A paper of three to no more than four (4) double-spaced typed pages (750-1000 words) will be due by midnight on Tuesday, October 26. Papers will be submitted digitally, on Canvas, as a Word file or other format deemed acceptable in advance by the Teaching Assistant, to the Teaching Assistants for the various discussion sections. Each paper should have, at the top, the name of the course, the number of the discussion section, and the name of the Teaching Assistant, the time submitted, and of course the name of the student submitting it. Late papers will be marked down by one-half letter grade every two days, except in the case of illness or other valid reason if an exception is accepted by the Teaching Assistant. Papers will not be accepted after Friday, November 5 unless an extension has been granted.
The assignment will be to discuss two (only two!) of the works in one (only one!) of the groups of portraits shown below, one group showing what could be called “family” portraits, and one group showing what could be call “equestrian” portraits. In each group you will have two pairs of works, labelled A and B. Choose one of the works from A, which should be well-known to you already from lectures, sections and readings, and choose one of the works from B, less intensively discussed but related to works that you have seen and that were discussed. Photographs of the works may be found at the end of this assignment sheet.
Group One: “Equestrian portraits”
Column A: Familiar Works (Choose One) Column B: Unfamiliar Works (Choose One)
1) Marcus Aurelius, monumental bronze statue, from Rome, ca. 180
1) Marcus Aurelius in triumphal chariot, and his arch in Rome, 176-180 CE (now in Rome, Museo del Palazzo dei Conservatori
2) Trajan receiving the submission of defeated Dacian soldiers and their families, from the Column of Trajan in Rome, ca. 115-120 CE
2) Alexander the Great (probably, identity not absolutely certain), bronze statuette found at Pompeii, probably a Roman copy of the 1st century CE after an earlier Hellenistic portrait statue
Group Two: “Family portraits”
Column A: Familiar Works (Choose One) Column B: Unfamiliar Works (Choose One)
1) Pharaoh Akhenaton and his Queen Nefertiti
1) Emperor Septimius Severus with his wife and two sons
2) Roman Patrician with busts of ancestors
2) Four Tetrarchs (now at Venice, San Marco)
This assignment is a comparison, using works discussed in your Gardner textbook, and/or the course lectures and discussion sections. Of course you should draw on what you have learned from those sources, but you SHOULD NOT go to other sources, such as online information. Such sources are unlikely to help you and will give no credit for your grade.
When you introduce the artworks you are writing about you should provide some context for them. Do we know why they were made? When were they made? You should use the skills you have now developed in your first paper to describe the works you choose, characterizing particular stylistic features, expressive qualities, focusing on those aspects that seem to you most significant. You can now go beyond (but not skip!) that description of what you see by using what you have learned to put the works into context, comparing such possible issues as who would have seen the work and where, what character of the figures is emphasized, and in the case of the second group, the “family” group, discuss the relationship among the members of the family.
If there is biographical information about someone, based upon material presented in the lectures and readings for the course, that is relevant to the image, then you should include it. However, AVOID filling your paper with useless information about the figures portrayed, biographical sketches or anything of that sort. For example, if the Augustus of Prima Porta statue were one of the choices (which it is not), you might and should use information about his life and politics ONLY as that information bears upon this statue. If you say that he won a great naval battle at Actium in 31 BCE that is fine IF AND ONLY IF you connect it with something you can see on the statue, such as the dolphin supporting his leg. You would mention that his wife was Livia only if you connect it to this statue, which was made for her villa, or the fact that Augustus lived to be in his 70s only because of his relatively youthful appearance in this statue made after his death. If you do disregard our advice and consult sources other than the textbook and lectures, you must acknowledge that you have done so. Failure to do so is a breach of academic honesty. You should consult #7 on the attached list of suggestions for writing a short paper, which concerns the use of sources.
You can and should use the lectures and textbook for information, but SHOULD NOT be quoting from those sources, or using thinly-disguised paraphrases of them. We want to see your own ideas in your own words
Please note that there are many possible good points to make about these works, and you cannot say everything about these complex works of art for this assignment. Your paper should focus on something that you find important in them. You also do not need to say that any of these works are masterpieces, among the world’s chief art treasures. You do not need to praise them, or to condemn them, but to analyze them. You are absolutely entitled to your opinion, but your challenge is to use your critical judgment based on what you have learned, to articulate that opinion in a persuasive way, by describing in detail the physical features that lead you to making your assessments. Do not skip over things that are “too obvious to be stated.”
In writing your paper, you would be well advised to consider the appended suggestions for writing any short paper.
Images of the works of art to be discussed follow that list of suggestions.
Suggestions for Writing any Short Paper
Please note that these suggestions are for “any” short paper (at least one written for me), and some points may not be related to this assignment. #7 about sources is not relevant for this assignment; you should not be using external sources, which will not help – but if you do you MUST properly acknowledge the source of sources!
1) Pick a specific topic which is narrow enough that you can discuss it in detail. Avoid topics either too large or too general, which are likely to involve a superficial survey of material rather than an extended analysis in depth.
2) Decide upon a single thesis which you wish to explain or defend, or a single question you wish to address. This will help you to keep to the main issue and avoid pointlessly surveying irrelevant matters. In other words, the paper should have a point, an argument, and while writing you should ask yourself, “How does this paragraph, this sentence, or this discussion contribute to my argument?” If you cannot answer this question effectively, you should either revise that portion of your work until you can do so, or jettison it altogether.
3) Outline your paper. An outline should be more than a list of points, it should be a meaningful sequence of argumentation.
4) Write a draft, and then revise it critically. Read your work to yourself as if you had never seen it before, and see if it makes sense. Imagine yourself in the position of your reader. Few good writers are satisfied with their first draft!
5)BE SPECIFIC. A detailed analysis of one or two important and characteristic examples will illustrate your points far more effectively than will vague generalities. Only compelling specific observations can persuade your reader.
6) Develop your own ideas and avoid simply parroting the theories you find in your reading or lectures. Indeed, an important part of your task is to examine such theories critically and to assess the degree to which they are or are not convincing. You will often depend upon your sources for factual information, but not necessarily for interpretation and analysis.
7) Be very careful in your use of sources! The fundamental rule is that it is better to acknowledge your dependence on someone else’s idea or phrase than to be accused of plagiarism. Learn how to do this appropriately. The best hint to avoid trouble: take notes based on your reading, and do not merely highlight or underline your text, or write down quotations. In general avoid extensive quotations from secondary sources (modern scholars) except where criticizing their position. You may and should use quotations from primary sources, such as contemporary documents and literature, wherever these contribute to your discussion.
8) The golden rule of all writing – remember the reader! Never expect your reader to work hard, or figure anything out, for it is your job as a writer to make such labor unnecessary.