In this research, we investigated how a summative assessment of creating and sharing metaphors for linear algebra concepts supported undergraduate students’ affective, behavioral, and cognitive engagement. All seven research participants were enrolled in an introductory linear algebra course designed to develop students’ geometric understanding of linear algebra concepts in R2 and R3. Using embodied cognition and an engagement framework, we analyzed students’ written responses and video-taped their focus group discussion. Our findings suggest that this summative assessment (a) privileged mathematical aesthetics and the affective domain of learning, (b) engaged students in binding formal aspects of linear algebra concepts with metaphors that they enacted via embodiment, and (c) was an opportunity to demonstrate learning and higher-order cognition. Thus, illustrating that assessments can focus on aesthetic and affective domains of mathematics while simultaneously integrating serious mathematical cognition. We conclude by offering adaptations of this assessment for other mathematics courses.