https://collections.lacma.org/node/231784
Introduction: The first paragraph must include:
A very brief description of the work that includes the name of the artist (if known), title (which is italicized every time you use the title in the paper), the date, medium, and artistic style.
Thesis statement (aka main claim): The thesis statement answers the question: Based on your formal analysis and research, why do you think the artwork looks like that? What caused the work the look like that?
Roadmap sentence describes how the rest of your paper is going to go about answering the question above that is centered on causality.
Part 1 – Formal Analysis (3-4 pages): Go down the list of Elements of Art and the Principles of Design in order to identify each element and principle that is visible in the work of art. No research is used in this part of the paper because you are strictly relying on your ability to visually “read” a work of art and make interpretations about it based on your visual analysis of it. For each element and principle, include its effect as applied to the work of art. For an example of how to complete a formal analysis, refer tothe Khan Academy video on Youtube entitled “How to do visual (formal) analysis in art history.”Links to an external site.Organize this section into separate paragraphs as appropriate for your particular artwork.
Part 2 – Contextual Analysis (3-4 pages): The central question for this portion of the paper is: What caused the visual artifact to look the way it does? In other words, are there cultural, social, religious, political, geographical, historical, technical, geological, or biographical reasons as to why the work looks the way it does? Keep in mind that you always need to back up your statements in Part 2 with academic sources. In addition to physical books that you can find in the library, you can also use databases such as Academic Search Complete and MasterFile complete from the SWC Library’s database and google scholar. Unless the internet source is from these aforementioned sources that usually end with .org or .edu, all other internet sources are not allowed unless the source has explicitly been approved by the instructor. Make sure that you include in-text citation every time you refer to, quote, or paraphrase a source. Failure to do so will result in an automatic “F” for the assignment, with a chance to resubmit it. Organize this section by separate paragraphs as appropriate for your particular artwork.
Conclusion: Synthesize your analysis from Part 1 and Part 2 in order to compose a conclusion that explains the ways in which the contextual analysis explains the formal analysis. Then, address the broader art-historical significance of the artwork. In other words, how or why is this artwork relevant to the history of art.
Work Cited: A Work Cited section in MLA format must be included. Note that this Work Cited does not count towards the minimum-page requirement for this assignment.
Appendix: Appendix includes jpegs or images along with corresponding caption information in MLA format. This section also does not count toward the minimum-page requirement for this assignment. All images must be in this last section so that the insertion of the image does not disrupt the minimum-page requirement of text for this assignment.
