This assignment is designed to:
- Provoke debate on how art is defined and evaluated in your time and culture.
- Hone your writing and research skills.
- Encourage your involvement in the regional arts community.
- Provide you with the opportunity to engage with an audience beyond the college.
- Encourage primary research.
Description:
You will conduct an interview with a local artist and create a carefully researched and organized thesis essay. Your paper’s thesis must focus on the artist’s experiences as an art appreciator. Thus, your paper will focus on the artist you will interview, as well as an artist that they discuss in the interview.
Your essay should be approximately 1,200-1,600 words, 3-4 pages, double-spaced. At least 6 sources are required for this paper. Include primary, physical, database, web, and academic sources. Also, you must include properly labeled images of the works discussed and an annotated bibliography.
The online arts and culture journal Radar Redux will publish a small selection of exceptional papers from this class.
PART I, INTERVIEW & STATEMENT OF RESEARCH FOCUS (10 Points Possible)
You will start by researching local artists by utilizing the Baker Artist Awards site or by researching an artist that you admire. Then, choose an artist that you’d like to interview. Make sure that you have conducted basic research on this artist before committing. For example, who is this artist? Are they likely to be available? What does this artist write about his or her own work? What have others written? You’ll need this understanding to ask informed questions. Secure permission from your instructor to interview this artist on or before 5 PM Friday, February 10th. It is also suggested that you keep an alternate in mind, as your first choice might not be available.
After securing permission to interview your first, second, or third choice, approach the artist and request an interview as soon as possible. If feasible, conduct this interview in person. You may wish to record your interview. When conducting your interview, you will ask the artist to speak about their experiences appreciating and viewing art. Note that asking an artist to explain and describe a meaningful experience(s) viewing art is different from asking an artist to describe their influences. Type and print a copy of your interview transcript.
After conducting your interview, you will have a great deal of information on artists to research. Make a decision. Your artist might have mentioned many works of art and many artists in their interview. What, specifically, are you interested in researching? For example, if your artist mentioned feeling moved by Jackson Pollock’s expressive line quality, and you noticed a similar line quality in their work, and you are interested in how abstract lines can convey emotion, you might wish to research this topic. Be as specific as possible. Do not choose a topic that is too broad. After research, this topic will evolve into your thesis. Type and print a statement describing the focus of your research.
Hand in a printed (emails not accepted) copy of your interview and statement of research focus on or before 5:00 PM, Friday, March 9th. It is recommended that you simply hand in your copy in class. You may also hand in your copy in my mailbox, located just outside Q225. Please, do not procrastinate!
Part II, IMAGE PAGES/RESEARCH PACKET/THESIS AND SUPPORT (10 Points Possible)
Now that you have defined your focus, you are ready to start collecting information. Don’t limit your research to art publications. Depending on your topic, you might also need technical information, a statistic, or other information that is not found in an art publication. Please note that you may not find a source that is absolutely specific to your topic or thesis. This will require you to compile information from several sources.
You must utilize scholarly (peer reviewed) sources, which are very easily found when searching CCBC subscribed academic databases. Also utilize credible popular audience websites. Credible websites are defined in this course as websites authored by reputable individuals or institutions, such as the Smithsonian website, or an online newspaper article authored by an authority in their field. As the term reputable is vague, your instructor is available for consultation on such sources. Do not use anonymously authored websites such as Wikipedia. You must also utilize a physical source, such as a book or article, which is not accessed by a database. Your interview counts as a primary source. Create a research packet consisting of printed downloads and photocopies of your research. You need not print an entire book or article. A single page from each text is sufficient. Compile an annotated bibliography page in MLA format. At least 6 sources are required.
After conducting research, you will be ready to hone your statement of research focus into a thesis. Remember that a thesis is a clearly defined, specific, and well-reasoned stance on a subject. A thesis is not a topic. A thesis is not a statement of fact. A thesis is not a question. A thesis is not a subjective opinion. Remember that your instructor is available for feedback. It’s often helpful to talk about your ideas when developing a thesis.
As your entire paper should focus on supporting your thesis, you’ll want to look over your research packet to see what information can be utilized. Remember that some information will be on topic, but not in support of your thesis. Write the information that supports your thesis in a bulleted list. Make sure that you have provided enough support for your thesis.
So that a reader can view the art that you are discussing, choose at least one work of art made by each of your artists. Create two image pages. Be sure to properly label the images. The usual image label includes the artist’s name, the materials the work was made from, the date(s) of creation, dimensions, and, if applicable, the museum where the work is housed. Use your text as a guide for image labeling.
Hand in a printed (emails not accepted) copy of your research packet, image pages, and thesis/supporting statements on or before 5:00 PM, Friday, March 30th. It is recommended that you simply hand in your copy in class. You may also hand in your copy in my mailbox, located just outside Q225. Please, do not procrastinate!
PART III, COMPLETE RESEARCH PAPER (10 Points Possible)
At this stage, you have engaged in pre-writing, researched your topic, honed your thesis, and developed support for that thesis. Now, it might be fairly easy to write your paper. Start by taking a look at your supporting statements. Consider how you’d like to organize them in your essay. Your essay must begin with an introduction that contains your thesis, follow with body paragraphs, and end with a concluding paragraph. The order of your body paragraphs is up to you. Utilize some strategy. The order of your supporting paragraphs can strengthen or weaken your paper.
Remember to write in an academic tone. Avoid colloquialisms and vague terminology. Also, write in 3rd person unless you are taking an extremely personal approach to your topic.
After writing your first draft, take a look at your introductory and concluding paragraphs. Readers often pay disproportionate attention to the beginning and end of an essay. Therefore, it’s important to polish your introduction, and write a very strong concluding paragraph. Your conclusion should go far beyond simply re-stating your introduction or thesis. When writing a conclusion, it’s often helpful to ask why the reader should care about your paper. Use your conclusion to explain and highlight why your paper’s thesis is worthwhile.
You have conducted a great deal of research to write your paper, and created an annotated bibliography. Don’t neglect to cite your sources in-text. Any fact or idea that you have obtained from another scholar must be cited correctly to avoid plagiarism. MLA citation style requires you to use parenthetical citations in your essay.
Use a proofreader. As the author of your paper, you might not notice errors in your text. Spelling mistakes, structural problems, and grammatical errors will be much more apparent to another person. Ask a fellow student or teacher to review your essay. Also, remember that CCBC has an excellent writing center. The center will not proof your essay, but they will help you:
- edit your material
- format your document
- cite any sources that you have used (using any documentation style)
- understand comments that your professor has made on a paper or draft
- learn how to proofread your own work
Hand in a printed (emails not accepted) copy of your research paper on or before 5:00 PM, Friday, April 20th. Make sure that you have included a title page, image pages, and annotated bibliography. It is recommended that you simply hand in your copy in class. You may also hand in your copy in my mailbox, just outside Q225. Please, do not procrastinate!
