Monster Mindscapes

Nikki Christensen
Utah State University

In first year composition courses students often struggle learning how to represent two or more texts in their own writing, otherwise known as synthesis. This assignment seeks to provide a visual example of what synthesis looks like by using AI art generators and student drawn illustrations of monsters. Using AI to merge features from each of the student drawn images, students can see first hand how to synthesize.

Learning Goals

  • Help students understand synthesis, analysis, revision, and audience awareness through visual and written activities
  • Expose students to ways they can responsibly utilize AI tools in the classroom
  • Give students access to real-time feedback through AI prompting to build audience awareness
  • Build AI prompt literacy through iterative revision and careful word choice
  • Learn about ethical considerations tied to using AI image and text generators

Original Assignment Context: English 1010 (first-year composition) at Utah State University. Taught across three sections (Approximately 60 students total).

Materials Needed

  • Printer Paper (1 sheet for each student)
  • Art supplies (colored pencils, markers, etc.)
  • Accessible image and text generators for students to use

Time Frame: 4-5 Class Sessions

  • Day 1: Draw and Describe Monsters
  • Day 2: Draw Second Monster and Compare
  • Day 3: Experiment with AI Art
  • Day 4: Synthesis Activity Pt. 1
  • Day 5 Synthesis Activity Pt. 2

Overview: Monster Mindscapes is a five-day lesson plan designed for freshman composition courses that combines descriptive writing and AI-generated art to help students understand how to synthesize two or more texts into an essay, analyze those texts, and write for a specific audience.

The lesson begins by instructing students to draw and describe a monster. Next students receive a different description of a monster without the drawing and draw a monster based on that description. The two images are then compared side by side to demonstrate the impact students' words have on audiences. This comparison shows both strengths and weaknesses in how they convey messages to others.

To help students visualize what it looks like to synthesize two texts, AI image generators can be used to blend images together. By using the student drawn monster pairings, AI can blend features taken from each into one image. After a classwide discussion, students will learn to connect the blended monster to the written word. To close the activity, students use any AI image generator to refine and revise their original descriptions until the AI produces an image closely resembling their original design. The process helps students build revision skills and gain an understanding for an audience's specific needs.

I taught this lesson to three sections of English 1010 at Utah State University. In end-of-semester surveys, students consistently cited the monster activity, stating that adding visuals to ideas like synthesis made abstract writing goals clearer.

Assignment

In the modern world of AI there are countless applications for how to use AI to aid in education. This lesson plan is designed to help students learn how to synthesize two or more texts into their writing by providing them with a visual example. The use of AI art generators exposes students to productive ways in which AI can be used in the classroom as well as providing an opportunity to talk about AI ethics in both writing and art spaces.

Day 1: Draw and Describe Monsters

Preparation:

  • Create a handout folded down the middle and number them one for each student in your class (See Figure 1).

Optional Preparation:

  • On the handout you can put a spot for student names if you’d like to keep track of them.

In Class:

  • Students draw a monster on the left of their handout, then describe it on the right.
  • Students are free to draw whatever type of monster they desire, complexity doesn’t matter at this point.
  • Don’t reveal the purpose of the activity. If the students do not know, many of them will create vague or unclear descriptions based more on personality than physical features. You can use these inconsistencies later as good examples of clear vs. unclear writing.

After Class:

  • Cut handouts in half. Separate drawings from descriptions.

Day 2: Draw Second Monster and Compare

Optional Preparation:

  • Take a few monsters and put the descriptions into an AI art generator. Use AI’s such as Firefly, Gemini, or Midjourney. Do not show the AI monsters until after your students have drawn their second monsters.

In Class:

  • Hand out only the description half of each sheet, making sure students do not get their own.
  • On the reverse side of the description, students draw a monster based on that description.
  • Once completed, use the numbers to match the drawings together. (See Figure 2).
  • Lead a discussion on how descriptions impacted audience interpretation.
    • Compare the visual examples to detailed writing in essay writing.
  • Sample Questions:
    • What similarities/differences do you notice between the two monsters?
    • What made certain descriptions successful while others weren’t?
    • How is this like writing an essay?

Optional Extension:

  • Using the AI generated monsters created in advance, show students AI generated monsters side by side with the original drawing.

Day 3: Experiment with AI Art

Preparation:

  • Identify which AI art tools students can access (eg. Firefly, Gemini, Midjourney, etc.).

In Class:

  • Students input their original descriptions into an AI generator.
  • Students revise and experiment with wording until AI is able to recreate their monster.
    • This reinforces precision, prompt literacy, and revision.
  • Lead a discussion about what they learned. Now is a good time to discuss AI ethics.

Discussion About AI Ethics:

  • Art Style: Image generators are trained on artist’s art styles. Encourage students to think critically about how to credit an AI image when using these images online.
  • Bias: AI often reflects problematic stereotypes in its outputs. Have students consider the bias in their AI monster (male dominated, culturally insensitive, etc.) Students should critique the bias present in their AI monsters and connect bias to text outputs.
  • Critical Use: AI should be a tool not a creator. Have students think critically about how they can use AI to critique and refine their writing without replacing it.

Day 4: Synthesis Activity Pt. 1

Preparation:

  • Use an AI to blend 2-3 student drawn monster sets. Prepare visuals of the original monsters and their blended version.
    • Note: At the time of this writing some free AI image generators can blend images but Midjourney’s blend function offers the best results and requires a subscription. 

In Class:

  • Define synthesis, and contrast it with analysis.
  • Use a Venn diagram to write key features from each monster in a monster set.
  • In a second Venn diagram, put the student drawn images on either side with the AI monster in the center. Discuss how features were synthesized visually. (See Figure 3).

Day 5: Synthesis Activity Pt. 2

Preparation:

  • Search through student drawings of monsters and find three that share vaguely similar features such as having wings, short bodies, sharp teeth, etc.

In Class:

  • Put the students into groups. Show them the three drawings, either projected or on a paper handout. (You can assign three monsters per group three for the whole class)
  • Using a three-way Venn diagram, students should identify the most important features (visual and thematic) from each monster and compare which are similar to each other.
  • Groups draw a synthesized monster which combines the similar features. (See Figure 4).
  • Students then revise the written descriptions to synthesize the three originals into one cohesive text.

Optional Extension:

  • Have students pull from the original monster descriptions for quotes. Then have students imbed 1-2 of those quotes into the description of the synthesized monsters.
    • Having students quote the original descriptions helps them understand the practical application to writing an essay.

Wrap-up:

  • Groups present their synthesized monsters and reflect on the choices they made and why.

Example Images



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Acknowledgements

This lesson plan was inspired by an activity I completed in the fourth grade. Thank you Mrs. Nellie Macintosh for such a fun activity. While originally intended as a creative writing exercise, I adapted the lesson to include elements of AI, specifically tailored to the composition classroom. A special thanks to Melissa Anderson Asay, Emma Jacobsen, Taylee Marcum, and Ethan Marcum for the use of their drawings as examples for the visual component of this lesson plan. I am also deeply grateful to Dr. Beth Buyserie for her encouragement to refine and share this lesson.