Research paper (due Monday, April 21).

Your paper for this course will be based on your analysis of a single Japanese work of art or building. Try to choose something that you like and want to know more about. It may be from any period and in any medium. I encourage you to talk to me about possible paper topics.  Note that you should turn in a paper topic proposal on Friday, Feb. 14; this should be no longer than one paragraph.

On Friday, Mar. 14, you should turn in copies of your annotated bibliography and research worksheets(see attached). The annotated bibliography should be a list of the sources found by this date that you plan to use in your paper, with a sentence or two explaining why it is useful in your research. (Of course, it is fine to continue to look for sources after the annotated bibliography is due.) Research worksheets can be downloaded from Canvas; please fill one out for each library database you consult for this paper, indicating your search terms and your results.

It is particularly important that you pay attention to your sources. Although looking for information on the internet is very convenient, personal or institutional web pages are not always subject to peer review in the same way as books and journal articles. Therefore, I expect the majority of your bibliography to consist of peer-reviewed books and journal articles (which can sometimes be found in online databases such as JSTOR). You should have three (3) art historical sources (beyond the readings assigned for this class) at a minimum, but ideally, you would have more than three, and you would supplement these with appropriate readings on religion, philosophy, history, literature, anthropology, etc. (depending on what your topic is). Certainly, the more sources you have and the more academic they are the better: part of the point of doing a research paper is to demonstrate the amount and quality of research you did, and this is done through your bibliography. You will be learning how to find resources available through our library on Monday, Feb. 3.

For the research stage of the project, I suggest that you consult WorldCat, JSTOR, the Bibliography of Asian Studies, and the Art Index (all online databases on the Library’s web page, http://library.hws.edu, under “Find Articles”). Note: for these online resources, you must be connected to the HWS campus network. For images, you should explore ARTstor and some of the links available online (in Canvas, see the page titled Links and the module titled Asian Art Online).

The paper itself should be about 1500-2100 words (roughly five to seven pages of text, not including images or bibliography). I expect to see both a description and an analysis of the work of art or building that you choose. Start by describing the object or building, and then use that description to analyze its style, function, and historical context. In addition to looking for written discussions of the object or building you have chosen, you may wish to do some reading about the artist, architect, and/or patron; similar objects or sites; or about the period and region to help with your analysis.

Here are some elements that you may want to research (remembering that the absence of certain characteristics is sometimes important too):

• subject matter and/or function;
• the identity, status, and circumstances of the artist or architect;
• where and when the object was made or the building was built (its provenance and date);
• what the object is made of (its medium);
• whether an object is inscribed, and, if so, what the inscription says.

You should also observe and discuss formal characteristics of the object or site (e.g., its form or composition; use of line or color; texture; space, mass or volume; perspective; proportion or scale).

These elements might suggest the following questions, some or all of which you should attempt o answer in your paper:

• how does the object or site fit in its historical context?
• what does the subject matter (if applicable) suggest about the object’s significance?
• what is the intended function of the object or building?
• what do the medium and formal characteristics tell you about the artistic choices of the maker, the status of the owner (if applicable), or the possible reactions of viewers or visitors?
• does an inscription (if applicable) reveal anything about the circumstances of the object’s creation, or the attitudes of the maker or viewers?

Develop a thesis or an argument around which to organize your writing. (Note: this should not be a vague, inflated claim such as “This painting exemplifies the beauty of Japanese art.”) Pay attention to your language: please avoid judgmental words like “good” or “bad,” as well as overused adjectives like “nice” and “interesting.”

If you need more information about how to write an art history research paper, I recommend looking at Sylvan Barnet’s A Short Guide to Writing about Art, a recommended book for this course. (The 2008 edition is also available in the reference section of the Library.) Be sure, in addition to including a bibliography at the end of your paper, to also cite your sources throughout your paper using either footnotes (preferred in humanities courses) or parenthetical references, according to the Chicago Manual of Style. Note that bibliographic and note forms are different.

If you have further questions about writing research papers, you might visit the HWS Writes website (http://www.hws.edu/academics/ctl/hws_writes.aspx).

Please consult the syllabus for instructions on formatting your work, avoiding plagiarism, submitting papers online, and grading.