ART216: Term Project There are two possibilities for e term project: a visual essay and a traditional term paper. Expectations, requirements and grading schemes are provided for eier choice. Bo choices require at you make a decision and submit a proposal and plan for approval before e middle of e semester. The visual essay relies more heavily on a visual argument whereas e term paper relies on a researched and analytic argument. Project proposals will be graded and e graded copy must be turned in wi e final project. I. Term Paper The term paper is based on research on a specific topic. It must 1700 words (1600-1800 is an acceptable range, excluding e title page, footnotes and/or endnotes, e bibliography, and captions for illustrations). In most cases, is will be between 6-8 pages but you are required to print out and submit e official word count for e document. Criteria for a Good Term Paper Based on approved and relevant topic Content: introduction includes problem statement, overview, and esis body of paper is well-organized and uses subheadings to focus on emes content is relevant to esis and avoids excessive use of judgmental types of statements which can t be proven (ex: e artist is great; e art work is great, etc.) synesizes and analyzes ideas from different sources (your paper should not be a summary of one or two books or sources) paper focuses on eme or art work(s) raer an e life of an artist your intentions can be clearly understood difference between personal opinion and researched material/facts is made clear Reproductions: scanned or downloaded copies of e most important works in e paper are included illustrations are attached at e end, completely labeled, and referred to in e essay as figure 1, etc. Complete title and date should be given e first time an art work is mentioned. Footnotes or Endnotes: notes are used when information is taken from anoer source direction quotations are kept to a minimum and only used when e auor s way of saying someing is unique or can t be summarized Sources: sources are carefully chosen, reflecting a mixture of more general background sources and specific research sources; popular literature (like Time Magazine, local newspapers, personal web sites) IS NOT USED) acceptable web sites have an auor wi relevant qualifications
electronic journal articles are acceptable because ese are legitimate journals, made accessible rough electronic reproduction all sources are included in e List of Sources Consulted, even if ey are not directly cited in e paper Final Paper Format: adequate leng (1700 words) wi word count printed out and included in folder; remember to exclude footnotes, bibliog., and headers and title page from e word count: go into e Review tool bar. Choose e Word Count option. A box opens up. At e bottom of e box you must uncheck e line at says include textboxes, footnotes, and endnotes. To print e word count: go into e File - print menu. Under Settings, choose Document properties and hit print. Chicago style must be used for notes and list of sources pictures should be attached at e end and referred to in text (as described under Reproductions ) titles of art works and books should be in italics a paper copy must be turned in; e paper should be stapled eier use a folder to contain e paper and e proposal, or attach e proposal at e end of e paper Topic Ideas e influence of Japanese art on e impressionists [note: alough you cannot do a paper on Japanese art, in is case, your question is about e use of Japanese art by French artists in e 19 century] female artists: during e Renaissance; during Impressionism; etc.: your question would be e big picture issue of women who become artists at a particular time and who practice in a particular style; is is not e same ing as a focus on one artist alough examples of specific artists would be relevant Durer s self-portraits Artemisia Gentileschi s use of heroic women as subject matter George Inness s spiritual landscapes in e 19 century e influence of Versailles on baroque palaces/gardens/cities female patrons during e Rococo period e analysis and interpretation of a single work of art or architecture. Choose a work which attracts you and which is relevant to our course (in oer words, it cannot be a non-western work of art, and it cannot come from e period prior to e Renaissance). Works which are not allowed: e Sistine Chapel Leonardo s Last Supper St. Peter s caedral in e Vatican Mona Lisa Michelangelo s David or Donatello s David For is topic, a good paper should include: 1. e artist s reasons for making e work, 2. e patron s reasons for wanting it made and his or her level of satisfaction wi
e work when it was finished, 3. e role of is work in e career of e artist, 4. how it demonstrates (or departs from) e qualities we usually associate wi e artist, 5. how oer people responded to it (at e time it was made and more recently), 6. at least two interpretations or discussions of e work and its meaning 7. why ese interpretations differ and which is more convincing. Grading rubric for e term paper: A range: 88-95% (exact point value based on total project value) Paper uses an acceptable and approved eme; meets all criteria for formatting and content as described above; a esis statement has guided e writing in a logical, well organized fashion; writing demonstrates serious attention to word choice and phrasing; use of sources is documented and evident wiout extensive reliance on quotations; paper demonstrates your own relevant insights as well as e ideas of your sources B range: 79-87% Paper meets all e criteria for excellence but argument may be weak or inconsistently developed in one or two places; ere may be a few instances of insufficient attention to editing alough generally e writing is clear and it is apparent at proofreading has been done; could have used paraphrasing more often, raer an direct quotations C range: 69-78% e topic is acceptable and examples are appropriate but e paper relies too heavily on one source and does not demonstrate adequate synesis of bo research and personal analysis; two or more formatting criteria are ignored and content does not demonstrate rigorous attention to e requirements; overall e paper is acceptable but does not provide evidence of due diligence wi respect to proofreading, use of sources, organization and writing D range: 62-68% alough e topic is acceptable and e paper meets leng requirements, few of e oer format requirements have been met; paper relies excessively on quotations from oer sources and in some cases, ere may be e possibility at a source has not been documented; content contains questionable material eier because e factual basis is incorrect or e content is extremely personal and based more on what e writer feels or inks an on historical analysis; ere is enough suggestion of research to warrant a low pass as opposed to an outright failure F: ere is no merit to e paper; e topic and/or development is not acceptable wi respect to historical background, relevance to course, or use of guidelines; alternatively, e topic and content may be relevant but ere is sufficient evidence of plagiarism to question e originality of e work II. Visual Essay Project: Your Personal Textbook or Exhibition of Art History The Visual Essay is a book alough it can be done in power-point format. There should be at least 5 chapters and each chapter should relate to a different time period and/or a different
style. The overall book must span e period covered by is class (from e Renaissance until e present) and it should do so wi some balance (for example, it is not acceptable to have 4 chapters about e period before e 17 century and one chapter about e 20 ). Since we cover slightly more an 7 centuries in is class and much more an 7 styles, it will probably be most practical to choose a ematic organization, raer an chronological. Anoer way to ink of is project is to ink of it as a museum exhibition. The exhibition would have a eme at is generally expressed in writing and in e title, several rooms which contain e art works and a discussion of e room s contents, and a concluding statement. Overview of what e Visual Essay must contain: 1. Three art works for each chapter in your book (ie, a minimum of 15 art works in total). Each work must be analyzed and justified wi respect to its selection for your book, e point it makes, and e style. In choosing your art works, you may use a mixture of art works at have been discussed in class and/or e textbook and art works you find rough research. In each chapter, at least ONE work should fall into e category of original (you find it and do e research). 2. The book must have an introduction and a conclusion. The introduction will tell e reader what e book is about and provide a general overview of e eme and organization. It doesn t have to be long but it does need to lay out e decisions you made, e organizational plan, your basic understanding of e eme. Each chapter must have eier an introduction or conclusion in which you explain e major issues raised by e works selected for at chapter and how ey advance e eme. The chapter must also include e individual discussions of each image. The conclusion will be a researched discussion which highlights e discoveries revealed by your eme basically pulling togeer e highlights of e previous chapters but arriving at a shaped conclusion. This will probably be two or ree pages. Alough you might refer to ideas developed in each chapter or in e introduction, e conclusion should go beyond what you ve already said. It should not be a repeat of what you previously wrote in e book. Required for every image analysis: reproduction of e art work (download e image from artstor it is e best source for any image) complete identification (name of work, name of artist, date of art work, medium and size) brief style analysis: what style is it? What is significant about e artist s use of is style? How does it compare wi earlier examples in your book? Significance wi respect to your eme Organization: The best approach is to use a eme for e organization of e book. You must still respect chronology but your choice of art works will be made on e basis of a eme. Several emes strike me as being workable for is project: portraits rough e ages artists self-portraits rough e ages changing treatments of ree-dimensional space in paintings
a focus on sculpture religion in art a recurring icon and how it changes (for example, e moer and child icon, e horse and rider icon, heroes who become iconic, religious icons such as e last supper, etc.) gender (women as artists; paintings and sculpture of women; paintings and sculpture of working men) representations of war Grading rubric for visual essay A range: 88-95% (exact point value based on total project value) Project includes all required parts as stated in requirements: intro, conclusion, correct number of chapters, individual image analyses plus chapter summaries, Ids for images discussions are related to eme, contain correct factual information when used and appropriate, combined wi personal insight or observations when appropriate required period is covered, wiout overemphasizing one period at e expense of oers information is attributed to oer sources when not original balance between images discussed in class materials and new images is evident obvious care and ought went into preparation of project bo from e point of view of writing style, format, and analyses of eme and art works B range: 79-87% project includes all required parts (as described above) but some imbalance is evident (for example, two chapters do not clearly add to eme but oer chapters are strong; some of e image analyses are weak alough chapters taken as a whole contribute to e eme; introduction or conclusion does not address eme) C range: 69-78% project meets all requirements wi e exception of one major omission: a) not covering all e required time periods, b) weak chapter summaries in two or ree chapters, c) some ID information for two or ree of e images is missing, d) weak introduction or weak conclusion. Overall project would have been excellent if is component had been included D range: 62-68% at least two of e required major components are missing; project does not display evident care wi respect to formatting, checking facts and oer information, staying on chosen eme but some evidence of commitment is seen eier in selection of unusual images, choice of an interesting eme, and ere is full coverage of e periods required F below 60% too many required elements are missing; alough someing was turned in, e impression it creates is one of having been done at e last minute wiout concern for e final product
What e Proposal should contain: Which project did you choose? If you chose a term paper, what is your topic? If you chose e visual essay, how do plan to organize it? For e term paper, it will be helpful to have a preliminary esis statement. Thesis statements do change as your proceed wi your research, but starting out wi one will let me see if you understand your topic. Follow your esis wi a couple of paragraphs laying out some of e key ideas you expect to develop. This is not an outline and again, it is subject to change, but it demonstrates your initial engagement and research. You must also provide a bibliography of at least 5 books and/or journal articles wi brief annotations of ose sources. The annotation should basically indicate what type of information you expect to get from at source and wheer it contributes to e background or specific argument of your paper. Advice for creating your bibliography: 1) Do a Worldcat search from e library web site. This will show you what books are available at libraries roughout e country. They can be requested rough Interlibrary Loan is is a service for all students at Radford. It does not cost you anying and e books come here to McConnell. You do not have to go anywhere else to get em! 2) You should also do a Jstor search from e library web site. This will give you information about journal articles which usually can be accessed rough Jstor. 3) Some of your sources should relate to e specific art work or eme you ve chose, some should relate to e larger context of your research question, wi context referring to e time period, e culture, in some cases an artist s career, or a movement. The relevant context will be determined by your research question. Wi is in mind, your preliminary bibliography (for your proposal) should indicate which sources are specific to your question and which sources will provide relevant but more general background. For e proposal, group your sources to reflect eir role in your paper. For e visual essay, include a brief discussion of your eme and an initial plan for e breakdown of chapters. Will you be organizing your eme by chronology, by style, by gender? How will you include e required periods in your book or exhibition while remaining true to e eme you have chosen? You should also indicate at least 5 key works for your exhibition. Ideally, e key works will correspond to each chapter in your book. You should have a bibliography wi your proposal but it does not have to annotated or as extensive as e bibliography for e term paper. Your focus at is point is on establishing your ability to find art works for your eme. NOTE: IF YOU CHOOSE TO DO THE VISUAL ESSAY AND TO MAKE A POWER POINT, YOU MUST USE A SPECIAL EMAIL ADDRESS WHEN YOU ARE READY TO SUBMIT IT TO ME: aristory@radford.edu SINCE THAT IS NOT MY PERSONAL EMAIL, YOU MUST ALSO SEND ME AN EMAIL (rbarris@radford.edu) TO TELL ME THAT YOU SUBMITTED THE POWER POINT. You will still need to turn in e proposal on paper.