4 page essay

adhere to the attached document for instructions

Arts Paper 1

Target length: 4 pages, double spaced (1200 words)

Preparation: First hand arts experience and/or visit to ESC online library

Purpose: To gain both general knowledge of the discipline and specific knowledge of the artwork and demonstrate a clear understanding of the language of the discipline, the genre that the artwork belongs to, and social, cultural and artistic significance of the artwork.

Task: In Arts Paper 1, you will conduct an in-depth study of an artwork of your choice and write a 1200 word paper to demonstrate your knowledge of the artwork. This artwork should be chosen from ONE of the following disciplines: Literature, Art or Cinema. In order for your study to have meaningful depth, you are expected to gain the first hand experience of the chosen artwork. You may go to a local gallery, library or museum to view an artwork. You may read a classic literary work, poem, or short story. Or you may go to a movie theater to watch a “fine” film (try to avoid the film that only serves entertainment purpose.) If these are not available to you, you can go to Empire State College’s online library to view artwork online. (See reference at the bottom of this page).  You may view a reproduction of an artwork or read a literary work in your local library or bookstore. You may rent a movie. The point is that you should gain the first hand experience of the artwork. 

Through studying an artwork of your choice, you are expected to gain both general knowledge of the discipline and specific knowledge of the artwork. Your paper should demonstrate a clear understanding of the language of the discipline, the genre that the artwork belongs to, and social, cultural and artistic significance of the artwork. While the artist(s) is another important topic that you should include in your study, keep in mind that your focus is on the artwork/discipline rather than the artist’s personal story. Therefore, only choose the most relevant details about the artist(s) and incorporate them into the paper.

Open your paper with a thesis statement describing the main theme and brief outline of your paper. Considering the following questions when searching the theme for your paper:

· Why is the artwork significant and worth writing about?

· What have you learned from the artwork? What contribution does the artwork have to the discipline itself?

· Then, you may begin discussing the artwork itself.

· Consider and perform the three important tasks when writing about the artwork: responding, interpreting and evaluating art (see chapter 2 in Writing about the Humanities). Here is where your first hand experience pays off. Your first impression and emotional response can help you write a meaningful response and evaluation of the artwork.

Notes

· Carefully select the most important information about the artwork, discipline, genre and artist, and develop it into a well organized academic paper.

· A substantial portion of the paper should reflect your own responses, interpretation and evaluation of the artwork.

· Include at least two additional references to help you understand the discipline, genre and significance and background of the artwork. These resources must come from reliable academic sources such as journal, book, and special publication for the exhibition. If you choose to study contemporary artwork, you may find art critic papers very helpful, which can also be found online. 

MLA style

 is preferred in the field of humanities and thus in this course.

· Make sure to give a title to your essay.

· Comply with the expected length (1200 words).

· When evaluating your paper, I will pay attention to the work that you choose to study. The work should have significant artistic, social, historical or cultural values. It should come from first hand experience. While you may use internet resources to gain some initial ideas for your study, except online professional journals, many internet resources are NOT academically sound (e.g. Wikipedia). So please avoid citing/using non-academic internet resources.