Research Paper (due Monday, November 22).

Your paper for this course will be based on your analysis of a single Chinese painting or print from the period covered by our course. Try to choose something that you like and want to know more about. I encourage you to come talk to me about possible paper topics. Note that you should turn in a proposal for your paper topic on Wednesday, Sept. 29; this should be no longer than one paragraph, and the point of turning it in is so that I can make sure that you are choosing a manageable topic.

On Friday, Oct. 29, you should turn in an annotated bibliography of your sources, with printouts of your online searches for material in the library catalog or databases. 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.) It is particularly important that you pay attention to your sources. Although looking for information on the internet is very convenient, internet sources are not always subject to peer review in the same way as books and journal articles. For this reason, I expect the majority of your bibliography to consist of peer-reviewed books and journal articles. You should have three art historical sources (not including the textbook or other readings assigned for this class) at a minimum, but certainly the more 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 the resources on Chinese pictures available through our library at the Library Orientation session scheduled for Monday, Sept. 20. Remember, if you are searching for the name of a Chinese artist, that it is advisable to take into account the different possible romanizations of Chinese names; please refer to this conversion chart, or ask me for help.

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 picture that you choose. Start by describing the picture, and then use that description to analyze its style, function, and historical context. In addition to looking for written discussions of the picture you have chosen, you may wish to do some reading about similar pictures 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):

1. the picture’s subject matter and/or function;
2. the identity, status, and circumstances of the artist and/or patron or collector;
3. where and when the picture was made (its provenance and date);
4. what the picture is made of (its medium);
5. whether the picture is inscribed, and, if so, what the inscription says.

You should also observe and discuss formal characteristics of the picture (including 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 to answer in your paper:

1. what does the subject matter suggest about the picture’s significance?
2. how does the picture fit in its historical context?
3. what do the medium and formal characteristics tell you about the artistic choices of the maker, the status of the owner, or the possible reactions of viewers?
4. does an inscription reveal anything about the circumstances of the picture’s creation, or the attitudes of the maker or viewers?

Develop a thesis or an argument around which to organize your writing, and put it in the first paragraph. (Note: this should not be a vague, inflated claim such as “This painting exemplifies the beauty and grandeur of Chinese painting.”) 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: see A Short Guide to Writing about Art for details on how to do this. Note that bibliographic and note forms are different.

If you have further questions about writing research papers, you might visit the HWS Writes website.

Format for Written Work
One of the things you will learn in an art history class is the importance of presentation. This applies to your written work as well:

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. Staple your work.
6. Put your name on every page and the date on the first page.
7. Check that your spelling, grammar, and punctuation are correct—these are crucial to effective communication of your ideas. I will lower your grade if you have excessive errors. A Short Guide to Writing about Art has a helpful chapter titled “Manuscript Form.” Read it.
8. If you cite another source, use either parenthetical references or footnotes. (See A Note about Cheating and Plagiarism below.) Make sure that your choice of documentation style is consistent.
9. Include a picture with a caption if appropriate (and please attach it to a clean sheet of paper—do not give me a loose postcard, an illustration torn from a magazine, or a copy of the book you found the picture in. Black-and-white photocopies are okay).

A Note about Cheating and Plagiarism
I will not tolerate any form of academic dishonesty. Not only does it destroy 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 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.

Now, just in case you are not clear about what plagiarism is: plagiarism is the use of someone else’s words or ideas without giving that person credit.  In application, this means that in your writing assignments, 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, you don’t need the quotation marks but you do still need the parenthetical reference or footnote. 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.