The research paper is a thesis paper and not a report paper. This research paper is required to make an assertion (i.e., the thesis) and be organized to support this assertion (i.e., thesis). Please see the handout Guidelines and Requirements for the Research Paper for full details on what is expected for the research paper. For further assistance, please see the following additional handouts: Example of How to find a Thesis and Formulate a Thesis Statement; Example of a Full-Sentence Outline; Example of a Research Paper; The Example Research Paper with Marginal Comments; Further Important Guidelines for the Thesis Research Paper. These handouts can be found on Blackboard in the course menu under the heading “Thesis Paper Resources” and the subheading “Guidelines.” An example of a thesis research paper can be found under the heading “Thesis Paper Resources” and the subheading “Examples.”
The research paper requires that you do both primary research and secondary research during this current semester.
Primary research means that, based on what you have seen, observed, read, and collected in person at the site where the original object of visual art is located, you then create and write your own original work. The “site” may not be a museum or a gallery by definition. Perhaps the topic of your thesis paper can be an example of outdoor art, such as a mural or a sculpture that you can visit in person. There are many outdoor murals in downtown Providence, for example. Also, many public parks in the state of Rhode Island have sculptures. Furthermore, many public buildings have sculptures on their grounds. If you or any other relative owns any original work of art, such as a drawing, a painting, or a sculpture, the “site” that you visit can be your own home or the home of one of your relatives. Original works of art exclude poster or printed reproductions of drawings, paintings, and fine-art prints. (Limited-edition fine art prints do qualify as original works of art.) Also, typically, mass-produced, plastic, three-dimensional replicas of sculptures do not qualify as original works of art. For example, a plastic replica of Michelangelo’s sculpture David would not qualify as an original work of art. Another option for doing primary research is to conduct a personal interview. For example, if you decide to use as the topic of your paper a reproduction of a work of art that you can only see on the internet, in a book or magazine, or in a poster, then you will need to conduct a personal interview with someone who is knowledgeable about the original work of art. Such an expert can be the artist who created the work of art, an artist who works in the same medium as the original work of art that is the topic, an art teacher, an art collector, and a museum curator who responds to emails. (If you need ideas on whom to interview, please contact the instructor who can help you to think of ideas for interviews.) The most important part of your primary research is that you will make a twenty-minute sketch of the object of visual art from your first-hand observations. Documentation that proves that you were at the site needs to be attached to your paper. This documentation can include a ticket stub from a museum of art or a photograph taken of you in the museum or gallery or in front of the museum or gallery where the original work of visual art is located. (The ideal documentation would be a photograph of you standing in front of the work of art that is the subject of your research paper.) If you are conducting an interview as your form of primary research, perhaps an interview conducted through email, texting, or direct messaging might be the best methods because you can document the personal interview by taking screenshots of the text of the interview.
Secondary research, which is also known as desk research, involves finding and using information, data, or knowledge already collected and published by others, and typically does not take place at the site where the original object of visual art is located. In other words, for this type of research, you typically do not go in person to the site where the original object of visual art is located; instead, you typically go to the library to do your research. Also, you can use the Library’s Research Guide for Introduction to Visual Arts to perform online research using library databases in order to find three, academic publications. The web link to the Library’s Research Guide for Introduction to Visual Arts is posted in our course website on Blackboard. This link can be found in the section of the course menu under the heading “Thesis Research Paper Resources.”
Both a sketch and a photograph are required to be included with the research paper. When you are doing your primary research, not only make a twenty-minute sketch of the object of visual art, also ask for permission to take a photograph of the object of visual art. Indeed, a twenty-minute sketch allows for more detail than a two-minute sketch. (If you are not granted permission to take the photograph, you may then use somebody else’s photograph as part of your secondary research.) Include your original photograph or a photocopy of your original photograph with your research paper. For your sketch, do not simply make a sketch based on the photograph that you took of the object of visual art. If at all possible, make your sketch based on first-hand observations of the object of visual art (i.e., primary research).
Three different written sources of an academic nature (from books and/or articles: for example, two books and one article, or one book and two articles) must be cited in the research paper whose text must be at least 3-to-4 pages in length. (The text of the paper may be longer than 4 pages.) One of these scholarly sources can be the required textbook for this course. Every written source, regardless of whether it was printed or posted on the Internet, should be listed on the Works Cited page. More than three written sources may be cited. At minimum, three cited sources must be either books or articles. Additional types of cited sources may include definitions from dictionaries and paragraphs of information about works of art posted by museums and galleries on the Internet. In other words, the Works Cited page must list at least three books or articles, as well as can list additional books or articles and other types of written sources, such as definitions in dictionaries and paragraphs of information about works of art posted by museums and galleries on the internet. If the Works Cited page only lists definitions from dictionaries and paragraphs of information posted by museums and galleries on the Internet, points will be lost in the grading process. Facts, opinions, or quotes must be drawn from the sources listed on the Works Cited page and used in the paper. In other words, ideas, information, and knowledge from the written sources that are listed on your Works Cited page should appear in the paragraphs of your paper. Furthermore, when information from a source appears in a paragraph of your paper, this source of information must be identified so that the reader can find it on your Works Cited page. Because the course Introduction to Visual Arts is a liberal arts/humanities course, please identify sources by using the Modern Language Association (MLA) style of parenthetical citation, which is also known as “in-text citations.” Please refer to the website for the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) for information on how to use the MLA style of parenthetical citation. The OWL web link can be found on our course website on Blackboard in the course menu under the heading Thesis Research Paper Resources. Other good sources on how to employ the MLA format can be found in the Library’s Research Guide for Introduction to Visual Arts.
This single research paper is worth 25% of your final letter grade because it will serve as a final test of your ability to discuss a work of art in a professional (i.e., educated) manner, which means that the work of art has been objectively translated and interpreted. In other words, try to write this research paper in such a professional manner that it could be submitted to an art journal for publication. The thesis paper is due by 11:59 PM on Tuesday, April 23, on Blackboard. Students have the option of submitting their research papers prior to Tuesday, April 23.
The Thesis Paper Grading Rubric can be found on Blackboard under the heading “Thesis Paper Resources” and the subheading “Thesis Paper Grading Rubric.” In Part 1 of the Thesis Paper Grading Rubric, there is a checklist of everything that is required for the thesis paper. After you have written the first draft of your thesis paper, look over this checklist to make certain that your thesis paper fulfills every single requirement listed in this checklist. In Part 2 of the Thesis Paper Grading Rubric, there is a list of achievements that can be accomplished in the thesis paper. The more items that are checked in Part 2, the higher the letter grade will be on the thesis paper. In Part 3 of the Thesis Paper Grading Rubric, there is a checklist of weaknesses of the thesis paper. Make certain that your thesis paper has none of these weaknesses. If your thesis paper has any of these weaknesses, the instructor will check them off in Part 3. The more items that are checked off in Part 3, the lower the letter grade will be on the thesis paper. In Part 4, the instructor will write individual comments on your thesis paper. In Part 5 of the Thesis Paper Grading Rubric, the letter grade for the thesis paper will be indicated.
Please attach your thesis paper as a Microsoft Word document to this assignment and submit it prior to or by 11:59 PM on Tuesday, April 23.
