Two-three full pages (a six-paragraph paper is perfect: an introduction with a thesis statement + four body paragraphs + a conclusion)…See below for paragraph suggestions.
Include at least 2 quotes from the book
MLA style; Times New Roman 12-point font
This is a paper about art censorship. Should art be censored? How come? Why not? Are there times and/or places where art should be censored? If so, what would these times and/or places be?
In the Italian Renaissance, censorship was alive and well. There were “bonfires of the vanities” held in Florence in 1497, in which the monk Savonarola and his followers burned “evil” things, including controversial books and works of art. They burned “dice, playing cards, cosmetics, [and] indecent books and pictures” (Bishop 207). Additionally, some of the naked figures from Michelangelo’s Last Judgment were painted over with draperies, and Catholic clerics tried to censor or outright ban plays. When Michelangelo’s David (now probably the most famous statue in the world) first appeared in 1504, authorities immediately censored it–placing a garland of copper leaves around his waist to hide his nudity. In 1995, “religious authorities in Jerusalem declined Florence’s gift of a full-scale replica of ‘David’ unless its privates were similarly concealed” (King, “The Dirt On the David”).
Art censorship is present in America today, too. Confederate statues are a subject of recent national debate and people continue to talk about whether or not these statues should remain for public viewing in southern states like South Carolina and Virginia.
As you write your paper about art censorship, explain your point of view on the topic and refer to at least two specific works of art from the Italian Renaissance. What would we gain or lose by censoring these works?
**Feel free to do a bit of research to “uncover” where these works of art are currently displayed and if there has been any controversy surrounding them. Make sure to not just summarize the controversy over art censorship but to add your own point of view to your paper.
There is no one right answer. Just try to develop your ideas into a 2-3 page paper.
Topic (write about this–and page #s that show where to find the discussion of these works in our book):
Mona Lisa (211)
Organizing Papers (a 6-point/paragraph plan):
Paragraph 1: Introduction: Briefly introduce your art censorship topic. Include a sentence or two that acknowledges the censorship we see today and that we saw during the Italian Renaissance. Your thesis should reflect your argument about art censorship. eg: Art should never be censored. eg: Art should always be censored. eg: Art should sometimes be censored, when it glorifies people and topics that are hurtful to others, such as statues of Robert E. Lee in the American South, or statues of Hitler in Germany, but not works such as Michelangelo’s David. eg: Because of art’s powerful symbolic qualities, communities should take care when deciding where to display works of art.
Paragraph 2: Describe/summarize the work(s) from the Italian Renaissance you’re writing about.
Paragraph 3: Why do you think art censorship is good, bad, or a mix of the two?
Paragraph 4: What was happening in Italy between 1400 and 1540? What made the Renaissance the Renaissance? What was unique about this period, and how does the art you decided to analyze from the period reflect that period?
Paragraph 5: Should the works that you’re analyzing from the Renaissance be censored? How come / why not? What would be gained/lost by censoring them? Or maybe you’ll decide on a compromise position, and have them placed in a museum.
Paragraph 6: Conclusion. Sum up your argument.
Most works from this chapter are paintings or sculptures, but we also have a poem, a political treatise, and a book of scientific sketches. There is a lot to choose from. Your job is to pick the one that sounds best to you and write your paper about it.
Adventures in the Human Spirit provides several pages worth of historical notes about the period. Some appear at the beginning of the chapter, and others are scattered throughout the rest of the chapter. The best papers will summarize what is most relevant to summarize, and this will depend on which work you’re writing about. Many times our book provides an analysis of the individual work of art, and it will be your job to mix this with the discussion of the history of the time so that you have a clear argument.
Grading:
Content: Do you have a clear thesis? Do you summarize the history of the Renaissance in a well-focused, meaningful way? Do you write an argument that clearly discusses your point of view about art censorship? Do you discuss one or two works from the Renaissance and do you indicate what would be gained or lost by censoring these works? Do you have a good paper title that is attention-grabbing while also identifying your paper’s topic and point of view? Do you have an effective introduction and conclusion? Do you work in two quotes from the book, citing them in MLA style? eg: Philip E. Bishop writes that Leonardo DaVinci “has often been described as the archetype of the Renaissance man, a man of ‘unquenchable curiosity’ and ‘feverishly inventive imagination'” (123).
Writing: Do you format your paper correctly in MLA style? Are paragraphs well-focused? Do you have spelling or grammar mistakes? If you decide to include outside sources in your paper, make sure to credit the authors you’re citing. Use MLA style for in-text citations and Works Cited citations. Let me know if you have questions about how to do either of these! Here is a link to the Purdue OWL website that shows how to cite sources in MLA style: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_formatting_and_style_guide.html
