overall composition
disposition of mass & void [positive & negative space]
materials
surface treatment
Come to some conclusion about the sculptures effectiveness in fulfilling its function as a depiction -- in other words, the interaction between the sculpture as object and as person.

Some suggested sculptures:

Elizabeth Blackwell in the Quad
the statue in Pulteney Park -- Main Street at Park Place [note -- she is not called "the Lady of the Lake" and especially not "Our Lady of the Lake"]
funerary sculptures in the cemetery
If you think of something else you'd like to write about (in or out of Geneva), just ask first.  If you are going to write about something I cant go look at before I grade it you must bring me a photograph or postcard.  You must take notes in front of the object, so no choosing something you saw this summer.

site
basic shapes
elevation
plan
Come to some conclusion about the buildings effectiveness in fulfilling its public functions.

warning:
This is an exercise in visual analysis, not a research paper.  I do not need to know when the building was built, what style someone else says it is, or who owns it now.  Look and think -- don't read.

First Presbyterian Church, Park Place
Trinity Episcopal Church, Main Street
St. John's Chapel (a hard one!)
St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Genesee Street
St. Stephen's Catholic Church, Pulteney Street
St. Francis de Sales Church, Exchange Street (whatever you do don't go   inside!)

 Coxe Hall
 the President's  House
 a fraternity house with a classical facade (i.e., not the Chi Phi House)
 the Geneva Post Office
 local houses with classical colonnade porches

back to top of page

The best introduction is a simple identification by name and location in one sentence of the building which you intend to analyze.  You do not need an elaborate introductory paragraph connecting this building to the entire history of art.  For a conclusion, follow my suggestion above about the building's effectiveness in serving its evident purpose.  These papers are very short - you will never need to say "as I stated earlier," or  "as we saw above" in a conclusion or anywhere else.

Do not over-praise or condemn the building - your role in this paper is not as judge, but as analyst -- don't claim this is a very beautiful building and don't tell me how it makes you feel.  Tell me what the architect has done, how the architect has used the building's design to communicate with the visitor, not that it inspires the visitor with awe.

This is a formal paper.  Do not use contractions.  They count as misspellings.

Avoid dull passive verbs!!!!
     The doorway is placed in the center of the facade.
Let the architect do the work of the sentence, which will force you to use an active verb:
    The architect placed the entry in the center of the façade.

Save yourself trouble -- avoid empty words and phrases and I won't have to mark them out of your rough draft or take deduct from your final grade.  A partial list:

 unique
 aesthetic
 simplistic
 "basic" if what you mean is "simple"
 "a look of" -- the verb "look" is appropriate, however

Grade Distribution (before my comments on style)

A - excellent analysis of the work of art showing thought beyond the assignment to engagement with the artist's decision-making process.  Fluent expression, especially in the apt use of the technical terms of art history.

B - good  analysis of the work of art and clear engagement with the assignment.

C- competent completion of the assignment, but no more.  Many aspects of the assignment dealt with in one sentence.

D - partial completion of the assignment, without evidence of thought or analysis.  Signs that you wrote about a photograph.

F - no sign of effort or engagement with a real object.
 

Point Deduction Schedule:
Refer to your assignment sheet, but I deduct for each error of:

 grammar*,
 spelling (including contractions),
 word choice,
 word usage,
 and awkwardness of construction
        *run ons and sentence fragments are penalized more heavily

---

Back to Art 101 Syllabus
 Back to Professor Tinkler home page