Elegant Exposition with Analysis and Contextualization!
The prompts below will guide you through writing a straight-forward exposition of the painting.
Feel free to depart from the script if you have can see a better path to creating a powerful
explanation and analysis of the work. Please write the paragraph in your notebook.
Sentence One (exposition):
(AUTHOR NAME)’s (TITLE), taken in ________________, (CHOOSE YOUR VERB: depicts, shows,
illustrates, or one of your own) (FINISH THIS SENTENCE BY EXPLAINING WHAT THE WORK
DEPICTS OR ITS ESSENTIAL THEME).
Sentence Two (exposition):
In the (WORK), SUBJECT (DESCRIBE WHAT HE IS DOING AND WHERE HE IS)
Sentence Three (exposition):
The (WORK), like (COME UP WITH WORK OF ART THAT HAS A SIMILAR MOOD), evokes a feeling
of (DESCRIBE THE FEELING IT CREATES).
Sentence Four (exposition and analysis):
It is interesting to note that (AUTHOR NAME) has chosen to (EXPLAIN A PARTICULAR DETAIL OR
PATTERN THAT YOU HAVE SOMETHING INTERESTING TO SAY ABOUT)
Sentence Five (analysis):
This (detail) (CHOOSE A VERB: suggests, evokes, underscores, illuminates, intimates, etc.)
(WHAT DO YOU INFER FROM THE DETAIL).
Sentence Six (analysis – tying the detail to the work’s bigger “project”):
It seems as though (AUTHOR) is trying to (ANSWER THE BIG QUESTION: WHY MIGHT THE
AUTHOR HAVE CREATED THIS? WHAT IS SOMETHING HE/SHE WANTS THE AUDIENCE TO THINK
ABOUT OR CONSIDER?)
Sentence Seven – tying your analysis to a critic’s quotation or piece of outside informationIn
thinking about (ARTWORK TITLE), it is worth considering the perspective of (NAME OF PERSON
WHO WROTE THE QUOTE YOU WERE GIVEN AT THE BEGINNING OF CLASS).
Sentence Eight – Strong Verb and Paraphrase and/or Quote
(PERSON’S LAST NAME) (CHOOSE A STRONG VERB HERE FROM OUR LIST – describes, suggests,
argues) (PUT SOME PART OF THE QUOTATION IN YOUR OWN WORDS OR DIRECTLY QUOTE
SOME PART OF THE QUOTATION).
Sentence Nine – Ah ha!
Reach under one of your desks and unlodge another one of Diane Arbus’s pictures.
Ultimately, Arbus seems in interested in exploring…
Paraphrasing
Sentence One (paraphrase)
(Author Name), (Claim to Fame or Origin of Quote), (Great
Verb: argues, suggests, underscores, points out, etc.)
(Paraphrase that is at least 85% your writing).
Sentence Two (Dip Back In)
Attack a Specific Word
(Author’s Name’s) use of the word/phrase
________________ is interesting because it suggests…
OR
Infer something Implied
Perhaps (Author Name) is also suggesting that…
Sentence Three (Connect to the Work of Art)
We can see (Author’s Name’s) (Key Idea) in (point
to the detail or author choice that best encapsulates
the Author’s idea); this detail (explain the connection
further).
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Verbs – Great Name for an Unwritten Book and Appositives AirPlanes
Diane Arbus Boy Analysis
Quoting and Paraphrasing
Diane Arbus – Part II
Diane Arbus Writing Time