Make Good Art

This study guide will help you analyze Neil Gaiman’s Make Good Art speech (2012) which was used for a non-official test-exam in English A on STX. In addition to help for your analysis, you can find a summary of the text and ideas for assessing it.

Neil Gaiman (b. 1960) is an English author of novels, short stories, comic books, nonfiction, and movie scripts. His works often feature fantasy elements and a darkly humorous tone. Some of his most famous works include American Gods (2001), Coraline (2002), The Graveyard Book (2008), and The Ocean at the End of the Lane (2013). He also co-authored the popular novel Good Omens (1990) with Terry Pratchett. His work has won numerous literary awards.

Extract

Here, you can read an extract from our study guide:

Creativity

Another theme explored in Gaiman’s speech is the theme of creativity. Gaiman constantly urges his audience to expand the limits of their creativity and to not listen to any rules imposed on them by others: “If you don’t know it’s impossible it’s easier to do. And because nobody’s done it before, they haven’t made up rules to stop anyone doing that again, yet” (ll. 30-31). In this example, Gaiman shows graduates that the fact that the art field does not often have clear rules and guidelines is a freeing thing that can help with creativity. Moreover, Gaiman inspires his audience to make up their own rules (l. 199) when he mentions the way distribution models in the art sector are constantly changing and being innovated.

Gaiman also explores the theme of creativity when he talks about the need for...