“Your task is to analyze a poem or a painting from the time period this course is concerned with, 4001789, in light of our topic. (It can be from any culture, but it has to be from our time period.) This could be love in its various guises, from religious to conjugal to amical to erotic; but it could also have to do with rivalry, competition, hatred, and other forms of violent desire. Make sure you develop and maintain a focused, coherent argument. Length: min. 1,200 words.”
This assignment is asking you to develop a focused, coherent argument about an art work. You are not just summarizing the poem or describing the painting, you are also making a claim about it; IOW, you need to go beyond facts and observations and discuss the significance, the implications. What is it that you can help your reader understand? Where might the reader be misled by superficial assumptions, or by other critics? What is it that so many people misunderstand? In short, where is the problem, the tension, the surprise, the debate?
Pay attention to the content (the story, characters, speaker, themes, symbols, details that stand out) and to the form (rhyme and meter, structure, images; color, line, shape, composition, texture). Make sure you relate these aspects to your argument.
You might want to consider the historical, cultural, or artistic background (a time of crisis and uncertainty? of intercultural contacts? of innovation? Does the artist conform to a certain tradition or model? or break with expectations? What made the artist believe that another work on this subject was necessary? Does it stand out from similar ones?); the audience (for whom was this made? who was meant to see and enjoy this?); the setting (where was this exhibited?). Again, discuss what this means in your context.
You could also try to apply a critical lens (feminism, Marxism, etc.) to the art work. Or you might consider what light the work can shed on a larger issue (e.g., feudalism, religion). Or you could compare two different translations of the same poem.
Your argument will be reflected in a thesis statement somewhere at the beginning of your essay. This provides a succinct summary of what you have to say and answers your research question. Test it be asking these three questions:
1. Is it debatable or too factual?
2. Is it focused or too broad, too vague?
3. Is it insightful or boring and dependent on the views of others?
Your most important task is to establish and maintain an argument. As for the content, I have no set expectations beyond the general topic (love, sex, desire, romance, rivalry). You are free to interpret what you saw or read, to draw your own conclusions from it, and to express an opinion. You are encouraged to take a chance, to posit a theory, or to speculate. However, you are also expected to limit the scope of your opinion and to validate it. You must offer support for your theory.
Contrary to what you may have learned in high school, it is fine to use the first person singular (I). I do it all the time. And yes, you may start sentences with and or but. But only if it works! 😉
