OBJECT-TEXT PAPER

Due: Friday September 9 at the start of class

Form: Follow these guidelines for length, focus, and format:
· Papers should be typewritten, double-spaced, 12-point font and 1-inch margins please
· Use an appropriate format to cite quotes (Chicago, MLA).

Description: This critical analysis paper should be six-eight pages long. You'll develop three two- to three-page sections:
· one section in which you analyze one of the visual objects we have discussed in class;
· one section in which you analyze a text we've discussed in class;
· one section in which you compare the visual object you've written about with the text you've written about.
Here's a brief overview of what to consider when writing each part.

[PART 1] VISUAL OBJECT

Goal: To develop the skills of looking and writing about visual objects, and to explore how modern viewers extract meaning from Renaissance art. In this part paper you will practice using your skills of observation and interpretation on a single work of Renaissance art. This is not a research project: no outside reading is necessary. Instead, thoughtfully address the "hows" of meaning. You should go writing about this part of your paper in two stages:

I. Look at the object: You will base this part of your paper upon the information you obtain from the object through visual analysis. The better you know and can describe and analyze your piece, the more effective and relevant your paper will be. You should follow three steps in studying your object, before you begin to write the paper:
· Look closely at your chosen object. Figure out how it is put together. Analyze the visual elements one by one (space, form, light, color, composition), as we've done in class. This kind of looking provides the raw data on which our interpretations are based.
· Using your visual data, consider the "agenda" of the piece, or how it conveys meaning. Think about: How did the artist manipulate the viewer's experience? What parts are prioritized, in your opinion? What parts are downplayed? Where does the artist focus the viewer's attention, and how can you tell?
· Think about why. What does the artist achieve through his/her creation of a specific visual experience? Consider some of the possibilities of what the meaning of the work might have been. This will be your thesis.

II. Write the critical analysis: Now that you know what you think about the work of art, you can write an effective analysis of it. Use the tools and terms discussed in class to "explain" the work. The formal elements that make up the work (medium, size, line, shape, color, light, space, composition, etc.) and how these operate visually are your evidence for your thesis. Write your paper to an audience of peers, for example a roommate or friend, understanding that they have a) no familiarity with this work of art and b) little knowledge of art history but c) a keen interest and intelligence.


[PART 2] TEXT

Goal: In this section of the paper you will use your close reading and analytical skills to interpret one of the texts we have read. You will do a close reading of a short section (your choice) of one of the following texts: Symposium (Plato); Confessions, Books 10-11 (Augustine); The York Crucifixion (anon.). You will use your close readings of the text you choose as evidence for your critical analysis of that text. This is not a research project: no outside reading is necessary. Feel free to bring in insights or observations which support your argument from critical articles and/or secondary sources we have read for class.

I. Close read the text: First, choose one of the texts listed above and brainstorm through free-writing. Reread your free-writing and identify the most important, most interesting ideas from this brainstorming. Then reread the text you're writing about. Find specific quotes related to each of your key ideas. Do a close reading of each of the quotes you've decided to use for evidence. Next, develop a sense of your whole argument. Make a sketch of these quotes and the key ideas you associate with them so that you can visualize how they relate to each other. Establish cause-effect relationships between the main points you will make. If you're into outlines, do an outline. If your thinking is less linear, draw a visual schema. (Venn diagrams will work. So will road maps in which you identify a start point and the destination you want to arrive at. I develop the conceptual schema for the articles I write professionally as if I were drawing a floor plan for a house.)

II. Write the critical analysis: Now that you know what you think about the text, you can write an effective analysis of it. Develop your analysis by doing the following:
· What question are you asking about the work?-Establish the question you are answering in your writing. Articulate what you will argue, what you want your reader to learn from your paper.
· Organize your evidence-Which textual examples will you use (from the close readings of individual quotes you've already prepared)? What sequence will you present them in? Why? (The order needs to follow the logic of your argument.) How do they answer the question you have asked yourself?
· Write the body of this section of your paper-Each paragraph in the body of your paper should develop a component of your argument. You should provide conceptual transitions between paragraphs that make clear how your argument is developing, why you sequence your close readings/evidence as you do.

[PART 3] COMPARE CRITICALLY
Compare your observations about each work you've focused on. Use inductive reasoning to move from the observation of particular facts and details to conclusions about how the object and text you've chosen correlate.
· Find a common focus between the works.
· Then discuss how each work effects that focus differently. How are each work's goals rendered differently? Reflect on what's similar/what's different and why.