writing is, brainstorm topics, and help each other design our zines. 

Your zine should include:

• At least six pages, plus a front and a back

  • We will use this Zine Template for a starting point (click here). You will download a copy of the template and then edit your own.

  •  You may also use the style of Pamphlet Binding introduced to by Kai. Pamphlet Bind Instructions are here. If you choose this style, please turn it in without being sewn together!

• A title

• A thesis/controlling idea - a topic you are trying to convey to your audience about some aspect of medieval literature

• Content (style of your choice) that provides explanations, context, reasoning, etc., for thesis

• An organization that is deliberate and carefully thought out with the audience in mind

• A combination of words and imagery (see definition of zines above)

• References (quotations strongly encouraged) from at least one primary source (chosen from our Textbook) and two secondary sources (may be from our Course Schedule or from your own research)

• Works Cited (may be creatively formatted given zine style)

Resources:

• “The Bindery: What Is a Zine?”

• “The Creative Independent: How to make a zine”

• “Monstrous Zines” (examples of zines)

• Example of a Zine Created on Our Template

Tips for Zines (revised from Creating at Cline Library)

1. If your zine assignment requires you to write, we recommend writing your text or essay(s) in Microsoft Word or Google Docs and then transferring them to your preferred zine format, just to be sure that you’re fulfilling the writing requirement for your assignment.

2. Zines often include both visuals and text. You can incorporate art, collage, photos, poetry, links to digital content, etc. but make sure you know what aspects of your zine you will primarily be graded on.

3. Zines come in a variety of formats. Some are web-based, some are digitally designed on a computer, some are cut, pasted, and photocopied by hand. The format you choose is up to you, just use it well. Be as creative as possible!

4. You have likely been asked to include appropriate citations and bibliography for all ideas that aren’t your own. This is a creative assignment, but it’s also a scholarly one. You will need to cite and create bibliographies accordingly.

5. Do not wait until the last minute to create your zine! Take advantage of any zine workshops in class and set aside time to work on your zine or you will not have time to produce a quality zine.