Describe the piece and review it carefully. What do you see? Note all the details about the work. How would you describe it to someone you were talking to on the phone who can’t see it?
The following outline is suggested,
Identification: Select a work of art. You may select a piece that you like or dislike. Get all the information provided: artist, title, medium, year, etc. Write down your initial responses. How do you respond to the work? Does it invoke an emotional response? What do you think the artist was trying to communicate?
Select a work of art from a virtual museum
https://artsandculture.google.com/partner?hl=en or slam.org
Describe the piece and review it carefully. What do you see? Note all the details about the work. How would you describe it to someone you were talking to on the phone who can’t see it?
Analyze the visual elements and design principles, thinking about the relationship between form, content, and subject matter. This will be helpful in your ‘interpretation’ of the work. Consider context: does it fit into a movement or time period? Consider its place in the artist’s overall output.
Interpretation Follow your analysis with a subjective interpretation of the meaning of the work. How does the work make you feel? What do you think the content is? Go beyond “I like it” or “I don’t like it.”
Research the artist. Historical and biographical information on the artist often provides clues into a work’s intended meaning. Carefully consider the purpose and context of the piece. Did the piece you selected have any particular political or cultural message? Was the artist making a statement?
Evaluate What do you think the artist’s intentions were? Was this communicated? Does it have value? Can you recognize the aesthetic quality in the work?
Format Requirements
The paper must be 1700 words, double-spaced, 10- or 12-point type, with 1” margins. The title page, images, and reference/bibliography page do not count toward the required length of paper. The preferred format to complete the Final Paper is Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx). If these formats are not available, other acceptable formats are ASCII (.txt), rich text format (.rtf), and Open Office (.odt), and PDF. Make sure you proofread your papers for incorrect grammar, spelling, punctuation, and other errors.
A minimum of four sources is required. Research can come from the Internet (reputable, academic sources only) scholarly articles (JSTOR, for example), books on art history, politics, etc.. Sources should be varied and academic and/or professional in nature. Your textbook cannot be one of the four minimum sources but can be included.
Anything that is not considered common knowledge (information that can be found in at least 4 sources) should be cited. This includes opinions, judgments, little-known facts, and direct quotes. In-text citations (APA) or footnotes and endnotes (CMS) are used to give credit to sources of any material or scholarship borrowed, summarized, or paraphrased. They are intended to refer readers to the exact pages of the works listed in the Reference or Bibliography section.
Citation Sources
The OWL at Purdue provides excellent formatting and style guides for APA opens in a new window and Chicago Manual of Style opens in a new window.
