Choose one of the following
questions. You must write an essay response of at least a page-and-a-half,
double-spaced, one-inch margins, no larger than 12-pt. font, for the question
you choose. You must use your own words, or footnote any reading you do. Some of these assignments are more creative
than others, but everything needs to be grounded in the content of our course.
This is an essay! That means:
introduction, clear paragraphs, proofreading!
If you quote from the readings on
Blackboard, that requires a footnote! If you look on the internet and do
research, that requires a footnote!
No AI sites such as ChatGPT (and many others)
and no EdTech sites such as Chegg (and many others) may be used for the
assignments in this class. Any suspected
use of AI will be run through AI-detector software and you will be asked to
re-do the assignment.
Remember: if you use AI, someone else might
too….and your answers might be very similar. Trust me when I say I had this
happen last semester.
(Choice
1) Watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRH105_ztAw . First, write an introductory
paragraph in which you explain the content of the video and the controversy
that is discussed. Then, write one paragraph summarizing one side of the
argument (as presented in the video), one paragraph summarizing the other side
(according to the video), and another paragraph explaining YOUR opinion. Which
side are you on, or are there even possibly other options? Then write a
concluding paragraph.
(Choice
2) The art critic and literary historian Walter Pater once wrote: “All
art constantly aspires towards the condition of music.” What could he possibly
mean by that? Do you agree? Refer to at least two specific works of art we have
looked at this semester as you try and explain his quotation.
(Choice 3) Imagine that you are a visitor to
Michelangelo’s studio as he is working on his sculpture of David. Describe what
it might have felt like to walk in and see the artist at work. Do you have any
questions for him? Describe specifically what part of the sculpture he seems to
be working on. What does the sculpture look like, up close but only partially
finished?
(Choice 4) ) The artist Leonardo da Vinci once said, “The
artist sees what others only catch a glimpse of.” What do you think he meant by
this? Discuss two works of art from the semester and consider what the artist saw,
in Leonardo’s terms.
