Article writing homework help. ONTEXUTALIZING A WORK OF ART
This assignment involves putting the work of art you chose for Assignment 1
back into its historical and cultural context. This paper should be
approximately 5-6 pages in length (SEE General Information & Writing
Guidelines on Blackboard for further format instructions).
v GOALS: You are not looking to study the specific work of art you wrote
about for Paper #1 so much as to relate it to its broader cultural context. In
fact, you are not likely to find information directly about the Houston work.
[If you do, be sure you also answer the following bigger questions] This
assignment asks you to discuss the subject and the religious, social, and
political or other cultural context of the work of art you wrote about in
Assignment 1 in order to put it back into that context.
o CRITICAL THINKING: As you do your research and look again at the
work you selected to write about, be sure to define a thesis to guide
you. The thesis could be a question or a particular issue that you want
to find out about in relation to this object. ALSO: Think about the
sources you are using as making an argument, not only as sources
of information. What assumptions might they be making? Do different
sources give different perspectives on the work or its role in its
culture? What do you find compelling or, in contrast, not convincing
based on what you have learned in the course.
v RESEARCH: What does the object tell us about the culture and people
from which it comes?
v TIP: Think of taking the work out of the museum and putting it back into
the world from which it came. INTEGRATE the visual analysis of the
work you did for your first assignment (revised, using feedback from the
grader, and selected to be relevant) into a new paper that explains how
the work of art you chose reflects its original cultural context. DO NOT CUT
AND PASTE your previous paper word for word.
v RESEARCH TIPS & PREPARATION FOR WRITING
LOOK FOR THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION
Ø ID the type of work you wrote about for Assignment 1 and the parts of
its culture to which it relates. Since you are not likely to find many (if
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any) sources that deal directly with the exact object you are working
on, these will be your starting points for research
Ø TO GUIDE YOUR RESEARCH & WRITING, CONSIDER THE
FOLLOWING QUESTIONS in relation to your work of art:
o What kind of function or purpose might this work have served for its
culture and what did it mean for the people of that culture?
§ Was the work connected to the culture’s religious practices or
beliefs?
§ Is it related to the political structure or to power politics?
§ Is it related to the social structure of the society?
§ Is it connected with specific historical events or circumstances of
the work’s time and place?
§ Be specific about the social, cultural ideas, experiences, or
values the piece reflects
o Investigate the subject matter, but don’t go overboard with details
that don’t contribute to the goal of this assignment! (you may
have to drop some of the details you had put in Assignment 1) Make
sure you can relate the subject matter to the culture and the part of
the culture it addresses.
§ Is it a figurative theme (represent people, buildings, animals,
plants) or purely decorative – eg plant forms or geometric or
organic shapes; or just lines?
§ Is it related to the religious system or beliefs of the culture?
SOURCES
Use your textbook AND a minimum of TWO OTHER SOURCES [See Choosing,
Using, and Citing Sources on Blackboard for information about acceptable
types of sources to use]
These sources may include:
Ø RECOMMENDED OR REQUIRED READINGS on Blackboard
Ø E-BOOKS (equivalent to printed books)
Ø NO MORE THAN HALF OF ALL THE SOURCES YOU USE MAY BE FROM THE
INTERNET and the internet sources you use MUST be connected with a
MUSEUM, UNIVERSITY or other ACADEMIC site. (usually .org OR .edu)
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o See CHOOSING, USING AND CITING SOURCES for more detailed
information on acceptable types of sources and how to use and create
citations acknowledging your use of them
Ø FINDING BOOKS AND ARTICLES
Ø Here is an online research guide put together by the Arts
Librarian: https://guides.lib.uh.edu/c.php?g=432806&p=4612923
Ø GO TO: http://libraries.uh.edu/branches/jenkins/
Ø SCROLL DOWN TO: Research Tools
o SELECT Art Databases
Ø CHOOSE FROM (or try several!)
o Art Full Text (art history journals with articles on line) OR
o JSTOR (on-line journals with articles in various disciplines,
including art history but also history, religion, etc)
o Oxford Art Online (encyclopedia written by art historians and
acceptable for art history papers)
Ø Do a Keyword or use “Boolean” searches (using two words with AND or
OR between them are often better than simple subject searches as they
usually produce more focused and useful results
o Examples: Hellenistic AND sculpture; Greek AND bronze AND
sculpture; Roman AND sarcophagus; Roman AND sculpture
Ø USING SOURCES FROM THE INTERNET (other than the databases you
can find on the Art & Architecture Library website) ONLY those
associated with a museum or university will be accepted for papers
in this course. These can be identified by the url that ends in .org
for museums or .edu for universities
Ø Here are some good places to search for general background
information on the type of object you are writing about and the culture
from which it comes
o OXFORD ART ONLINE (remember Wikipedia is NOT an
acceptable source for a college paper – See CHOOSING, USING,
AND CITING SOURCES)
o The Metropolitan Museum of Art:
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah
o The British Museum:
http://www.britishmuseum.org/default.aspx
Ø Googling a topic is not an acceptable way to find a reliable source.
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Ø RE-READ THE TEXTBOOK and other assigned readings (as well as
relevant recommended readings) that pertain to the culture and type
of object you have chosen. TAKE NOTES on those readings if you didn’t
the first time. REVIEW the powerpoints from class relevant to the
work of art you are writing about.
o NOTE: If you wrote on a work of Greek pottery, BE SURE to use
the Recommended Reading selection on Greek pottery as one
of your sources. IF YOU WRITE ON ANY GREEK WORK OF ART,
USE THE POLLITT READING on Blackboard OR the full book from
which it is excerpted.
Ø WRITE DOWN THE PAGE NUMBERS from which you have taken
information and/or ideas next to the material you have taken from that
page. [You will need this information for your footnotes or in-text
citations when you write your paper] If you are using an online source
there probably will not be page numbers.
o REMEMBER: If you use information or ideas of any kind from a
source (including your textbook) other than class notes you
must provide a citation at the end of the sentence or paragraph
where you have used a source
o Make sure you understand the information and ideas and PUT THEM
IN YOUR OWN WORDS.
§ Do not quote secondary sources, but do cite any information
or ideas you get from them.
§ If you copy the words of your source into your paper that is
PLAGIARISM and may lead to your failing the course. Changing
just a word or two is not enough to claim it as your own.
Ø OUTLINE THE MAJOR IDEAS, VALUES & INFORMATION about the
culture that you will use to put your work of art back into its original
context
v WRITING YOUR PAPER:
KEEP IN MIND: The goal is to write a single, coherent paper that talks about
the work of art as an expression of its culture
Ø INTEGRATE
o STYLISTIC ANALYSIS you did for Assignment 1 (taking into account
the grader’s comments
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§ Use only those parts of your first paper that help you explain
the object as a product of its cultural context
o WHAT YOU LEARNED FROM RESEARCH
o INFORMATION, CONCEPTS, TERMS you have learned in the course
Ø Write a separate INTRODUCTION that identifies the work of art you
discuss AND sets out your THESIS or main ideas about its cultural
context and significance.
Ø Write a CONCLUSION that summarizes the main points you have made
in your paper (You will lose points for “fluffy” endings that do not pull
together important elements of your paper.)
Ø ADD an extra page for the Bibliography with the full bibliographic
information for each source you use.
Ø USE FOOTNOTES OR IN-TEXT CITATIONS for each source and page
from which you take information. If you know a standard citation
format you may use it. If you don’t know a standard citation format
SEE CHOOSING, USING, AND CITING SOURCES on Blackboard
o You will also have to CITE THE MUSEUM WALL LABEL again for this
paper
SEE Choosing, using, and Citing Sources and General Information &
Guidelines on Blackboard for further details.
Submitting Your Writing Assignments
We are using TURNITIN assignment tool in Blackboard as a means of
detecting and preventing plagiarism. TURNITIN also records the time and
date that you turn in your paper.
You WILL NOT turn in a hard copy of your paper but ONLY upload it to
TURNITIN.COM.
To post your papers on Blackboard you do NOT need a code!
-Go to the course homepage on Blackboard
-Click on the computer-like link for the Assignment you want to upload
-This should bring up a screen with an option to upload your paper.
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-Click Upload to submit your paper. Be sure all your pages are in one
document!
BE SURE TO PRINT OUT A RECEIPT
TO SHOW THAT YOUR PAPER HAS UPLOADED CORRECTLY!
IF YOU HAVE TROUBLE UPLOADING YOUR PAPER
-Immediately contact the help line at the bottom of the course Blackboard
homepage
-Notify me through mail on Blackboard
