Cross-Cultural Comparison Research Paper (cumulatively 25% of your grade):
This will be an ongoing assignment throughout the semester, which is meant to improve
your writing skills as well as work on the specialized craft of writing about art. You will
work throughout the semester on this paper to develop a carefully researched and
organized thesis essay.
For this paper, you should compare and contrast any particular example(s) of work
discussed in your text with another artwork from a different culture. It is important to
focus your comparison of the works on the two different cultural contexts from which
they belong.
The focus of the cultural comparison is left up to you to discover and refine, but should
ultimately be clearly defined as the thesis of your paper. You should be creative,
thoughtful, and challenging in your thesis. You should also be sure to back up your ideas
with careful analysis and research of the works discussed.
Examples of possible paper topics (Please note: These are only examples and you are
encouraged to think of your own topics):
1) Compare/contrast particular examples of African sculpture and the early cubist
abstraction of Pablo Picasso. How did African sculpture formally influence
Picasso? Why was Picasso uninterested in the cultural context of this work? What
are the political implications of this?
2) Compare/contrast the fantastical in Japanese Ukiyo-e prints with the work of the
Renaissance artist Hieronymous Bosch.
3) Compare/contrast the role of performance in African art and your chosen
contemporary artist.
4) Compare and contrast the use of art and popular culture in Ukiyo-e prints and the
pop art movement of the 20th century in the United States.
An “A” paper is well organized and thorough, is turned in on time, is the correct length,
has little or no spelling or grammatical errors, gives accurate visual analysis using art
historical terminology discussed in class, places works within the context of their time
and culture, and includes both formal and conceptual analysis of works cited. Please note
this is a thesis essay and should include careful organization of thoughts and ideas to
defend a central thesis throughout.
Please follow the writing and research rubric provided by your instructor to see
what to consider when writing this paper as well as suggestions and resources for
improvement.
Because of the complexity of this assignment, and also to emphasize the process of
writing, you will be required to turn in documents at multiple stages of writing this
paper. Here is a list of things to hand in:
3/13 - Thesis Statement, Outline, and Bibliography of Research Paper Due – You
must have at least 4 academic sources including 2 non-internet sources
5/3 - Final Draft of Research Paper Due – Please turn in marked
outline/bibliography with final paper.
Please note: Any work turned in after the due date will go down one letter grade each
day after it is due.
Specifics: This paper should be at least 4 pages in length. You must have at least 4
sources in your bibliography and at least 2 non-internet sources. You should be sure to
cite all of you sources. You should use MLA or APA format. This can be found on the
CCBC website at http://library.ccbcmd.edu/. This site also has good resources on
researching materials, using the library, writing tools, etc.
Please be sure to include an image page, which includes an image of all works discussed
in this essay. Please label each image (as in “image 1”, “images 2”, etc.) and refer to the
image when you discuss it in your paper. Please note: Your book does this by putting the
work it is discussing in parentheses such as (FIG. 1-1).
Use Stokstad’s Starter Kit (pg. xxvi-xxix) in your required text as a useful guide to
terminology on discussing art as well as notes from lectures and your research to help in
writing your paper.
If you need help in writing your paper, please make an appointment to meet with me.
CCBC also has a writing center of which I encourage all of you to take advantage!
The Plagiarism policy for this class follows those outlined by CCBC. Plagiarism is a
violation of academic integrity. It is defined in the CCBC code of conduct, section 13n
as “the use of words or ideas of another source without giving credit to the source.” In
this course your instructor will impose all standard sanctions for plagiarism. If the
evidence of an act of plagiarism in convincing, your will receive an F for this course.
In addition to the failure of this course, your instructor will report the incident.
Once reported, the college may impose additional sanctions such as suspension or
expulsion. For further information, see the CCBC Code of Conduct.
http://www.ccbcmd.edu/media/ccbc/codeofconduct.pdf
http://library.ccbcmd.edu/screens/web/plagiarism.html