Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer:
Paper Instructions:

1. Select a visually interesting advertisement to analyze. This could be from the web,
   from a magazine, or even from a billboard you saw on the street.
   2. Study the advertisement for its formal qualities (referring to just the form it takes).
   3. Spend some time observing, thinking, and writing. Take notes. Record details about
   the work that interest you.
   4. Use the following guidelines to analyze those details.
   FORMAL ANALYSIS
   Line
   Line is emotive, so how might you describe the line using an emotion: lazy, angry,
   etc.
   Shape
   Organic or geometric. Since they are made using line these also have emotions
   attached to them.
   Mass
   How is the artist working to make objects look like they have visual mass?
   Space
   What is the depth of field? Is it very shallow? Or does the illusion take us back into
   space? What could be considered negative space and what is positive space?
   Time & Motion
   Is there any reference to paused time or that something has motion?
   Light
   Where is the light source? Check the shadows. How is the contrast between
   values?
   Color
   Ads are good places to find common color schemes. How are the color schemes
   being used?
   Texture
   Is the artist using texture at all? How are they simulating it and what kinds of
   reaction does thinking about that texture cause?
   Unity
   What gives it some continuity? line, shape, color, texture
   Variety
   What gives it some pizzazz?
   Balance
   Symmetrical
   Designs can start out with a strong symmetrical base and then have
   asymmetrical elements thrown in.
   Asymmetrical
   What is causing the balance? Check along a diagonal. Look for contrasts.
   Emphasis/Focal Point
   Ask your eye where it started. What do you think was leading it to start there?
   Could there be more than one visual element that leads you there?
   Repetition
   What is common throughout the piece? Could be line, shape, color, texture.
   Rhythm
   Is the common object creating a rhythm and what kind of rhythm is it? Jazzy?
   Smooth and classical?
   Directional Forces
   Any implied lines formed by edges? By repeated objects? By actual arrows?
   Contrast
   Contrast through value, texture, etc.
   Scale & Proportion
   Does the designer mess with our common thoughts about scale and proportion or is
   everything how it should be?
   CONNECTING THE CONCEPTUAL TO THE FORMAL
   The point is that someone is trying to sell you something. What, besides the product, are
   they trying to sell you? Which formal elements are connected to the sell? Well? Are you
   sold?
   5. When you have completed your sketching and writing, present your findings in a
   succinct two page paper.
   6. Please include the image either in the document of your paper or as a separately
   attached file.

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Paper Instructions:

The Arts have been one of the most substantial ways that civilization has brought attention to/debated/worked through
moral issues and challenges. For this assignment, pick one art form (movie, song, poem, art piece, dance performance,
etc.) that speaks to a moral question and create a short presentation. You are going to explain how the artist created the piece to speak to the injustices of a particular moral dilemma. For the presentation you can write a short 3 page paper or a 4-6 slide PowerPoint presentation

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Paper Instructions:

Visions of Hell. Find five examples of paintings that portray what life is like for those sent to ‘hell’. Compare the visions of the different artists. How are they the same; how are they different? Do the visions vary according to the times they were painted

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Paper Instructions:

The hall of mirrors (Palace of Versailles, France)

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Paper Instructions:
Choose an artist, art movement, or artistic collective that directly engages/engaged with a political, cultural, or social issue. After conducting independent research on your chosen topic, in a 5-7 (1500-2100 words) page thesis-driven, argumentative essay, respond to the following prompt:

How/to what extent does your artistic subject create a thought-provoking response to an issue?

Additional questions to consider as you construct your argument: 
How does your artistic subject engage with the political? How does the artist bridge the personal and the political? How (if at all) does the artist make the issue universal? To what extent does the artist succeed in transcending stereotypes and assumptions? Does identity factor into the artwork? How? Finally, how do formal elements of the artwork contribute to its message?

In selecting your artistic subject, consider artists and/or groups that have the potential to spark controversy or debate, as well as unveil uncomfortable conversations and truths. You may want to consider works of protest, performance, street, or installation art, or haunting or graphic works of documentary film or photography. All artistic mediums are open for this assignment, but I advise you to select an artistic subject that is provocative in its process, presentation, and purpose. 


Points to Remember:
1.    You are required to draw from at least 4 outside sources for this paper. Aim to include at least 2 scholarly or academic sources. All outside sources must be properly cited according to MLA formatting guidelines.

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Paper Instructions:

Atonality appears in Western concert music in the first few decades of the 20th century. Name two composers who wrote atonal music and through the description of at least one of their compositions show how that composer avoided tonal references. Compare and contrast these procedures by each composer

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Paper Instructions:

Reviews on John Sonsini's cowboys serials

https://vielmetter.com/exhibitions/john-sonsini

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Paper Instructions:

Write an essay discussing the origins of ancient, or pre-modern monumentality and its impact on
the construction of power, control, and collective memory. Select a few case studies (e.g.,
buildings) to support your argument.

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Paper Instructions:

In his review of Sherry Turkle’s book, Reclaiming Conversation, the novelist Jonathan Franzen points out that it is a call to arms. Franzen writes, “Conversation is Turkle’s organizing principle because so much of what constitutes humanity is threatened when we replace it with electronic communication” and “Our rapturous submission to digital technology has led to an atrophying of human capacities like empathy and self-­reflection, and the time has come to reassert ourselves, behave like adults and put technology in its place” (https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/04/books/review/jonathan-franzen-reviews-sherry-turkle-reclaiming-conversation.html). Analogous to the assignment for paper #3, this assignment asks you to elaborate on a set of arguments advanced in Turkle’s book — either to support and strengthen Turkle’s arguments, or to argue against her.

To accomplish this assignment you will need not only to understand Turkle’s arguments, but also to analyze how she makes those arguments. What about Turkle’s writing makes her a strong advocate for the views she advances in Reclaiming Conversation?

According to Franzen, “Turkle’s argument derives its power from the breadth of her research and the acuity of her psychological insight. The people she interviews have adopted new technologies in pursuit of greater control, only to feel controlled by them.” I agree that some of Turkle’s rhetorical power comes from the evidence she parlays from the interviews she has conducted. But a close reading of any chapter of the book shows that citing her interviews is only one among several techniques she employs to substantiate her claims.

For example, sometimes she does not explicitly cite one of her interviewees, but claims more broadly that “people tell me…” Laced throughout her book are citations to articles from the literature of social science (including from the fields of psychology, communications, psychiatry), brain science, and philosophy. She also relies on the popular science retold in news articles by journalists. This assemblage of very different citations are deployed, by Turkle, to make claims about “we” and “you” and broad categories of people much larger in size than the number of people she has interviewed and bigger than the groups studied by the researchers she cites.

For instance, she makes claims about what college students do or do not do, what they think, and how they handle their mobile devices. Her rhetorical skill is to give a small amount of anecdotal evidence or obliquely touch on a scientific article and then convincingly make claims about “you” and all of us and how digital media is harming the everyday institutions of the self, the family, work, romance, and public discourse. How does she do this in a convincing manner? How could it be done better? Or, how might one argue against the rhetoric she deploys for the class she makes?

Just a reminder: I use the term rhetoric as a term of art, not as it is usually used in everyday conversation to dismiss an argument as inflated or false. Rhetoric, in the academic sense, is simply a description of the means a speaker or writer uses to make their argument. In a nutshell, what I am asking for you to do is read Turkle’s text closely paying attention to both what her arguments are and her rhetoric, i.e., how she makes her arguments.

What to do

Turkle’s book is organized a specific passage from philosopher Henry David Thoreau’s book Walden (1854) in the chapter “Visitors” where he writes, “I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society.” Remember this is the same Thoreau who also wrote, “We are in great haste to construct a magnetic telegraph from Maine to Texas; but Maine and Texas, it may be, have nothing important to communicate.”

Thoreau’s chairs are partly physical, partly metaphorical insofar as they refer to several social institutions: solitude, friendship, and society. Turkle uses the chairs to stand in for a similar set of social institutions: the self, family, friends, work, and the public. She also includes a “fourth chair” which she reserves for the activity/institution of talking to machines. For Turkle, the backbone of all of these institutions is the the set of recurrent conversations that people participate in to create and maintain family, friendship, etc.

For this paper, I would like you to (a) pick one of these social institutions; (b) closely read the chapter or chapters Turkle devotes to the institution and summarize the arguments Turkle makes about the institution and the influences digital media has on the institution; (c) gather all of the citations and evidence she brings to bear; (d) collect the words and phrasings she uses (the rhetorical “devices” she employs) to make her arguments; and (e) critique Turkle’s rhetorical means — her citations, her phrasings, etc. — and either use your critique to argue against her, or to strengthen her argument.

The end result of your work should read like a review of Turkle’s book, a close reading, a critique of her book with special emphasis on one of the set of conversations/institutions/chairs she examines in her book.

Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer:
Paper Instructions:

1.  Search for drawings and paintings at ( https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection). Find four examples in different media. Click on the image and save the work to your computer. Note the title and artist.a. 

-  Search hint: Search for a story you already know from mythology or religion. Then limit by Object Type/Material, choosing drawing or painting.

2.  Paste your images into the spaces provided below. Resize, if necessary

.3.  Compose your written answers using a university-level, professional writing style. Point to specific places in the work where your information is visible and explain what you see. This is the evidence for your answer.

4.  Proofread for errors and to ensure completion.

5.  Cite the sources you consulted for this assignment.

Instruction 2: 

- Explain the two-dimensional medium and style of narrative image #1, and how it uses time and motion and emphasis and subordination. (50 words)

- Explain the meaning of narrative image #1. Explain the story represented and identify the signs and symbols and how the style and iconography communicate meaning. (100 words)

- Explain the two-dimensional medium and style of narrative image #2, and how it uses time and motion and emphasis and subordination. (50 words)

- Explain the meaning of narrative image #2. Explain the story represented and identify the signs and symbols and how the style and iconography communicate meaning. (100 words)

- Explain the two-dimensional medium and style of narrative image #3, and how it uses time and motion and emphasis and subordination. (50 words)

- Explain the meaning of narrative image #3. Explain the story represented and identify the signs and symbols and how the style and iconography communicate meaning. (100 words)

- Explain the two-dimensional medium and style of narrative image #4, and how it uses time and motion and emphasis and subordination. (50 words)

- Explain the meaning of narrative image #4. Explain the story represented and identify the signs and symbols and how the style and iconography communicate meaning. (100 words)

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Paper Instructions:

Prompt: In a well-developed essay drawing specifically and exclusively from the text of the plays in the first pairing, analyze a theme connecting A Raisin in the Sun and Clybourne Park.The response requires a thesis that presents a claim about a significant theme shared by both plays and body paragraphs that explore how the elements of characterization (how the playwright has developed the emotional, behavioral, and psychological nature of the character through action and dialogue) and plot (conflicts within and between characters that drives the action of the play)work to express this theme.A strong essay will synthesize evidence in the body paragraphs; this means that most body paragraphs present a main point and uses evidence from multiple plays to support the idea. This is preferable to essays where the majority of body paragraphs ONLY focus on one play at a time. Include a conclusion that attempts to explain why this interpretation of the element is important for readers to understand, what lessons can be learned from the way the theme is handled by the playwrights, and how the theme speaks to the universal human condition.Thesis Examples:•A significant theme in both plays is the negative consequences in a marriage when spouses do not meet one another’s needs.•One of the most prominent themes in these two plays revolves around community and the often in authenticity in community relationships.•Both plays have climactic scenes that involve both overt and subtle racially motivated conflicts,suggesting a significant theme of the complex legacy surrounding the shif from a segregated to integrated society.Requirements:•Length Requirement:1200-1800 words(4-6 pages, typed, double-spaced).The Works Cited page does not count toward the word count.  Grade deductions should be expected for essays that are significantly shorter than the required word count. Also note that the grading criteria prioritizes depth and complexity of the argument, which typically requires the presentation of more main points, examples, and analysis than is usually associated with the lower end of the page range. Therefore, students striving to earn the highest grade should work toward the depth and complexity that a longer paper, on the upper end of the page range, is more capable of offering. Quantity does not necessarily mean quality, but substantial depth of analysis of two plays is difficult to achieve in four pages or less. 
•Essays that only summarize the plot and characters without presenting an argument about the interpretation will not earn a passing grade. Essays will be graded according to the 8 categories listed in the English department LIT criteria (prompt/interpretive argument, comprehension,complexity, organization, evidence/support, written Standard English, MLA style/formatting, MLA citation). This is strictly between you and the text of the play. This is about your ability to make meaning from the play and not about synthesizing scholarly sources who have made their own analyses. Papers incorporating outside sources, even if properly cited, may be penalized or fail to earn a passing grade depending on the amount of borrowed material. Final drafts submitted to Turnitin.•MLA Style and Citation: All papers must conform to current standards for MLA format:oStyle: double spaced; Times New Roman 12 point font; centered title that reflects the content of the essay (i.e not Paper 1) on fifth line using title case and does not bold; underline; or enlarge the title; last name and page number in upper right hand corner –plain text format only; identifying information on first four lines left aligned (your name, my name, course, date); one inch margins on all sides(be sure to check –many programs default to 1.25 inch margins). It should look like this: Sample Paper. Need help formatting according to these guidelines? Have Word? Click here for a Word tutorial. Using a Mac? Click here for a Pages tutorial.oCitation: All quotes or paraphrases must be cited in-text using the parenthetical system according to MLA guidelines. Note -Dialogue between characters should be formatted according to MLA guidelines found at this link. A Works Cited page with a properly formatted entry for the play must be placed on its own page placed last and numbered chronologically. See this linkfor help formatting your entry(Play as a Book).

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Paper Instructions:

Professor expects a short argumentative essay for Sita Sings The Blues: that is, one in which you have a point you intend to prove or show through the use of argument and evidence. 
The paper is a short (900-1000 words) argumentative/persuasive essay. To write it, you need to have a thesis (a point you are going to prove by supporting arguments and evidence). The question you need to answer in this paper is really very simple:

Is this film ethnocentric? In other words, although it concerns a traditional Hindu story and uses visual elements from Indian culture, is it essentially “American” in its viewpoint? Is the film respectful of Indian culture or mocking it?

To be ethnocentric means to evaluate another group or culture solely by the standards of your own. The way your group acts is the only right way to behave, and your customs and beliefs are superior to those of other groups. The positive of this is that it offers confidence and assurance to the culture. It helps the group remain cohesive and centered. The negative is that ethnocentrism can lead to arrogance and a tendency to ignore the useful and even superior knowledge or mindset another group might offer. For example, in Jared Diamond’s book Collapse, he argues that the Scandinavian settlers of Greenland could have survived if they had adopted aspects of the indigenous culture, such as building waterproof fishing kayaks and living mainly by fishing, because the native culture was better adapted to the realities of the climate and ecosystem. But ethnocentrism led them to reject native ways as inferior and insist on trying to run farms, and so they perished.

movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCkIShunqdA

supplemental video: https://youtu.be/qsuqbPda5uo