Research Paper (due Sunday, May 8, 6:00pm).

Your paper for this course will give you an opportunity to take some of the ideas that we will be talking about in class and explore them in greater depth. My only requirements are that you consider connections between narrative and art in Asia. You might choose to focus on a specific work of art, a specific narrative theme, or the similarities/differences of narrative treatments in China/Japan, Asia/Europe, etc. I encourage you to come talk to me about possible project topics. (Note that you should turn in a proposal for your topic on Thursday, Feb. 17, and that you should turn in an annotated bibliography of your sources on Thursday, Mar. 31. These will not be graded per se, but I will look them over and give you my comments.)

For the research stage of the project, I suggest that you consult the Art Index, the Bibliography of Asian Studies Online, and JSTOR (online databases on the Library's web page, under "Find Articles"). Note: for all of these online resources, you must be connected to the HWS campus network. Don't overlook the books on reserve for our course at the Library (not only their contents but also their bibliographies), as well as resources that I suggest in footnotes on your daily handouts (typically beginning "Want to know more…?").

The paper should be about 3000-4500 words (roughly 10-15 pages).

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 religious nature of Buddhist art.") Pay attention to your language: please avoid judgmental words like "good" or "bad," as well as overused adjectives like "nice" and "interesting."

Please refer to the notes in your syllabus about appropriate formats for written work, grading, and plagiarism. If you need more information about how to write an art history paper, I recommend looking at Sylvan Barnet's A Short Guide to Writing about Art. (The 1985 edition is in the reference section of the Library.) If you have further questions about writing research papers, you might visit the HWS Writes website.