Research Paper Guidelines
Dates to remember:
- paper topics due for approval on 10/7
- Rough Draft due on 10/30
- Final Paper due on 12/4
Paper topics: You may choose to focus on two works by one artist, OR one work by each of two artists. You will be writing about the works that you choose within the socio-political context in which they were created, and staking a claim for why/how that art serves as a record of that specific time and/or that artist’s cultural moment. That being said, you may choose to compare one work by each of two different artists in order to show their opposing reactions (or differing approaches) to the culture within the same time frame, or the two works by two different artists may be explored in terms of their comments on the same socio-political issue within different time frames/decades. If you go the route of choosing two works by the same artist, it will be in order to discuss the artist’s unique approach to the socio-political/cultural context with his/her work – using the two works to serve as evidence for each other’s claims.
General Notes about expectations for the paper:
You will be analyzing the aesthetics of the works that you choose. You will be picking out details, explaining their implications and/or metaphorical or symbolic meaning (like we do in class), and you will be using research to back up your claims. The research will aid with the socio-political and cultural context, but your analysis of aesthetic descriptions should cater to your overall thesis.
Your final draft will be 6-8 pages.
You will have 3-6 sources, and they must be academic sources – Wikipedia does not count!
What you