VISA1Q99 Brock University The Flatiron Building & City Night Artwok Essay

Comparison Essay Please read this entire document before you begin and before you email me with questions! This writing assignment is designed to help you learn different ways to write and think about art. For this assignment you will write a minimum 1000 word comparison (excluding footnotes, bibliography) of two artworks.
Topic:a. Alfred Stieglitz, The Flatiron Building, 1903 (19-18), p. 525.
b. Georgia O’Keeffe, City Night, 1926 (19-19), p. 527.
How to Write a Comparison Essay A comparison is an essay comprised of two aspects: comparing elements (noting the similarities) and contrasting elements (noting the differences) of one work with another. The aim of this exercise is to learn more about each work by looking at them alongside one another, as such this is largely a visual exercise of looking. You will be using the types of observations discussed in modules but applying this specifically to two works of art. Your paper must have a thesis and through comparing and contrasting the two works you will argue (prove) your thesis and reach a conclusion. There are two main approaches to writing a comparison: split or lump. This refers to the organization of your points on each artwork. If you want to compare and contrast a number of elements about each work this is splitting and if you write first of one work and then the other in separate paragraphs you are lumping. You may write either way but make certain that you have about the same number of points or observations for each work. Pay close attention to the organization of your paper, it should make sense and flow naturally back and forth between the works compared. Try to make a logical progression from one point to the next. You will want to examine each work of art closely. Ask yourself questions about the artwork: Why was this work made, for whom, by whom, in what style, what context and when? What is the work about? How does it convey a story, event, or particular meaning? How does the artist use form, colour, space, perspective and line? How is the composition arranged? What is the size and condition of the work, does this convey further meaning? Once you think about these types of questions for each work separately you will need to consider them together. Ask yourself, why is this comparison relevant, what becomes more apparent about the works when you look at them side by side? Consider the visual impact, but also the context of the artworks’ production and reception. Are they of the same style and time period or not, why does this matter, are values and cultural elements similar or different? Do
1
VISA 1Q99: Writing Assignment Worth 15% of final mark, due Tuesday, June 4th, 11:30 pm via SAKAI>Assignment these works convey the same message or something different, how is this done, how do you observe this in the works? Begin by making notes on each work and then the comparative/contrasting elements that you can write about for both works. From here begin to compose your essay by creating a thesis. Your thesis is a statement that gives direction to your analysis. Take care to organize, revise and edit your paper. Poor organization and lack of editing will detract from your observations and your grade. Format The paper must be 1000 words typed, double-spaced pages of your writing with the course name, your name, and student number on the first page along with a title. You do not need a separate title page for this assignment but if you use one this does not count towards the page length of this assignment. The length requirement is 1000 words excluding title page and bibliography/works cited. You might find it helpful to take a look on SAKAI>Resources>Written Assignment>Further Reading on Writing a Comparison. Links to websites with helpful information are posted there. If you have access to one of the optional resources for this course read Sylvan Barnet, A Short Guide to Writing About Art: “Writing a Comparison.” Research You are not required to do a lot of research for this paper–it is meant as a practice of looking, describing and evaluating. Begin by reading about the work in your textbook, if you find that you want to use further secondary sources, your paper must follow the Chicago Manual of Style citation format, MLA or APA. Basic information such as title, artist, date, origin of a work and general factual historical information do NOT need to be cited. You do need to cite information and ideas that you take from the textbook. Please see the links on SAKAI under Written Assignment>How to Cite Sources/Bibliographies, if you need help with citations. You will find citation style guidelines there. All secondary sources used in your writing (books, articles, websites, textbook, videos, etc.) must be cited, failure to do so constitutes academic dishonesty and will result in a grade of zero and possible failure in course. Please remember