{"id":6642,"date":"2019-06-20T10:36:30","date_gmt":"2019-06-20T17:36:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/core.humanities.uci.edu\/?page_id=6642"},"modified":"2019-06-20T10:36:30","modified_gmt":"2019-06-20T17:36:30","slug":"fall-essay-assignment-2-writing-process-and-goals","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/core.humanities.uci.edu\/index.php\/history-and-archives\/2018-2019-fall\/fall-essay-assignment-2-writing-process-and-goals\/","title":{"rendered":"2018-2019 Fall: Essay Assignment 2 Writing Process and Goals"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Finding an Image<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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In this paper, you will be conducting a visual analysis of an image. First, you must locate an image that interests you. Start your search by browsing the <\/span>Humanities Core Image Gallery.<\/span><\/a> Notice the source material for the image in the caption, along with a link to the digital collection that houses it. Extend your search by exploring this digital collection so that you find an image that most interests you. Next, consult the \u201c<\/span>Humcore Lib Guide<\/span><\/a>,\u201d which is a research guide focused specifically on Humanities Core materials. If you were searching for Thomas Cole, for example, you would find numerous links to materials on him as well as a link to<\/span> Empire Online<\/span><\/i><\/a>, a rich database of texts and images related to empire. Also provided for your reference is a link to <\/span>ARTStor,<\/span><\/a> a searchable database of digital images. If you would like to continue your research, you might also peruse various collections at <\/span>The Library of Congress,<\/span><\/a> Smithsonian American Art Museum,<\/span><\/a> The British Museum,<\/span><\/a> The Victoria and Albert Museum,<\/span><\/a> The Louvre,<\/span><\/a> etc., which include images in various media relating to empire and ruins. Allow your curiosity to lead you. <\/span><\/p>\n

Once you have selected an image that interests you, make a note of its bibliographic information. You will find that reliable electronic archives offer you the information you need to cite the source. Imagine that you have chosen the following painting:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Thomas<\/p>\n

Cole, Thomas.\u00a0The Course of Empire: Desolation<\/em>. 1836, oil on canvas, New-York Historical Society Museum.<\/a><\/p>\n

You see from the citation that it is from Thomas Cole\u2019s <\/span>Course of Empire<\/span><\/i> series. Let\u2019s use this painting to practice image analysis. <\/span><\/p>\n

Begin by writing down your first impressions. What do you notice first? The pillar in the foreground? The bay? The moon and surrounding clouds? The ruins of the aqueduct or bridge that once forded the bay? The multiple columns in the left background? The mountain on the right? The tone? The brushstrokes?<\/span><\/p>\n

What details do you notice about the objects (Trees, forests, mountains, water, reflections, arches, etc.)? Think beyond what these objects might symbolize by focusing on the painting\u2019s composition: how are these objects organized in the space of the picture? How are they related? Are they highlighted or minimized? Distinguished or integrated? How do they position the viewer? Keep in mind that visual analysis requires you to think about the space within and without the image, as it relates to the viewer. In what way is the viewer encouraged to \u201center\u201d the painting? <\/span><\/p>\n

Review your Writer\u2019s Handbook<\/i><\/span> chapter \u201cVisual Analysis\u201d for more detailed suggestions on the methods of image analysis. Apply some of these approaches to your selected image and save your notes as you proceed. <\/span><\/p>\n

Finding Secondary Sources<\/b><\/p>\n

For this assignment, you are not required to integrate secondary sources; however, you must locate and read some in order to offer context for your image. In many cases, your interpretation of an image changes depending upon your image\u2019s genre, medium, audience, mode of circulation, or the cultural context in which it was produced. Imagine, for example, that Cole\u2019s painting was exhibited at a private club, available only to a small set of transcendental philosophers; that it was commissioned by a private family deeply involved in trade with the colonies; or that it was exhibited at a public museum for a broad audience. How might these differences shape the work\u2019s meaning? Alternatively, imagine that Cole\u2019s work was not an oil painting, but an etching: a work that could be reproduced in various venues in black and white. This new context could change the work\u2019s availability. Does seeing an image many times, in various contexts, change its meaning? \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To begin researching the historical contexts of this image, you might be inclined to conduct a basic Google search on the artist or the title of the work, in this case: \u201cThomas Cole\u201d or \u201cCourse of Empire.\u201d A Google search might raise a number of interesting questions and might even give you enough context to begin drafting. Keep in mind, however, that a Google search does not satisfy the requirements of an academic essay. Your research must be based on the work of experts in the field you are studying, usually in the form of academic essays and books. <\/span><\/p>\n

For the time being, however, Google is a good place to start. Other resources are the library’s \u201c<\/span>Humcore Lib Guide<\/span><\/a>\u201d and your <\/span>Writer\u2019s Handbook<\/span><\/i> chapter \u201c<\/span>Research in the Humanities<\/span><\/a>,\u201d which offer information on relevant databases and approaches to conducting searches. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After perusing secondary sources about your image, return to your original notes on the image. How has the research process helped you understand more about the painting? <\/span><\/p>\n

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Depicting your Image<\/b><\/p>\n

The most significant distinction between literary and visual analysis lies in the kind of evidence you use. Literary analysis takes language and rhetoric as its evidence, which, when cited, is present for the audience to see, there on the page. Visual analysis requires that you translate the visual into words\u2014that you describe your evidence.<\/span><\/p>\n

You have two purposes in describing your visual evidence. The first, a brief overview of your image, \u00a0is meant to provide context for your audience. This depiction appears close to the beginning of your essay because it situates your audience not only as a reader of your essay, but as a viewer of the image you are analyzing. While this form of description offers a broad overview, it does not account for all aspects of the image\u2014only those relevant to your argument. Yet it should offer enough description to help your reader understand the image\u2019s formal space, as well as the space it creates between itself and the viewer. <\/span><\/p>\n

The second form of description offers evidence. Once you have articulated a visual overview, you take your viewer\/reader on a tour of the image, addressing specific features, one-by-one, to build an argument about its meaning. Because its purpose is to support your claims, this second form of description should be more specific, detailed, and limited in scope.<\/span><\/p>\n

But, where to begin? One helpful way to determine your essay\u2019s organization is to trace (literally, with your finger) how your eye moves from one point to the next. That process itself does not make an argument, but it helps you highlight the points you may wish to address. Your job is to show <\/span>why<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>how<\/span><\/i> your eye moves in the way it does. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Student Learning Goals<\/b><\/p>\n