This major assignment requires you to explore the "state of the question" for a work of art that you deem "canonical."  This exploration will be developed in stages:

Stage 1: Plan and Bibliography, due Friday, November 4th:
Submit to me your chosen work, your initial research question, and a preliminary bibliography.
I'll recommend you begin your research by using the following databases: the Bibliography of the History of Art (BHA) and Art Full-text. Use the "article linker" feature to find the text of the cited articles, but note that you will have to look up books in the catalog yourselves. If you are writing on a building, the Avery Index will also be key. These can all be found in the library's list of Databases. In general, see also the library's research by subject guide. And a favorite source for books is worldcat, which networks all participating libraries' catalogs. This does have a feature allowing you to interlibrary loan books through our library.

Stage 2: Annotated Bibliography, Due Friday, December 2nd:
Assemble a bibliography of between 10 and 15 sources that deal with your "canonical work" in some important way (i.e., sources that you consider significant, or that other scholars consider significant).  Most of these sources will be books and journal articles; a few may be web sites (although you should carefully evaluate their content and reliability – in what ways does the site provide an important contribution to the scholarship on your work?).  The sources need not mention your work explicitly; if they do not, however, they should nevertheless provide an important contribution to your understanding of the work.  For each source, briefly state its argument, characterize why it is important, and identify what basic method or approach it represents.  Your annotation should be 3-4 sentences.

Note: For guidance on bibliography and citation form, consult the departmental guide for student writing, and the Chicago Manual of Style Online (both linked to the course website)

Stage 3: Oral Presentations, December 12th-22nd:
You will present your project in class, in a 15-minute presentation. This presentation should:
- tell students what the current state of research on your work is
- identify your research question (now refined in response to further research)
- propose a method you will apply to find an answer to this question
- state your thesis (your answer to your research question)
- lay out the key pieces of your argument, along with supporting evidence.

All presentation should include an image of your chosen work, and any additional supporting images. You should present the images within a powerpoint or OIV presentation.

We will discuss each presentation in class.

Schedule:
Wednesday, December 14: Clara and Joel
Friday, December 16: Brittany and Nora
Thursday, December 22 (10:30): Jaimie, Elizabeth, and Phillip

Final Stage: Project write-up, due Thursday December 22:
Write an essay that provides the preliminary development of an argument about the work, based on one of the methodological approaches we will be discussing this semester.  This essay should
1. clearly state the issue or problem concerning your work that you are confronting;
2. characterize the research done to date, or the "state of the field" (no more than one paragraph, this could be part of your intro). This is called your historiography.
3. state the argument (or "thesis") that you have developed to confront or "solve" this issue or problem, and contribute to the state of the field.
4. briefly develop the specific components of this argument (with enough detail to make each step of your argument clear).
You should conceive of this essay as a synopsis of a research project that you might pursue in greater depth in an upper-level class.  The essay should also make evident the methodological approach you are pursuing.  In essence, the essay will be an attempt to experiment, in preliminary fashion, with one of the methodological approaches we will be studying this semester, in an effort to understand how an approach can serve to dictate conclusions about a particular work.
Essay length: 6-8 pages.