Final version of cultural analysis paper

Please provide brief description of your artifact. What does it look like? Sound like? How would you describe it to someone who could not see it? How is it experienced (do you watch it, listen to it, read it, etc.)? How long is it? Who created it? When?

Importantly, please include what the madness element looks like or sounds like in your artifact. Provide concrete examples, using dialogue, scene description, relevant sounds (music, effects, voices, etc.) For example, if you are focusing on a particular character (in a film or TV show), describe how they act – what they do with their voice or their body. What do they say, or do, to give you clues about their state of mind? Include specific dialogue. Think about showing what you mean, not just telling – with examples. Always be as specific as possible. I am more interested in you giving me specific examples and description of the artifact rather than summary. This is not meant to be a summary of your artifact. Instead, please provide examples that help me understand why you chose this particular piece to study for the duration of the semester.

A reminder: you will submit elements of this project throughout the semester. These smaller assignments will not be graded at the time. Instead, I will provide feedback for you as we go along and the completion of these submissions will factor into the final grade you receive for the project at the end of the semester.  This is meant to help you get a better grade at the end of the semester, as you will be able to work on your project with my feedback in mind.

PART 3:

Scholarly sources

For your final project, you will use at least 4-6 scholarlysources to help you analyze your artifact. Scholarly sources are peer-reviewedacademic books or papers. Use this handout to help you determine if your sourceis scholarly/academic. Scholarly sources are generally more reliable becausethey are extensively peer reviewed by people who know about the subject. Theyare carefully checked and re-checked for accuracy.

 

As you research, please look for academic sources on GoogleScholar or by using the HFC Eshleman Library: Home Page. You should not useregular Google. Always use academic databases to find academic sources. Sourcesthat are not peer-reviewed are not acceptable for this project.

 

Please see my email announcement from 10/5 for a videoattachment of the research workshop I conducted. It can aid you as you look forsources. The library has resources, too. Come to office hours if you have usedthese resources and are still confused.

 

So, what do you need to turn in here?

 

Please, in a Word Document or PDF (using Times New Roman,12pt font, double-spaced), include the following, in this order:

 

MLA or APA style citations for 2-3 of the sources you foundand intend on using. Use the Purdue OWL if you need help formatting yourcitations.

 

2-3 sentences summarizing the source IN YOUR OWN WORDS.(Plagiarism is bad. Please don’t do it, ever. There are serious consequences.)Summarize the main argument (thesis) of the source. Explain what theresearchers studied, and how they studied it. Try to hit the most importantelements. You don’t need to write a book.

 

2-3 sentences discussing why the source is useful for yourproject. How can you use it? How does it apply to your topic? What does it addto your discussion of the topic? Why this source and not something else? Be asspecific as possible.

 

This is what’s called an annotated bibliography. It is meantto help you keep track of your sources and how you might use them. Here is somemore on annotated bibliographies, if you would like.

 

Spell and grammar check, always. Use proper punctuation,always. Please watch the research workshop video and come to office hours forhelp. Thanks for your hard work!

 

A reminder: you will submit several elements of this projectthroughout the semester. These smaller assignments will not be graded at thetime. Instead, I will provide feedback for you as we go along and thecompletion of these submissions will factor into the final grade you receivefor the project at the end of the semester. This is meant to help you get a better grade at the end of the semester,as you will be able to work on your project with my feedback in mind.

PART 4: 

Purpose ofArtifact

For this phase of your project, please provide a statementabout what you think the purpose of your artifact is. This should be informedby your observations and by your research. You must be able to support thisstatement with evidence.

 

Consider the following: what historical context is there foryour artifact? What political or social phenomena might the artifact bespeaking or reacting to? What do you know about the artist/creator? Does theirpersonal history have anything to do with the piece? What themes are present inthe work? Why might they be? What have other scholars seen in the piece, andhow does that compare to what you see?

 

Basically: what do you think the creator is trying to do orsay in this work?

 

Try to keep this as brief as you can. Ideally, it should beone sentence (two at the most). Try to boil it down to the most importantelements.

 

Please note: I do not want to see statements like this:”The author is trying to capture madness” or “The filmrepresents madness.” You must be more detailed and specific than that. Iknow madness is present – this is why you chose it.

 

What do you think the message of the piece might be?

PART 5:

Cultural reflection and impact analysis

For this part of your project, and by using your sources andobservations, you will provide discussion on the following:

 

1. The ways in which your artifact reflects the culture andcontext it comes from.

In this section, you will want to consider historicalcontext, location, social and cultural norms of the time, artistic movements ofthe era, politics of the time, technological advancements, and so on. Thinkabout: why was this piece made at the time and in the place it was? What kindsof social, political, ideological, technological, and artistic events orcircumstances coincided with the work, or preceded it, or succeeded it? How canyou make connections between your artifact and those particular circumstances?

 

For example, think back to when we read “The YellowWallpaper.” It was written and published in late 1800’s America. What washappening during that time? What kinds of influences and factors might havecompelled Charlotte Perkins Gilman to write that story? What might it have todo with men, women, marriage, and social expectations of the time? What mightit have to do with medical advancements and ideas of the time? Whatsignificance might the location in which it was written and/or set have? Werethere any other pieces of art, writing, music, etc. that might have influencedGilman as she wrote this? Was anyone doing anything similar to her? How mightthose influences have mattered as she worked on the story?

 

Think about: why was this particular piece created at thisparticular time? Your scholarly sources should inform this discussion. You mustback up everything you say with evidence – either from the artifact itself orfrom your scholarly sources.

 

2. The cultural impact your artifact has or had.

In this section, by using your sources and observations, youwill discuss the cultural impact/influence your artifact has and/or had. Pleaseconsider: what impact did the piece have on the person who made it? What wastheir work like after they made the artifact you chose? Did their work changeafterwards, and in what way? Or not? What kinds of influence can you see in theartist’s later works? How might the artifact have influenced the place/locationit came from? What kinds of artistic works came after it (from other creators)?How might it have influenced those works and their creators? Try to trace theeffects this artifact has and/or had  -socially, politically, artistically, economically, geographically, and so on.Think about everything having a ripple effect – what was the ripple effect ofyour chosen artifact?

 

Again, your scholarly sources should inform this discussion.You must back up everything you say with evidence – either from the artifactitself or from your scholarly sources.

 

This is going to comprise the bulk of your project. I don’tlike to dictate how much you should be writing. However, these sections shouldbe where you spend the most time. The description of the artifact and thepurpose of it should be just a small section at the beginning. This discussionof cultural reflection and impact are what I am looking for. I want to see youmake claims and use evidence to support them. If you can’t support a claim withevidence, you’ll want to rethink the claim.

 

The final version of this paper should be about 1000 wordstotal. These sections on cultural reflection and impact should comprise themajority of your paper. These reflection and impact sections should take up atleast two-thirds of your paper – if not more. I don’t want your final paper tobe mostly summary and description. Only bring in summary and description whenit helps you support your analysis.

A reminder: you will submit elements of this projectthroughout the semester. These smaller assignments will not be graded at thetime. Instead, I will provide feedback for you as we go along and thecompletion of these submissions will factor into the final grade you receivefor the project at the end of the semester. This is meant to help you get a better grade at the end of the semester,as you will be able to work on your project with my feedback in mind.

PART 6: 

First/rough draft of your analysis paper

Please submit the first draft of your analysis paper here. In your paper, you should include all of the element/pieces we have put together so far: the statement about your artifact’s purpose, your observations, evidence from 4-6 scholarly sources, and analysis/information that addresses cultural reflection and impact. If you have a good sense about how you would like the paper to flow, please do it in the way that seems most reasonable. If not, you can structure it something like this:

Open with a (brief!) description of your artifact. This is just to give your reader an idea of what your topic is. What is it? Provide some information to orient your reader and help them know what to expect. It shouldn’t be more than a sentence or two. Then, transition into what you will focus on more specifically – themes, motifs, style, etc. Then, discuss what you think the purpose of your artifact is. All in all, this should be no more than a paragraph. The introduction is kind of like a roadmap to the rest of the paper – help your reader understand where you’re going to take them.

Then, proceed to bring in your evidence and analysis. What can support your claim about the purpose of the artifact? What kinds of information about the work and the creator are relevant to the claims you’re making? Basically, walk your reader through the research you’ve done and explain how it all fits together for you. This should include your 4-6 sources and your observations.

Make sure you transition smoothly from one idea to the next. Try to make your ideas flow together. Walk your reader through what you’ve discovered and observed. Explain why it matters. Then you can include a small conclusion paragraph at the end summing everything up. Don’t bring up anything new in the conclusion – just tie at all up in a nice bow and leave your reader with something to think about.

Hopefully, you’ve done much of this work already! You just need to assemble it in a way that makes it all work together. Then, I will give you some feedback that can hopefully help you with the final version. Make sure you are working through the feedback I’ve given you already – that will help you do better on the final version, too.

PART 7: 

Final version of cultural analysis paper

Please submit your revised final paper here. It should incorporate the elements you’ve been assembling throughout the semester, in each of the smaller assignments you turned in. You should have revised your work with my comments in mind. Consider working with the Writing Center before you turn it in.

Papers should be in MLA style. The Purdue OWL website has examples if you need them. Use 12pt font, Times New Roman, and double space your work. Include your name and page numbers on the bottom right corner of each page.

Your paper should integrate at least 4-6 academic sources throughout the body paragraphs. Always include a works cited section when you cite outside sources. Use MLA style in-text citations. Make sure you are addressing cultural context (reflection) in some way. Include brief introduction and conclusion paragraphs. Discuss your research and observations in the body paragraphs.

You will be graded on the following: the use of 4-6 scholarly sources to support your analysis (50 points); timely submission of all materials (see the schedule) throughout the semester (50 points); statement of purpose and cultural reflection/impact analysis (50 points); clarity of writing (50 points); and submission of around 1000 words (50 points).

Remember that you must always show where your information comes from. Anything not from your brain/experience needs an in-text citation, otherwise it is plagiarism. For example, what you say here about the painting styles – how do you know that? Where does that information come from? Use an in-text citation to indicate. The Purdue OWL website has examples you can look at.
-I know you were looking for some sources to use. Here is an example of a search I did: https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C23&q=ophelia+painting+john&btnG=
And this: https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C23&q=ophelia+painting+millais&oq=ophelia+painting+
https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C23&q=ophelia+visual+art&btnG=