For this research project, you will be digging up some information about a particular artist and then developing a thesis argument based on your research. There are many comparative directions you could go in…and some artists will have literally tons of information that you could include. Therefore, it is important that you base your project on sound research from the beginning, and that you define the direction of your research as specifically as you can. Begin by looking around a little. Narrow to a list of 2 artists that you might want to research. Go wide….you can research someone that you already know and admire, but for your second you should try to find out about someone you knew nothing about before this course. Getting off the beaten track often leads to more exciting research. Van Gogh and Picasso are no longer artists I will accept papers about. For the outline, find some material on these artists. Go to the library resources (you have already used several in week 2); you should look for scholarly articles or monographs about them. This means no wikipedia or google (although these are good places to get a quick overview, these do not qualify as scholarly resources), this should be a book or article going into more depth on this artist. Ebsco, Academic Search Complete and the electronic journals are a good source through Canton’s library, and are available online as well. If you have trouble, contact the library staff directly and they can help you. (you can have books sent to you, as well as using online resources) After you poke around a bit, and find lots, little, or nothing that interests you on the artist, you should be able to narrow it down to create the Thesis outline (due 3/5). Looking a little into both artists at first is a good form of insurance; you’re bound to get lucky on at least one. The final thesis paper should be between 3 to 5 pages (12 point text, 1 ½ spaced, saved in Microsoft word or Pages). (Not including images, Bibliography, and title page as part of the 3-5, they should come after). Settle on a particular angle early so that you can include information that is pertinent to the topic. ( “The work of Rembrandt is not a thesis”, it is a book report and not appropriate). “The Negative influence of drugs on Basquiat” or “Cezanne’s landscapes—a precursor to cubism?” would both be examples of a thesis. Choose what to write about carefully within the scope of your thesis topic/statement. Forming a thesis statement A minimum of three research sources will be due with the outline; 1. Text resource (this is not online, this is a scholarly text or monograph featuring or centering on the artist. Between our library catalogue and local library loans (you can have stuff from St. Lawrence or Clarkson delivered through our library within the week), you should have no problems finding stuff. 2. Scholarly journal OR a second text (this can be online or through library loan, but it must be a recognized scholarly publication. Ebsco and some of the Library Databases are good for this) 3 Video (documentary or feature) or an attributable website. (This means you know who published it, when, and that the person speaking is a reliable source. Blogs are not acceptable unless created by the artist the paper is about. We will be working on this for the next few weeks in addition to classwork. The first draft will be due 3/11. The final paper will be due 3/27. MLA research guidelines and college level grammar and writing are expected (use author/date for in text citations, caption all images, have a reference page); MLA citation. Make sure to include illustrations that support your statements. Illustrations may be placed within or at the end of your paper, but be sure to caption; Captioning artworks and reference them. Also, choose carefully; use examples that you can specifically refer to and support your arguments with. Fully caption them, and cite all of your work. (Bibliography does not count as a page) Be sure that the paper you eventually turn in is completely and carefully revised….you will be graded on the quality of your research, the clarity of your ideas, and following correct English grammar and formatting. It is good to make a thesis statement that summarizes what you are saying about the artist. (. “Rembrandt,” “The Art of Rembrandt” and “Rembrandt’s Palette” are not thesis statements…they are book reports. A thesis statement is a claim, an opinion or theory that you are venturing forth that can be proven or disproven: “Gauguin as the root of the Dramatic Artist Figure,” “William Blake and the Artistic Evidence of Hallucinations,” or “Courbet and the Creation of Social Realism” are all claims…they put forth a specific direction about what you will be talking about not just a subject. Having a clear thesis statement is an important part of writing an interesting paper. Be sure to include: Title Page 3-5 pages of written text, 12 point font, 1 1/2 spacing Illustrations (captioned) All necessary quotations and citations Full Bibliography (The title page and bibliography do not count as part of the 3-5 pages) REMEMBER I asked for a “first” draft, not a “rough” draft Proofread, get it as good as you can get it with your resources, and I will give you specific feedback for revising and resubmitting the week after break. Give me something thrown together, incomplete, and obviously sloppy, and I won’t really look at it or spend much time correcting your spelling. A link to grammerly is included in this weeks folder. I’m requesting that everyone use this program to help with writing a better thesis paper. For extra credit meet with someone at the writing center. The writing center can also be reached by phone or e-mail.
