Formal Analysis of a Painting
FORMAL ANALYSIS PAPER
I WILL POST AN IMAGE AND YOU WILL ANALYZE THE IMAGE
ONLY THE FOLLOWING FORMATS ARE ACCEPTABLE: WORD OR PDF FILES
YOU WILL SUBMIT THE FORMAL ANALYSIS IN THE ASSIGNMENT SECTION OF D2L
The assignment consists of 3 parts: 1. Description 10%
2. Preliminary bibliography 5%
3. Final essay, which includes the description, a thesis statement, and an interpretation of the artwork that depends on your research. 25%
1% per day, including weekends, will be deducted for all portions of the assignment that is late. For example, if your description is late, you will lose 1% per day. The same penalty pertains to the preliminary bibliography and the final essay.
PART 1:
Description: Describe the forms that appear in the work of art posted on D2L. These forms give the work its expression, message, or meaning. A description formal analysis assumes a work of art is (1) a constructed object (2) that has been created with a stable meaning (even though it might not be clear to the viewer) (3) that can be ascertained by studying the relationships between the elements of the work. When your reader finishes reading your description, she/he should have a complete mental picture of what the work looks like. It is important to remember that your interest here is strictly formal; NO RESEARCH IS TO BE USED IN THIS PART OF THE PAPER. Remember too that your description should not be just a mechanical, physical description. Please use descriptive language and adjectives to describe your work.
Begin with a general description of the work, and then move on to the more specific elements.
DO NOT IGNORE ANY DETAIL. THE DESCRIPTION MUST BE THOROUGH.
Format for the description: Two pages double-spaced, 11 or 12 pt. type. The two pages do not include the title page, image, or any other supporting apparati. The description should include the name of the artist (if known), title of the work if known (must be italicized every time you use the title in your paper), date, and medium.
PART 2:
Preliminary Bibliography: You will produce a preliminary bibliography that will help you solve all the details in the artwork. The preliminary bibliography should consist of 8 SCHOLARLY resources listed according to an accepted bibliographic format (MLA or Chicago, or Turabian). An example of Chicago style is found below. THESE 8 resources will get you started. As you ask yourself questions about the artwork, you will have to do more research. Also, some of your resources may prove to be unproductive; if that is the case, you will have to discard those. A bibliography CHANGES as your research develops.
TO FIND SCHOLARLY SOURCES:
1. google: google scholar; click; perform a keyword search.
2. Go to academia.edu. You will have to establish a free account. Perform a keyword search
3. Go to researchgate.net. You will have to establish a free account. Perform a keyword search.
4. Go to iup’s library site (www.iup.edu/library). Click on databases. Go to J and scroll down to find JSTOR. Go to P and scroll down to Project Muse. These two websites are the most useful for this project.
NOTE: ACADEMIA/RESEARCHGATE/JSTOR/PROJECT MUSE AND OTHER DATABASES ARE DATABASES, WHICH ARE LIKE VIRTUAL LIBRARIES, IE. ARTICLE REPOSITORIES. YOU CANNOT CITE JSTOR AS THE SOURCE OF AN ARTICLE. YOU MUST FIND THE AUTHOR, ARTICLE TITLE, JOURNAL TITLE, VOLUME NUMBER, DATE, AND PAGE NUMBERS.
5. For books, go to iup’s library website. Click on interlibrary loan and click on PALCI. The latter gives you access to books in participating library. Choose IUP as the place where you will pick up the books, usually 3-5 days after you order them.
PART 3:
The final paper will consist of your description, a thesis statement, and your final analysis, ie. a convincing interpretation of the work of art based on scholarship, not speculation.
In addition to scholarly resources, you will have to compare the artwork or details in the artwork to examples in museums in order to support your arguments.
IN ADDITION TO THE ESSAY, YOU MUST INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:
1. A title page
2. citations. A citation acknowledges ideas from other scholars and words borrowed from other scholars. If you quote someone’s words, you must enclose the words in quotation marks. FAILURE TO PROVIDE THE SOURCE OF IDEAS AND/OR OTHER PEOPLE’S WORDS (plagiarism, a serious scholarly office), will result in a grade of 0 for the entire essay.
There are a number of ways to cite ideas and/or words: footnotes, endnotes, or intertextual citations. The latter is the easiest. After you have finished a sentence based on a scholar’s ideas use brackets to enclose the author’s name and page number in the source on which you based your statement (Kabala, p. 4). The complete information about the source should be included in your bibliography.
3. images. You must include images of comparative material
4. Final bibliography, which should contain all the resources you used for your final essay. If you relied on one source, you will likely fail to create a convincing argument.
Format for the Paper: Six pages (not including title page, if you use one), black ink, double spaced, 10 or 12 pt type, Word document or PDF file only, 1” borders. Make sure you proofread your papers and adhere to the information listed above, as well as incorrect grammar, spelling, punctuation, and other errors. Although I will be fairly lenient about the grammar, incomprehensible papers will receive a failing grade. If you are struggling, contact the writing center. In addition, make sure your paper includes a thesis statement. Your grade will reflect your ability to follow these guidelines.
A thesis statement that reflects your conclusions about the work. The thesis statement may, in general, answer a question like these: What do I think is the meaning of this work? What is the message that this work or artist sends to the viewer? What is this work all about? The thesis statement is an important element. It sets the tone for the entire paper, and sets it apart from being a merely descriptive paper.
STRUCTURE
In the first paragraph, called the introduction, you will include:
•the name of the artist (if known), title (which is underlined or italicized every time you use the title in your paper), date, and medium (if known)
•what you think is the subject
•a description of the work
A brief thesis statement
.
Body of Essay
From that point, the rest of the essay should include those details of the work that have led you to come to your thesis. Yet, your paper should not be a random flow of ideas about the work (i.e. stream of consciousness writing). Rather, your paper should have a sense of order, moving purposefully through your argument, which is based on your research and comparison
Conclusion (the final paragraph)
You should end your paper with a restatement of your thesis. Remember, that the conclusion is the last impression you leave so the last sentence should be powerful, exciting, perhaps revealing a new direction for further research.
PLAGIARISM
The following constitutes plagiarism:
Sharing your thesis and essay with other students
Working n your essay with another student.
Failure to acknowledge your sources with a citation.
Failure to enclose quotations in quotation marks.
Submitting an essay written by another student or any other person as your own
All of these actions will result in a failing grade for the entire class
I use a plagiarism checker software and have retained earlier student essays on the same topic.
NOTES ABOUT GRADING.
1. LACK of IMAGES INCLUDING COMPARATIVE IMAGES will result in a 5% deduction
2. LACK OF A COMPLETE BIBLIOGRAPHY IN A STANDARD FORMAT will result in a 5% deduction.
3. INCOMPREHENSIBLE papers will receive 0%.
4. PLAGIARIZED papers will receive 0%.
MLA STYLE BIBLIOGRPHY (NOTE, CITATIONS ARE SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT THAN BIBLIOGRAPHIES)
The Colouriser. colour-experience. org, n.d. Web. 23 May 2010.
Eylon, Lily. " Libeskind ZigZag in Berlin." Architecture Week: The New Magazine of Design and Building 7 Nov. 2001. pp. 1–2. Web. 28 May 2010.
Fraser, Tom, and Adam Banks. Designer’s Color Manual: The Complete Guide to Color Theory and Application. San Francisco: Chronicle, 2004. Print.
Gatto, Joseph A., Albert W. Porter, and Jack Selleck. Exploring Visual Design: The Elements and Principles. 3rd ed. Worcester: Davis, 2000. Print.
Giedion, Siegried. Space, Time and Architecture: The Growth of a New Tradition. 5th ed. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 2009. Print.
Kandinsky, Wassily. Concerning the Spiritual in Art. Trans. by Michael T. H. Sadler. Toronto: Dover, 1977. Web. 12 May 2010.
LeWitt, Sol. "Paragraphs on Conceptual Art." Artforum 5 (1967): 80. Print.
Libeskind, Daniel. "The Jewish Museum Berlin." Studio Daniel Libeskind. daniel-libeskind.com, n.d. Web. 1 June 2010.
Morton, J. L. "Color and Food Matters." Color Matters. colormatters.com, 1995–2008. Web. 23 May 2010.
---. "Drunk Tank Pink." Color Matters. colormatters.com, 1995–2008. Web. 23 May 2010.
---. "How Color Affects Us." Color Matters. colormatters.com, 1995–2008. Web. 23 May 2010.
The M. C. Escher Co. M. C. Escher: The Official Website, mcescher.com, n.d. <http://mcescher.com>
Parker, Gail. "The Recondite Demystified: 3D Animations." Cyberglitz. cyberglitz.com, n.d. Web. 23 May 2010.
Procopius. De Aedificiis. In The Church of St. Sophia Constantinople. Trans. by W. Lathabv and H. Swainson. New York: MacMillan, 1894, pp. 24–28.
In Paul Halsall Internet Medieval Sourcebook. Fordham U, 1996. Web. 7 June 2010.
Rossing, Thomas D., and Christopher J. Chiaverina. Light science: physics and the visual arts. New York: Springer Verlag, 1999. Web. 25 May 2010.
Schwartz, Lillian F. "The Staging of Leonardo's 'Last Supper': A Computer-Based Exploration of Its Perspective." Leonardo. Supplemental Issue, 1
(1988), pp. 89–96. Print.
Stewart, Mary. Launching the Imagination: A Comprehensive Guide to Basic Design. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2006. Print.
Webb, Ruth. "The Aesthetics of Sacred Space: Narrative, Metaphor and Motion in Ekphraseis of Church Buildings." Dumbarton Oaks Papers, no. 53
(1999), pp. 59–74. Web. 4 June 2010.
Witcombe, Christopher L. C. E. Women in Prehistory: The Venus of Willendorf. Sweet Briar College, Virginia, n.d. Web. 16 May 2010.
NOTE THE FOLLOWING
A bibliography is organized alphabetically according to authors’ last names.
Article titles in journals and books are set off by quotation marks.
Titles of journals and books are italicized.
Place of publication is required; Publisher optional if you are using a format other than MLA.
DATABASES ARE NOT ARTICLES OR BOOKS. They are like a virtual library so they are not set off by quotation marks. See above.
INTERTEXTUAL CITATIONS
The easiest way to cite something is inter-textual:
Although scholars have argued that medieval images served as teaching-tools for the illiterate (Kessler, "Diction", 298), this viewpoint has recently been challenged by contemporary studies focused on the role of images in medieval life. One argument states that medieval images configured the invisible god (Kessler, Spiritual Seeing, 167), while another bridges the gap between visibility and invisibility through an analysis of liminal devices such as the frame (Peers, 92).
NOTE: 1) all intertextual citations, which are indicated by brackets, refer to your bibliography.
2) if you must cite two different sources by one author, you must indicate the article or
book; for example Kessler, "Diction"; or Kessler, Spiritual Seeing.
3) YOU MUST INCLUDE PAGE NUMBERS, WHICH REFER TO THE PAGE ON WHICH THE QUOTE OR IDEA WAS FOUND.
FINAL ESSAY INSTRUCTIONS
GENERAL:
Write, rewrite, rewrite your final essay many times. Writing consolidates your ideas. A single draft of an essay often is not only poorly written but also is disorganized and replete with undeveloped arguments/ideas. Submitting a single draft will probably result in a failing grade unless you are a brilliant writer.
If you struggle with writing, consult the writing center. Contact the center early because the sheer number of students requesting help at the end of the semester rises exponentially.
Link:
https://www.iup.edu/writingcenter/writing-and-editing-services/online-services/index.html
There is also a link to the Kathleen Jones Writing Center on MYIUP under Academics, then Teaching and Research Resources
Writing Help Sheets:
https://www.iup.edu/writingcenter/resources-for-faculty/writing-center-help-sheets.html
FORMAT:
The essay should be roughly 6-8 pages although the length should be determined by content. There is no penalty for length. Nonetheless, be aware that the I determined the page number because the content demands it. You may submit a shorter essay, but if it does not address the parameters of the assignment and is not thorough, your essay will suffer.
STRUCTURE:
1. You will have to write an introduction, that is powerful, intriguing and seizes the reader’s attention
2. The description you submitted should follow the introduction. Make sure you have made the adjustments I suggested in my comments.
3. A transitional paragraph should create a bridge between the description and your interpretation of the painting. For example: This essay is devoted to an analysis of the crucifixion. Made by Spanish artists, ……………………
4. Your analysis of the details should follow the transitional paragraph.
5. Provie a context for the painting, ie. Spanish interest and mystical texts about the blood of Christ, the Crucifixion etc., which help to situate the details in a historical/cultural/geographical framework.
6. Conclusion. Do not merely repeat the content of your argument. The conclusion is the last thing I will read. A powerful last statement creates a very favorable impression.
CITATIONS:
You must include references to other scholars’ ideas and words. If you quote an author, you must enclose the words in quotation marks. The easiest way to cite an idea or another person’s words is intertextual. For example: “the suffering Virgin, is a trope established by Byzantine theologians in the thirteenth century” (Kabala, p. 3). FAILURE TO CITE A SOURCE, is plagiarism, an academic offense that will result either in 0 and/or academic sanctions. I use TURNITIN and another plagiarism detector to identify plagiarized ideas and quotations.
QUOTATIONS:
YOUR ESSAY SHOULD NOT BE COMPOSED OF A SERIES OF QUOTATIONS BY SECONDARY AUTHORS. You will likely fail because a reliance on other people’s words not only creates a disorganized essay without an argument, but also indicates a failure to think through ideas or work through writing challenges.
SECONDARY SOURCE/AUTHOR: Interprets historical documents/artifacts etc. For example, my article about the Black Madonna in Czestochowa is a secondary source because the Black Madonna was made in the fourteenth century and I interpreted the icon in the twenty-first century.
PRIMARY AUTHOR: A first-hand or contemporary account of an event or topic. For example, Alberti is a primary author because is book On Painting, was written at a time when many Renaissance painters were reading his work or were creating at the same time that Alberti wrote his treatise. Primary sources provide the most direct evidence of a time or event because they were created by people or things that were there at the time or event. These sources have not been modified by interpretation and offer original thought or new information. Primary sources are original materials. YOU CAN QUOTE PRIMARY SOURCES but you will, often have to explain them.