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Museum Assignment/Exhibit Analysis (15%)3-page essay, typed, double-spaced, plus notes Due 10 October Walters Art Museum (Baltimore) or Freer|Sackler (WDC) You will need to visit one of these museums, in person, between now and 10 October. You will have two class sessions where we will not meet so that you may use that time to visit the museum. Objectives:
Process Overview: For this assignment, you will focus on the Middle Eastern art in a museum. In order to make the best use of your time at the museum, you will need to familiarize yourself with the website first:Walters Art Museum (Baltimore) or Freer|Sackler (WDC) . Spend a good 20 minutes browsing the site, making sure to explore the location that houses art of the Middle East. Your assignment is to write a 3-page essay in which you first examine and analyze an object/artifact offered in the exhibit. The essay is the final step, but much of the work for this assignment will come at the museum and after, as you review, refine, and revise your notes, and make an outline of the finished paper. This means that, as the writer and field researcher, you should plan on taking extensive notes: summarize or copy down text; take pictures of artifacts, images, and statues. Document your visit: take a picture of yourself, alone or with your classmates, near one portion of the exhibit. In entering this assignment - let's ask the question, what classifies something as art of the Middle East? There are a variety of possible answers to that question, ranging from
All of the answers you come up with focus on evidence: Think of the object you choose as part of a narrative, which offers a piece of evidence about the history of the Middle East, explains what that object tells us about the Middle East, and how we know that it tells us this. Tips for reading objects. While all of these questions may not help you answer: what classifies something as art of the Middle East?, they will help you create meaningful background to answer the central research question and produce a strong paper.
**Please keep in mind that these are only a sampling of questions you could choose to discuss in your paper. You may not find you need to address all of them. Also, please organize your paper. Do not simply answer each of these questions in the order you see them above. You need to organize your paper by theme and convincingly defend your thesis throughout. Instructions for your time at the Museum:
Note: You may take pictures to help you remember the details, and you may include images in your essay. But your primary responsibility to your readers is to represent the object in words. Readers should not need to see the pictures to understand your paper. Finished paper: When you are home from the exhibit, use your notes to write a 3-page essay that first analyzes how the artifact shapes an answer to the interpretive question, “What does it mean to be art from the Middle East?” and then demonstrates at least one other possible way of interpreting the evidence, substantiating your claims with reference to specific examples that support your claims. Remember is constructing your thesis think about: Your emotional response, aesthetic reaction, why you liked it, and why you think it's important. Did it make you think or see things differently? Do they have a strong message? What clues does it give to the history of the Middle East? As you would with any formal essay, make an outline that includes an introduction, thoughtfully organized supporting points (drawn from your notes), and a conclusion. The thesis of your essay will be your claim about how context and organization shape an understanding of what is classified as Middle Eastern art. It's up to you where to state and reiterate that thesis, but you will be evaluated on the clarity of your argument and the coherence and organization of your supporting evidence. You are encouraged to include visuals in your paper, but these should not substitute for text. Your finished essay must be:
Have fun, and don't forget to bring the assignment with you. |
Post date: 2018-09-12 14:44:41 Post date GMT: 2018-09-12 14:44:41 Post modified date: 2018-09-12 17:54:01 Post modified date GMT: 2018-09-12 17:54:01 |
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