The Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh

****Artwork: The Starry Night by Vincent
Van Gogh****
Organization of the Paper:
1. The
Introduction. (Not necessarily in order.)
·
Write a Short Description of the Work You
Have Chosen. Include identifying subject matter or forms, setting or space,
color, and medium, artist and current location.
·
State Your Main Argument. A thesis
statement related to the overall effect or meaning of the object. (i.e. What does this work mean?)
·
State (Briefly) the Ways in Which You Will
Prove It. (Forecast your main points.)
1. The
Main Body: You will describe three or
four pieces of evidence from the work you’re looking at to support your thesis
statement. This evidence can be from any
of the following areas. You don’t need to use them all.
·
The medium (the material the work is made
with), the medium’s traits, and the artist’s use of the medium.
·
The relevant visual elements (i.e.: line,
shape and space, composition and relative scale, light and color, style)
·
The composition (i.e.: unity/variety,
balance, emphasis, focal point)
·
The subject matter, if the work is
representational. (What does it picture.
If there are people, how do they react to each other or the viewer.)
·
The relationship the formal elements and
composition have to the subject’s meaning (or overall effect).
2. The
Conclusion.
·
Restate the Main Argument.
·
Place this work of art into the big
picture. Relate it to a larger issue, art-historical movement, etc.
·
Attach an image of the object (This can be
a postcard purchased from the museum bookstore, a photograph, or your sketch.
Your own sketch does not need to be professional quality.)
Don’t forget to include the objective
information somewhere within the paper: artist, culture, date and period;
medium; size; museum.
Keep in mind that this is not a narrative essay. We’re
looking for your persuasive argument about what the work you’ve chosen means
and what the evidence is that it means what you say.
Mechanics of the Paper:
·
The paper should be 1000 words in
length. This will turn out to be approximately 5 to 6 paragraphs, and
approximately 3-5 pages in length.
·
Pages numbered.
·
Properly Cite any paraphrasing or
quotations of outside sources in MLA format.
·
Proper organization, complete
sentences, grammar, punctuation, spelling and word choice.
·
Includes image of artwork.

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