The Externally Set Assignment: From Stimulus to Outcome

The externally set assignment

Component 2 of the course is the externally set assignment, worth a large share of the marks. Unlike your portfolio, it is set by the exam board: everyone starts from the same stimulus paper, a sheet of themed starting points, and chooses one to respond to. From there you follow the same creative process as always, but under exam conditions. First comes a preparatory period, several weeks to research your theme, develop ideas, try materials and record what you find. Then comes a set number of supervised sessions in which you make your final piece, working on your own with no further help. This module is not about the making, which cannot be practised here, but about the process: how to move from the stimulus to a strong, finished outcome, and how to plan your time so you are never caught short.

Words for the set assignment

Learn these terms before the stages are matched up. They name the ideas used in the externally set assignment.

Match each stage of the assignment to what it involves

The preparatory period against the supervised time

The assignment falls into two very different stages, and knowing what each is for keeps you on track.

What should you do first?

You have just been given the stimulus paper. What is the sensible first step?

• Read all the starting points and choose one to respond to
• Start the final piece straight away
• Copy a famous artwork exactly
• Wait until the supervised sessions to begin thinking

Plan the time so you finish

The most common way to come unstuck in this assignment is to run out of time. Treat it like a project with a clear finish line. In the run-up, gather your research and try your ideas early, so that you are refining rather than starting from scratch as the clock ticks. Decide what your final piece will be, and what you can realistically make well in the set hours, before those hours begin. Bring everything you need on the day, since you cannot add to your earlier work once the making starts. A calm, well-planned response nearly always beats a rushed, over-ambitious one that never gets finished. Plan backwards from the deadline and protect enough time to resolve the piece.

Pick what a strong response shows

Select everything that a strong externally set assignment should show.

• A personal response to the theme
• Ideas developed and refined over time
• Recording from research and observation
• A traced copy of another artist
• A single rushed piece with no development

Order the externally set assignment

Put the stages of the externally set assignment into the order they happen.

• The stimulus paper is released
• You choose a starting point
• You research and develop ideas
• You refine and plan the final piece
• You make the outcome in supervised time

Complete the set assignment facts

The externally set assignment begins with a _____ paper, a themed set of starting points to choose from. You then have a _____ period to research, develop and refine your ideas. Finally, in a set number of _____ sessions, you produce your final piece without help. That resolved final piece is called your _____.

Tap the two preparatory-period tasks

Read these four actions. Tap the TWO that belong in the preparatory period, before the supervised sessions.

• researching the theme and gathering sources
• developing and refining your ideas
• making the final piece under supervision
• handing in the finished outcome

Rehearsing for the school play

Think of the assignment like getting ready for a school play. For weeks beforehand you read the script, try things out, and rehearse until your part is strong. None of that is the performance itself, but the performance only goes well because of it. Then comes the night: the curtain rises, and you perform live, with no chance to stop and prepare more. Art works the same way here. The long build-up is where you research, experiment and plan, and the show is the set time when you make the final piece for real. Actors who rehearse well walk on calm and ready; students who prepare well sit down to make with a clear plan, not a blank page.

The set assignment run

Answer each one correctly to keep your lives. Choose the best answer.

Make a good assignment choice

Read each situation and choose the best answer.

• You must choose a starting point from the stimulus paper. What is wisest?
• It is the preparatory period. What should you be doing?
• The supervised sessions start tomorrow. What must you have ready?

Build a point about the assignment

Choose the word for each gap to complete one point about the externally set assignment.

Explain the externally set assignment

A friend is nervous about the art exam and asks how the externally set assignment works. Using what you have learned, explain it and how to do well.

• Explain what the stimulus paper is
• Explain what happens in the preparatory period
• Explain what happens in the supervised sessions
• Explain what a strong personal response shows
• Explain how to plan your time so you finish