Instructions for response papers:
From time to time throughout the semester I will be assigning short response papers, basically a one- or two-page response to one of the assigned texts in the coursepack.

What I will be looking for in these papers is:

1. a demonstration that you understood the author’s argument: a brief summary of his or her thesis and the evidence that he or she uses to support the argument.
2. evidence that you thought about how the author’s argument enhances or complicates our understanding of the interactions of art and culture in a given time and place.
3. good writing.

Within these parameters, you can go in any direction you want with these papers. If the text makes you think about notions of gender in China, the politics of the Song or Yuan dynasties, Chinese society in those periods, or parallel situations in any other period or culture, please write about it. I am hoping that these papers will stimulate your thinking about the relationship between gender and painting in China and deepen your understanding of Chinese art.

Please refer to the notes in your syllabus about appropriate formats for written work and about plagiarism. (Yes, plagiarism even matters here: if you quote from the text in your paper, please use a parenthetical reference or footnote.) 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:
ARTH 303

1. Martin J. Powers, “Discourses of Representation in Tenth and Eleventh Century China,” 88-127; due Wednesday, Sept. 4.
   
   
2. Marsha Weidner, “Women in the History of Chinese Painting,” 12-29; due Wednesday, Sept. 18.
   
   
3. Stephen Owen, “The Snares of Memory,” 80-98;

-OR-

Shen C. Y. Fu, “Princess Sengge Ragi: Collector of Painting and Calligraphy,” 55-80; due Monday, Sept. 30.

4. Burton Watson, “The Poetry of Reclusion,” 68-89;  due Monday, Oct. 21.
   
   
5. Patricia Ebrey, The Inner Quarters, 114-30, 152-87;
   
   -OR-
   
   Julia Ching, “Sung Philosophers on Women,” 259-74;  due Wednesday, Oct. 30.

ARTH 403

1. Martin J. Powers, “Discourses of Representation in Tenth and Eleventh Century China,” 88-127; due Wednesday, Sept. 4.
   
   
2. Stephen Owen, “The Snares of Memory,” 80-98;

-OR-
Shen C. Y. Fu, “Princess Sengge Ragi: Collector of Painting and Calligraphy,” 55-80; due Monday, Sept. 30.

3. Patricia Ebrey, The Inner Quarters, 21-44;
   
   -OR-
   
   Lisa Raphals, “Nei-wai: Distinctions between Men and Women,” 195-213; due Monday, Oct. 7.
   
   
4. Burton Watson, “The Poetry of Reclusion,” 68-89; due Monday, Oct. 21.
   
   
5. Patricia Ebrey, The Inner Quarters, 114-30, 152-87;
   
   -OR-
   
   Julia Ching, “Sung Philosophers on Women,” 259-74; due Wednesday, Oct. 30.