Final Paper due May 14, 4:00 pm
Your paper should reflect the research and critical thinking that you have done on the topic that you chose for your long presentation in consultation with me. The paper should be a thoughtful analysis of the topic that is supported by research in scholarly sources, not just a summary of the research you have done on it. Make clear to the reader the nature of your topic and the approach that you will take in analyzing it. I will be looking for evidence of your voice and ideas about the topic. It should be well-organized, well-written, and succinctly argued. Be sure to incorporate any comments or suggestions that were provided after your presentation.
I strongly suggest consulting S. Barnet, A Short Guide to Writing about Art, Chapter 12 before you begin your research. It will save you a lot of wasted time and effort. Several copies exist in the Library. Also, use the resources made available by the College's librarians. They provide a webpage specifically for research on art that will provide you with credible sources both online and in print (https://www.amherst.edu/library/resources/subject_guides/art).
Make sure you consult both books and articles in your research. I will be suspicious of a paper that cites only online sources, especially those not included in the list of resources provided by the Frost Library website. If you have questions related to research, please contact the reference librarian or me.
Below are a few guidelines to follow for your final paper. Please come see me if you have any questions about the nature of your paper or if you encounter problems. I can only help those who leave enough time before the due date to help themselves.
1. Your paper should be 10-12 typed pages, double-spaced, and fully illustrated. Either color or black and white images are acceptable. ArtStor provides many digital illustrations for downloading. Illustrations, endnotes and bibliography are not included in the page count.
2. Quality of writing and command of the English language counts toward your grade. I strongly suggest you leave enough time to take your paper to the Writing Center or give it to a peer to read prior to turning it in. Printing out and reading your paper aloud to yourself is also a very efficacious method for detecting grammatical errors and awkward phrasing.
3. Remember to use third person in your paper. This paper is art historical research, not art criticism or a venue for personal reflection.
4. Be selective about the sources you use for your research. Use your judgment when reading the scholarship; do not simply reiterate someone else’s argument unless you are planning to refute or elaborate upon it. I will be looking for intelligent use of sources, not wholesale repetition or antagonistic nitpicking.
5. Avoid subjective or vague words such as “amazing”, “important”, “beautiful”, “talented”, “impressive”.
6. Avoid run-on sentences, poor grammar, spelling errors, and unclear phrasing. Avoid the passive voice and omit needless words. These will all count against your grade.
7. You can use any format to cite your sources, as long as it contains an author's name, the title of the cited work, its publication information, a date, and a page number. Please be consistent in your formatting. Any edition of Kate Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, is a good place to go if you do not have a preferred format in mind. There are several copies in Frost Library. There is also a section on formatting in the Barnet book.
8. A note about plagiarism: if you use an idea, phrase, or interpretation that is not your own, you must cite your source in a footnote, endnote or parenthetical citation. It is always best to err on the side of caution rather than inadvertently plagiarize. Direct quotations should be used only for primary sources, i.e. the artist's own words, a contemporary biographer or critic; all secondary sources should be paraphrased.
Late papers will not be accepted and you must turn the paper in to the Art Department Office by 4:00 pm on May 14. Provide a hard copy of your paper; papers sent by email will not be accepted.