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Art 245 HGD Assignments
Fall Semester, 2006
School of Art Design and Art History

 

Research Paper Topics

Thesis Statement

Annotated Bibliography

Specifications for Writing Research Papers

Research Paper Grading

Unit Test Essay Topics

Specifications for Writing Unit Test Essays

 

Research Paper Topics

Required Reading:
Chapter One, “How to Write Academic Art Papers”
Writing for the Visual Arts
By Mashey Bernstein and George Yatchisin
Pearson Education
ISBN 0-13-022548-7

Research Topics
A list of research paper topics will be provided by the instructor. Select three topics and submit in priority order on the due date.

Due Dates: See calendar

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Thesis Statement
A paragraph that identifies the central theme or idea of your research paper and explains how you will go about developing your theme or idea.

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Annotated Bibliography
A list of sources that you will be using for your research paper with a sentence or two explaining how each source will be useful to the writing of your paper.

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Specifications for Writing Research Papers

Research papers must be typed and hard copy handed in unless otherwise noted. Please follow the directions below carefully when writing your papers to receive full credit. Click here for a sample PDF.

Number of pages
Five (5) pages plus cover for undergraduate students (do not exceed five pages). Ten (10) pages plus cover for graduate students (do not exceed ten pages).

Cover
Include the following on the cover: title of paper, your name, course name, and date the paper is turned in.

Margins
1-inch margins at top, bottom, left and right.

Type specifications
Type and double space using the following type specs: 12/24 Times [12-point Times with 24 points of leading (or double line-spaced)].

Header
9-point header on each page 1/2-inch from the top of the page to include: Your name (flush left), the title of the paper and page number (centered), and HGD plus the date (flush right)
.

Images
Include images of the work about which you are writing with captions on separate pages following the five (5) or ten (10) text pages. Do not place images within the text pages. Images, footnotes, and endnotes are in addition to the five (5) or ten (10) pages required.
Number and identify the images; for
example, “Figure 1: Armin Hofmann, logotype for the Basel Civic Theater, 1954.” Reference the images in the text of your paper to show the relationship of the images to your writing: (figure 1).

Sources
At least five (5) sources must be used, three (3) of which must be reference books. Other sources may include films or videos; interviews; articles in publications; and viable websites. Note: Wikipedia is NOT a viable source. Cite all sources.
The SDSU Library also has a research database of art periodicals available online at http://infodome.sdsu.edu/research/databases/art.shtml.

Bibliography
Include a bibliography including all source materials. Use a standard form and style for notes and bibliography in MLA Style. In addition to Writing for the Visual Arts by Mashey Bernstein and George Yatchisin, here are other references on writing form and style:

  • Barnet, Sylvan. A Short Guide to Writing about Art. 2nd edition. Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1985.
  • Memering, Dean. The Prentice Hall Guide to Research Writing. 2nd edition. New Jeresy: Prentice Hall, 1989.
  • Sayre, Henry M. Writing about Art. 3rd edition. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1999.

MLA Notation Example:

“French capital was poured into the country to enable the Japanese to build shipyards and iron-foundries and in return Japanese goods were imported into France” (Battersby, 8).

Bibliography

Battersby, Martin. Art Nouveau. Middlesex: Hamlyn Publishing Group, 1969.

 

Due Dates: See calendar

 

Late Paper Policy
Late papers will be received in the School’s Office (Room A-505) only when they can be stamped by office personel with date of submittal. Late papers will be penalized one full letter grade for each day late (not each class but each day), including weekend days. Each day ends at 5:00 PM.

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Research Paper Grading

A to A-
Papers that are well written, proofed and edited, spell checked and grammar
checked, and adhere to the specifications; contain a clear thesis statement and defend/support the thesis thoroughly; papers that evidence depth of research and informed theoretical and contextual interpretation and analysis.

B+ to -B-
Papers that are well written, proofed and edited, spell checked and grammar
checked, and adhere to the specifications; papers that evidence research (at
least 4 credible sources beyond the general information sources, such as the
basic textbook, encyclopedia, and typical Internet sources) and present background and biographical material on the designer/design firm, formal
analysis of and background material on the work.

C+ to C-
Papers that are well written, proofed and edited, spell checked and grammar
checked, and adhere to the specifications; that basically fulfill the assignment. No meaningful research beyond the general information sources, such as the basic textbook, encyclopedia, and typical Internet sources.

D+ to D-
Papers that are not well written, not proofed and edited, do not adhere to the
specifications, and have not been spell checked and grammar checked. Papers
that are acceptable but do not fulfill the assignment.

F
Papers that are not well written, not proofed and edited, do not adhere to the
specifications, and have not been spell checked and grammar checked. Papers
that are not complete, do not fulfill the assignment, and are otherwise not
acceptable.

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Unit Tests and Essay Topics

The chapters in Meggs' History of Graphic Design are organized into the following five (5) parts: Part I: The Prologue to Graphic Design; Part II: A Graphic Renaissance; Part III: The Bridge to the Twentieth Century; Part IV: The Modernist Era; and Part V: The Age of Information.

At the end of each part, a test will be given in class. The test will include an essay question. The essay topics will be assigned ahead of time and the essay will be written outside of class and handed in on the day of the test.

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Specifications for Writing Unit Test Essays

Number of pages
One (1) to two (2) pages. Do not exceed two pages. Papers that exceed two pages will be graded down. No cover is required.

Margins
1-inch margins at top, bottom, left and right.

Type specifications
Type and double space using the following type specs: 12/24 Times [12-point Times with 24 points of leading (or double line-spaced)].

Header
9-point header on each page 1/2-inch from the top of the page to include: Your name (flush left), the title of the paper and page number (centered), and HGD plus the date (flush right)
.

Images
No images.

Sources
Meggs' History of Graphic Design. You may use other sources. Be sure to cite all sources.

 

Tips
Include an introduction and thesis statement in the first paragraph. The thesis statement will identify the central idea and how you will go about presenting it. The body of the essay will support or evidence your thesis. End with a conclusion which restates (not repeats) the thesis. The essay questions may be of the "compare and contrast" type. If so, it is useful to create a chart of the information before you write the essay. This will help you organize your content. Refer to Writing for the Visual Arts.

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