Paper #1 Assignment

For Thursday, September 25, please prepare a 2-page essay that incorporates the techniques of descriptive analysis you’ve learned from class discussions, readings, and Writing Analytically into the construction of a succinct, focused argument about one impressionist painting. In order to begin developing your “information-retrieval” (i.e. research) skills, I’d like you to search Artstor for an impressionist image you find particularly compelling. You may want to look in the reading for names of artists to search or you can experiment with different tactics (keywords, general searches) to generate a variety of results.

When you have selected the painting you want to discuss, I’d like you to build your paper using the method outlined in Writing Analytically. These are encompassed in the “5 analytical moves” section of chapter 1. After you’ve reviewed Rosenwasser and Stephen’s method, make a chart of your findings similar to the one on page 15. Begin by gathering your “data”—i.e. by making a list of details you observe in the painting. Then, figure out which details are most important by a) looking for patterns in which certain themes or techniques are repeated b) figuring out how the details relate to each other and c)looking for anomalies that make you do a double-take. Try to discern whether the painting seems to be making a particular visual argument. N.B. Please attach your list and chart to your completed draft when you hand it in to me.

After you complete this pre-writing stage, use your findings as the backbone of your paper. Remember, you are just trying to pose one question, and a narrow one at that, for a paper of this length. So, only include description that directly helps you answer this question (you may, of course, point out details that problematize your thesis—this is better than simply ignoring potential holes in your argument). Although this paper is not comparative, you may use brief references to Renaissance, Baroque, or Academic painting to strengthen your argument. However, only do this if you absolutely need to, as I want you to make your chosen painting the primary focus of this extremely short paper. Keep in mind that short papers can be more difficult to write than longer papers because every word counts. Each sentence should do active work to propel you from your initial question (thesis), into the exploration of evidence (analytic description of elements of the work pertaining to your thesis), and on into your conclusion (suggestions about how your analysis of evidence provides one or a few possible answers to your thesis-question). N.B. On Thursday, please bring 2 copies, stapled, to class. Attach your prewriting documents to the one you give me. The other copy will be used for peer editing purposes.

OK, that’s it. Have as much fun as possible with this assignment—I’ve given you free reign to choose a painting because I want you to find one that you can sit with for an extended period of time and that you can examine exhaustively without throwing your computer against the wall. Please use artstor so you can take advantage of the zoom function and get “up-close”, virtually, to the painting. Choose a painting you love, or hate—i.e. one that you have strong feelings about, and try to figure out exactly why you respond in that fashion. But, by the same token, make sure your instincts are backed up by information contained in the scope of the painting itself. And, lastly, please refrain, on this draft (I’ll let you get background info on the next draft) from doing research on the way the painting you choose is “usually” interpreted—I want you to develop your own skills, not to regurgitate what someone else has said.