Instructions for response papers.

From time to time throughout the semester I will be assigning short response papers, basically a 300- to 600-word response to one of the supplementary readings.

What I will be looking for in these papers is:

1. evidence that you read the text: a brief summary (no longer than a paragraph) of what the text is about, with some attention to who wrote it and why. In the case of the third assignment, where you will be writing about a secondary source, identifying the author’s thesis and argument would be useful.
2. evidence that you thought about the text in relation to the paintings and concepts featured in the week’s readings and/or concepts that are raised in readings for another class. This should form the bulk of the paper.
3. good writing.

Within these parameters, you can go in any direction you want with these papers. If the text makes you think about the nature of Chinese art, literature, philosophy, politics, or religious practice, please write about it. I am hoping that these papers will stimulate your thinking about Chinese culture and that this will deepen your understanding of related paintings. Please note, though, that I am not interested in thoughtless criticism of Chinese art or culture. If you have a negative reaction to the text, you need to stop to reflect on how the values of Chinese society in a particular period might differ from modern values. If you find the text confusing, it is fine to focus on one part of it.

Please refer to the notes in your syllabus about appropriate formats for written work and about plagiarism. You should be using information from the text in your paper, and thus you should be including parenthetical references or footnotes in Chicago-style citation in the body of the paper and a list of works cited at the end of the assignment.

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

Assignments.

1. Jing Hao, “Notes on the Method for the Brush,” trans. Stephen H. West, in Ways with Words: Writing about Reading Texts in Early China, ed. Pauline Yu et al. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000), 202–13; due Wednesday, Sept. 19.
2. Susan Bush and Hsio-yen Shih, eds., “The Tao and Painting,” “Naturalness and Painting, and “Spontaneity and Painting” (excerpts from “Sung Literati Theory and Connoisseurship”), in Early Chinese Texts on Painting (Cambridge, Mass., and London: Harvard-Yenching Institute, 1985; reprint, Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2013), 206–20; due Friday, Oct. 5.
3. Richard Vinograd, “De-centering Yuan Painting,” Ars Orientalis 37 (2007): 195–212 (available on JSTOR); -OR-
   Robert E. Harrist Jr., “I Don't Believe in the Literati but I Miss Them: A Postscript,” Ars Orientalis 37 (2007): 213–17 (available on JSTOR); due Friday, Dec. 7.

Format for written work:
Please follow these guidelines when you write your papers and tests.

1. Type all work in a 12-point font.
2. Double-space.
3. Leave one-inch margins on all sides.
4. Number your pages.
5. Put your name and the date on the first page.
6. Check that your spelling, grammar, and punctuation are correct—these are crucial to effective communication of your ideas. Your grade will drop if you have excessive errors.
7. If you cite another source, you must use a.) parenthetical references or footnotes, and
   b.) a list of works cited, as explained in The Chicago Manual of Style (http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html), the documentation style typically used by art historians. (See A note about cheating and plagiarism below.)
8. Include pictures (with captions) of works of art that you discuss.

You can submit written work via Canvas. Please upload a Microsoft Word document (.doc, .docx), Rich Text Format file (.rtf), or a Portable Document Format file (.pdf): these are the only formats that Canvas will accept. Alternatively, you can turn in a stapled hard copy to me during the class period. PLEASE NOTE: I do not accept papers via e-mail.

A note about cheating and plagiarism:
I will not tolerate any form of academic dishonesty. It destroys the trust that I have in you to do your best, it is unfair to the other students, and obviously you will not learn anything if you resort to cheating. If I find that you have cheated or plagiarized on a test or on a written assignment, you will receive a zero for the assignment and I will contact the Deans and/or the Committee on Standards about your case. If a case goes to the Committee on Standards, I follow the Committee's recommendation; if it also finds evidence of cheating or plagiarism, the recommendation is usually failure of the course at a minimum.
In accordance with the Colleges’ Principle of Academic Integrity and General Academic Regulations (http://www.hws.edu/catalogue/policies.aspx) and the Handbook of Community Standards (http://www.hws.edu/studentlife/pdf/community_standards.pdf), p. 15, I define cheating as giving or receiving assistance on any assignment for this course, including all paper assignments and tests, except as directly authorized by me. The Colleges define plagiarism as “the presentation or reproduction of ideas, words, or statements of another person as one’s own, without due acknowledgment.” In application, this means that in any written assignment, you need to cite your sources. When quoting directly from a text—say, five words or more in succession—you need to put those words in quotation marks and include a parenthetical reference or footnote citing the source. When rewriting a passage from a text in your own words, or including information from a text in your paper, you don’t need the quotation marks but you do still need the parenthetical reference or footnote. In addition, all sources that you cite need to be included in a list of works cited at the end of the assignment. If you don’t understand exactly what constitutes plagiarism, or how to use parenthetical references or footnotes, please ask me. I would prefer to explain what it is and how to avoid it before it happens rather than after.