Humanities Homework Help

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USF Analysis and Comparison of Paintings Art History Research Paper

 

The goal of this assignment is to respond to a piece of art. You must choose an artwork from ONE of the basic forms we have looked at over the term: poetry, painting, dance, architecture, or music. It need not be in the same style (i.e., it need not be a landscape painting or hip-hop song).

The paper should be written for an academic audience, with proper citations and style, and turned in through Canvas. The format is up to you—standard essay or bullet points are both fine, so long as you make sure to do all of the following. Papers should be NO LONGER THAN 5 PAGES (no minimum length).

Each paper MUST include the following:

Part I: Analysis of TEXT, CONTEXT, SUBTEXT

40 Points

  1. A description of the historical CONTEXT of the piece chosen (when and by whom it was made, what was going in the place and time, etc).
    1. 10 points
  2. A brief analysis of the work according to its TEXT (according to genre: paintings should be analyzed in terms of style and theme, brushstrokes, etc.; architecture in terms of building style, layout, etc.; music in terms of lyrics and sound).
    1. 10 Points
  3. A brief analysis of its SUBTEXT (you must state what you think the goal or meaning of the piece, what it’ hidden or deeper meaning might be, what can this piece tell us about the culture that created it, etc; you must make sure to cite various aspects of the text (a particular part of the painting or some piece of the story, etc) and context (its historical circumstances) to support your interpretation.
    1. 10 Points
  4. Your own personal response to the work. This first part of the response should take a stand with regard to the work. Do you like it? Is it effective? Why or why not?
    1. 10 points
      1. REMEMBER: Don’t just say WHETHER you like it or do not, but also WHY.

Part II: COMPARISON TO ANOTHER WORK

10 Points

The second part of the response should compare the work to another piece. This other work can be from any period or place, but it MUST be from the SAME GENRE (that is, compare a poem to a poem, a painting to a painting, etc). You must briefly compare and contrast the two works according to their texts, contexts, and subtexts.

** Please choose an artwork from one of these topics:

1- Epic poetry

2- Painting

3- Dance

4- Arichticture

5- Music

6- Film Poems