Writing Homework Help

I will provide each thing you need but these are the directions

CRITICAL ESSAY PROMPT

Look around your everyday life (the places you visit in real life and online, the films and videos you watch, the clothes you wear, the objects you use, the buildings you pass-by on walks, etc.), andidentify one of the images, objects or buildings studied in class that directly and meaningfullyinforms, or concretely provides aesthetic and thematic elements to this contemporary work.

NOTE: you are SERIOUSLY DISCOURAGED from using examples already presented in class over the last few weeks (such as Ai WeiWei’s Sunflower Seeds). Point is to find your own, unique example and to think about something interesting to you, personally.

Then, write a critical essay that makes an historically grounded, critical argument about what this particular, pre-modern or modern example can teach us about its relevance and significance to the contemporary people who made or use your chosen image, object or building.

Your argument will need to be directly supported by information learned in class, and you must take the time to directly address how the pre-modern or modern source material formally compares and contrasts with its contemporary example (i.e., you will need to point to the specific ways that the pre-modern or modern artifact or building informs/shapes/influences specific aspects of the contemporary image, object or building).

See the “Technical Directions” and Grading Rubric, both included below, for additional information regarding what is expected from your finished essay.

THINGS TO CONSIDER, while preparing your thoughts:

INFORMATION GATHERING: What do you know about the pre-modern or modern source material? What do you know about the contemporary image, object, or building? How does this information compare and contrast?

FORMAL ANALYSIS: Does the contemporary example reproduce all, or only part, of the pre-modern/modern source material? Is the contemporary image, object, or building made from similar material as the earlier one? Are your examples a similar size? Were they made the same way (i.e. by hand vs. a machine)? How do these different factors compare and contrast? How and why do they matter?

HISTORICAL CONNECTIONS: How and why does your contemporary example connect with the people who made and used the original artifact or building? Their culture? historical circumstances? religion? politics?

Do you think most people who see the contemporary image, object, or building know anything about its pre-modern/modern source material? Does that matter? If so, how/why? (Did you know about this contemporary image, object or building’s pre-modern/modern source material, before taking this class — if not, how his this changed your understanding of it?)

ORGANIZING YOUR THOUGHTS: Take the information and ideas that these questions generate and organize them in a compare and contrast Venn diagram, to help you develop your ideas and argument. (For a refresher on how to approach a compare and contrast assignment — see this: https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/comparing-and-contrasting/)

TECHNICAL DIRECTIONS:

File Type:

Essay must be uploaded as a word doc or pdf. Please do NOT upload a link to a google doc. This will not be accepted.

If you are unsure of how to download a google doc into doc or pdf format: At the top, click File Download as. Then, choose a file type. The file will download onto your computer. You can then upload that file to Canvas, after double checking that it looks OK.)

Length:

Essay must be between 1000-1200 words

Title:

Essay must include a unique title that you think will spark reader interest

Images:

You must include images of the pre-modern/modern and contemporary images/objects/buildings that you are focusing your essay on. These images can be placed anywhere, but it is probably easiest to include them after the Bibliography. Make sure to provide full captions (title of the work/artist name/year made/country made/medium used/dimensions of the work if relevant)

Required Sources, Citations, + Bibliography:

Essay must meaningful engage the course’s required or suggested readings or videos, in support of its argument (i.e., you must directly use information, ideas, or arguments from these sources in the development of your analysis). After you pick your example — I’d suggest looking at some of the suggested readings on your chosen premodern or modern art history, these can help.

You are required to use 2 additional sources from outside the class, as well. These sources must be from credible academic or news-based publications (i.e., please avoid clickbait, and note that you cannot use random blogs, social media pages, or online message boards as a source of verifiable historical information). For more on how to evaluate the credibility of an online source, please see: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/conducting_research/evaluating_sources_of_information/evaluating_digital_sources.html

For help finding optional/additional sources, see the Library Resources page, which contains great information about Art History resources at the MSU library.

Finally, please be sure to properly cite any sources that you borrow information, ideas, words, or arguments from, and to include a full bibliography at the end of your essay — you may use MLA, APA, or Chicago style to make your citations and bibliographic references. For help on how to do this, and info on the different styles, please see this: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/resources.html. Use the provided writing guidelines and standards for various examples of bibliographical entries.

NOTE: Using proper citations is key to avoiding accidental plagiarism or academic dishonesty. If you are unsure of what qualifies as plagiarism or academic dishonesty, please see this: https://www.montclair.edu/policies/all-policies/academic-dishonesty/

FINALLY, if you are new to writing a college essay, or want help at any stage (even just a final review, before handing your essay in) — consider making a video appointment with MSU’s Center for Writing Excellence: https://www.montclair.edu/center-for-writing-excellence/about-us/

Your work towards writing this paper has been broken into three steps.

1. Artwork Selection

As a first step, you are asked to

1. select the pre-modern/modern and contemporary artworks or objects you would like to write about for your final paper.
2. Write a short 100-150 word paragraph outlining our hypothesis about how the works responds well to the essay prompt.

The pre-modern/modern artwork/object should be drawn from materials and topics addressed in your readings and/or lectures during this course.

Due: April 6, 11:59pm

1. Final paper bibliography

Submit an annotated bibliography of 2 resources that you plan to use when researching and writing your paper (beyond the course textbook and lectures). These must be credible academic or news-based publications. you must use MLA, APA, or Chicago style to make your citations and bibliographic references. The writing guidelines and standards provides you with ample examples on how to cite different media, art and architecture, as well as written sources. Each entry should include a short summary of the information that the source covers and how that information is relevant to your topic/argument.

Remember: Wikipedia and other clickbait resources will NOT count as an appropriate sources. Even if you start there, you can’t end your inquiries with Wikipedia. The suggested readings on Canvas might also prove useful to you.

Due: April 13, 11:59pm

1. Final Essay

Due: May 4, 11:59pm