Art Cranium
HUNTER COLLEGE WRITING CENTER
WRITING ACROSS THE CURRICULUM
Writing about Art
Art is a provocative medium, and your challenge in writing about art may often be to define and evaluate the artist’s choices and techniques, which, according to your intellect and perception, arouse interest and convey meaning. In most cases, then, you will be translating the visual (what you see) into language (what you write). In order to do this, you will have to be extremely attentive to the characteristics of the work—which means that description will incorporate a large portion of your essay—and be attentive to the vocabulary of the discipline of Art. You must also be able to develop a thesis statement with a detailed analysis and argument about the artwork you …show more content…
Comparison and Contrast
In many beginning Art History courses, and in more advanced ones as well, you will be asked to write a paper in which you make a comparison and contrast between two works of art (for more information about writing this type of paper, see the Writing
Center handout on Comparison and Contrast). This type of essay usually requires a substantial comparative judgment of the two works, which will function as your thesis
(for more information on developing a thesis statement, see the Writing Center handout
Developing a Thesis Statement and see the section on thesis below).
One option for a thesis statement for this kind of comparative essay could be based on how you see the two works in relation to each other and to some aspect of the human condition, or culture, or history. It could be, for example, that both artists painted peasants working in a field, but one painting suggests the oneness of humans and nature, perhaps because the figures appear to be an integral part of the field in which they are working, while the other painting emphasizes the separation between humans and nature.
The evidence you provide for your thesis will include your
WRITING ACROSS THE CURRICULUM
Writing about Art
Art is a provocative medium, and your challenge in writing about art may often be to define and evaluate the artist’s choices and techniques, which, according to your intellect and perception, arouse interest and convey meaning. In most cases, then, you will be translating the visual (what you see) into language (what you write). In order to do this, you will have to be extremely attentive to the characteristics of the work—which means that description will incorporate a large portion of your essay—and be attentive to the vocabulary of the discipline of Art. You must also be able to develop a thesis statement with a detailed analysis and argument about the artwork you …show more content…
Comparison and Contrast
In many beginning Art History courses, and in more advanced ones as well, you will be asked to write a paper in which you make a comparison and contrast between two works of art (for more information about writing this type of paper, see the Writing
Center handout on Comparison and Contrast). This type of essay usually requires a substantial comparative judgment of the two works, which will function as your thesis
(for more information on developing a thesis statement, see the Writing Center handout
Developing a Thesis Statement and see the section on thesis below).
One option for a thesis statement for this kind of comparative essay could be based on how you see the two works in relation to each other and to some aspect of the human condition, or culture, or history. It could be, for example, that both artists painted peasants working in a field, but one painting suggests the oneness of humans and nature, perhaps because the figures appear to be an integral part of the field in which they are working, while the other painting emphasizes the separation between humans and nature.
The evidence you provide for your thesis will include your