Subject: Early Rennaissance Art in Italy
Topic: Reading Response: Masaccio
Read attatchment: Anthony Molho, “Masaccio’s Florence in Perspective: Crisis and Discipline in a Medieval City,” in The Cambridge Companion to Masaccio (2002), 16-39
Include:
brief summary of the author’s argument
a critical evaluation of the author’s contribution (see below).
Graded on:
the quality and depth of your critical engagement with the text
the quality and clarity of your written report.
Remember that your goal should be to make a few key points about the text, not to discuss everything the author writes.
Points to consider in your summary (this should take no more than a paragraph or two):
What is the research question that the author is addressing?
What is the author’s primary thesis? (how does s/he answer the research question?)
Macassio’s representation of the Trinity can be taken as a metaphor for Florentine society in the early Renaissance.
What is the current state of research on the topic and what is the author’s contribution?
Is a particular methodological framework apparent in the author’s approach?
What evidence does the author use to support his or her argument?
What is the context for the author’s study, i.e., is this a chapter of a longer, single author book? Is this a short essay in an anthology? Does the text present new information or re-interpret existing evidence?
Points to consider in your critical response (this should be the main focus of your response paper):
Do you feel that the thesis was effectively argued? Why or why not? This is not a simple “yes” or “no” question. You must support your claim by citing aspects of the author’s argument.
Do you agree or disagree with the author? Why?
Could a different conclusion be drawn from the argument/evidence presented?
Are the main ideas in the text supported by enough reliable evidence (well researched, non-emotive, logical)?
Are aspects of the argument not developed or under-developed?
How might we build on the text? What are the wider implications – for your own research? For the discipline of Art History?
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