Looking At &
Reviewing Art
A Collaborative,
Verbal-Visual
Project
BTW
If you’ve done this kind of paper
in English 110 or elsewhere,
keep in mind that our
assignment is a bit different and
will be more challenging.
Process
General discussion about art: its purpose, its audiences, your personal criteria.
Compare views. Disagree. Get the juices going.
Read samples of the genre you’ll be trying.
Research a particular art form for basic information.
Experience the art form.
Discuss as a group and evaluate the piece.
Write your collaborative online review.
Listen to the Following Pieces

Hank Williams, “Your Cheating Heart”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS4LCoh0VGQ

Dead Kennedys, “Kinky Sex Makes
the World Go ‘Round”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVGg_5grOTg

Suzanne Vega, “Undertow”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VdptStNu-k

Rainstorm
Relaxing Rainstorm With Thunder Mix # 2 - Sleep Sounds / Ambient / Meditation /
Lluvia austinstrunk .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pGEHLbzWdg
Now...
1.
Rank the songs, with 1 being best
and 4 being worst. In a brief
paragraph, explain your ranking.
2.
Now explain your ranking again, but
go deeper. What criteria were you
applying? What do you base your
own judgments on? What, for you, is
good music? What is good art?
3.
Complete this statement: “For me, a
good piece of music is one that ____
________________”
Look at extracts from student
responses (document in our
Bb Class Library).
Formalist
The
improvement
Formalist
of reality
(art as
a hammer
An escape from
reality; a sedative or
distraction
Again,
clarify, explain, and possibly
modify your personal criteria,
drawing on our discussion.
What do you want from any kind
of art? What, for you,
constitutes good music, a good
movie, etc.?
For me, a really good work of art, whether it’s
film, music, visual art, or literature, has these
qualities:








Is emotionally moving. Blows my hair back! Duende! Mojo!
Is thought-provoking.
Reveals a new way of looking at the world or reality. Or, even
better, challenges my view of reality; unsettles me; takes me out
of comfort zone. Is surprising, unpredictable.
Is multi-layered; I can’t quite exhaust all of its meanings; want to
see or hear it over and over.
Is formally innovative; direction, production, set, script, acting—
some or all have something NEW going on.
Shows attention to craft.
Heightens and magnifies reality—is not an escape from it. Is not
mind candy or a sedative. Makes me feel more alive, even if that
mean experiencing pain alongside beauty.
Challenges me; asks me to be something more than a passive
blob. Prompts me to broaden what I think of as “attention” or
“awareness.” I actually begin to perceive things in a new way.
Remember
Horton
Hears a
Who?
There’s something in the world, way down in,
yelling, “We’re here! We’re here! We’re here! I
like art that calls out to me that way—exposes
me to a way of seeing/hearing I didn’t even
know existed before.
http://smile.amazon.com/Horton-Hears-Who-DrSeuss/dp/0394800788/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1424775
084&sr=81&keywords=Horton+hears+a+who#reader_0394800788
Now that you’ve gained a little insight into your
own tastes and preferences in art...
What is the purpose of an ART
REVIEW? What is this genre of writing
for?
To evaluate! I.e., to judge favorably or unfavorably or
something in between. A review is an argument about
value.
Secondarily: reviews often introduce, summarize, and
advertise. They may also develop insight into or provide an
interpretation of the art work in question.
Why do you read art reviews?
To decide whether or not to buy an item, and/or to
decide what you yourself think about the item, and/or to
gain more insight into the item.
Real-World Art Reviews
Where do you find them?
EVERYWHERE!
•
•
•
The Spectrum
The Fargo Forum
High Plains Reader
• Newspapers
• Websites such as
Amazon.com or
Rotten Tomatoes
• Blogs, YouTube
What are they about?
ALL kinds of art!
• TV talk shows
• Magazines
• Conversations! in
real-time or on
Facebook, Twitter...
For Project #2
Read a bunch of reviews to get a feel for this
genre.

Go here for full instructions:
www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/~cinichol/120/Review
s to Read for English 120 Sp 2015docx
Begin thinking about a work of art to review:

a play at a local theater or perhaps down in the Cities;
a new film; a new CD; a new novel; a gallery exhibit;
etc. (For concerts, try Eventful, Jade Presents, or the
Fargo Theater website. For films, check the Marcus
Theaters website. And so on.)
Weekly Work Assignment
Carefully read the reviews
assigned on our schedule:
“Reviews to Read and Watch for
English 120, Project #2”
Complete the Weekly Work
assignment titled, “Reading Art
Reviews.” Go into Bb “Weekly
Work” and you’ll see it. This is
due by class time on Tues. the
3rd.
Project #2
For full project instructions, go to:
http://www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/~cinichol/120/Project2ArtReviewSp2015.htm
(If that link doesn’t work when you click on it, just copy-paste it into your browser.)
Important documents
Selecting an Art Form and Specific Work to Review
www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/~cinichol/120/Project2ArtRe
viewSelectingArtForm.docx
Project Steps and Research Strategy
www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/~cinichol/120/Project2ArtRe
viewResearchStrategy.docx
Research Questions for Various Art Forms
www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/~cinichol/120/Project2ArtRe
viewResearchQuestionsforArtForms.docx
Working in Groups
The Process
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Be sure that you all swap email addresses and phone numbers.
Select a “point person” who will be the “go-to” guy, the one you
contact to get clear about what’s happening or to submit work for
the whole group. This may also wind up being the group scribe or
secretary. (Because point-person tasks can involve a fair amount
of work, the point person will likely not need to do quite as much on
the final product as everyone else. Always try to distribute work
evenly among group members.
Select a motivator. This person is responsible for encouraging
participation by all members, and quieting down any blabber
mouths.
Select a time-keeper. This person watches the time for all group
meetings.
Select something to review.
Divide up research tasks. Save results of research and email to the
point person.
Compile all research.
Write review, dividing up segments.
Evaluate each other and submit group member evaluation forms.
Some Types of Art to Review
Films
(in town, including Fargo Theater and film festival!)
Concerts
(live in town, on campus, or recorded)
Albums
Plays
(live on campus or in community or recorded)
Comedy Performance
(live in town or televised)
Research for Your Review
This isn’t an all-out research paper proper, but there is a
research component. It will prepare you to approach and
then write about the subject of your review knowledgeably.
You will inform
yourself about
the kind of art
you are
reviewing, and
about the
specific work in
question. You
will also look up
reviews already
written about
your topic.
So your group needs to do the
following two kinds of research
1. Inform Yourselves about Your Subject!
1. For this segment of your project, YOU WANT TO LEARN ABOUT
THE TYPE OF ART YOU ARE REVIEWING so that your evaluation of
the work you’ve chosen is knowledgeable and
This is a kind of “start-up” or background research.
informed.
2. For a list of questions for various types of art, go to:
www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/~cinichol/120/Project2ResearchQuestions
ForArtForms.docx
3. Find your group’s type of art, then divide up the questions. Each
group member will research their designated questions.
4. Everyone should save and/or print out what they find so that it is
available to the other group members. KEEP TRACK OF
DOCUMENTATION.
2. Research Other Reviews of Your
Chosen Subject
•
A big part of writing a good review is to be familiar with
how a work has
already been received. That is, you need to read reviews already
out.
•
Groups should divide up the work of finding these reviews. You can accomplish
this in a couple different ways: you can have one set of people look for positive
reviews, and another look for negative reviews. Or you can assign a different
resource to each group member. For example, one member will look for
magazine reviews, one will look for website reviews, one will look for
newspaper reviews, one will look for YouTube reviews, and so on.
•
If you are doing a concert, you can review the artist’s concert tour to date. Or if
you are doing a local play, you could research other recent performances of the
same work, especially in towns more or less the size of Fargo.
•
Everyone should save and/or print out what they find so that it is available to the
other group members.
KEEP TRACK OF SOURCE INFO!
As you search for information, keep in mind that you need
to keep track of source information. You’ll use that info for
in-text citations and a Work Cited page in your review.
When you find a source that you want to read and may
possibly use in your review, you need to print, copy-paste
or write down pertinent info. about that source.
Don’t forget to check Owl at Purdue’s site with
excellent MLA documentation info:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
In-Text Citation [sample]
It is clear that Taxi Driver is Scorsese’s best
film, as Lou Noodlebrain asserts in a review
of a recent digital re-mastering (15-20).
Works Cited [sample]
Nucklehead, Chuck. Exploring the Films of Martin Scorsese. New
Haven, NJ: Yale UP, 1989. Print. Book source
Noodlebrain, Lou. “Is Martin Scorsese the Best Film Director in the
Web source
(online
World?” Film Studies, 27 Jan. 2009. Web. 8 Sept. 2014.
journal)
Taxi. Dir. Martin Scorsese. Prod. Norman Jewison. Stingray Production
Co, 1979. Film.
Film source
Be sure to save material, copy-paste when
necessary, and/or print out material. It will all need
to be shared with your group.
Always email materials to your group’s point
person as needed.
In class, groups will compile their results and
discuss.
Go experience your subject!
Go
Watch
Listen
Look
Over Break


Write group-assigned portion of review.
Keep track of sources.
Send completed portion to point person before
class on the 10th.

Stay in touch with group, as-needed.

Read Rule of the Bone.

Please note that some parts of the novel are
graphic. If you want to avoid reading those parts,
let me know ASAP and I will give you an alternative
copy of the book.
For Today, March 10th
1.
Each member should have a report on what they
learned about their aspect of the art, and also on
reviews that they read.
2.
Compile reports. Title this document “Research
Reports.” Save and send a copy to each member.
3.
Discuss your different takes on what you watched or
heard. Come to a consensus about your thesis.
Thumbs up—or down?
4.
Divide up writing segments among group members.
Drafting Project #1
Consider the reviews you’ve been
reading:
 How were they structured?
 What was the language like? Was it
formal/informal? What kind of
diction was used, and what was the
voice in each piece like?
 What visual designs did you see?
MLA in-text
citations and
Work Cited page
Background
info: who,
what, where,
Statement of
topic and
thesis
why?
What is your subject and what are
you claiming ABOUT that subject?
What do you want your reader to
GET?
Support for
thesis (proof):
facts, examples,
details, reasons,
sources
Documen
-tation of
An ending
that leaves the
reader feeling
convinced and
satisfied
sources
Context &
acknowledgement
of other
perspectives
Ethos:
your
credentials
(what did other
reviewers say?)
The
PARTS of
Your
Review
An opening
that is relevant,
engages reader,
and prepares her
for what is to
come
Statement of
criteria and
application of
criteria to the
work of art
Some of
these parts
will
overlap
What are you basing your
judgments on? What
principles guide your rating?
You need all of those parts for your
review—in what order should you put
them? What goes where?
Most Fundamental Structure
• Introduction
• Body
• Conclusion
But of course we need to get much
more detailed
I. Introduction
• Hook; Occasion for the Review!!
• Topic and thesis
• Background on work of art and/or
artist
• Your credentials
• Summary of your criteria
Ex: “No movie worth its salt has poor acting.
Good acting is convincing and so natural
that we don’t even notice it. And a good
actor will bring all kinds of nuance to a
scene—intangible feelings and moods and
tones that enrich a scene and take it from
“serviceable”or “just ok” to “amazing.”
Chadwick Boseman accomplishes this,
especially in the latter part of the film when
_______ and _____. His character says,
‘________’ and then delivers a quiet facial
expression that defies description.”
II. Body
Apply your CRITERIA to the work, one by one, with details,
examples, evidence, facts, reasons
Acknowledge and refute other perspectives, any misgivings or
questions the reader may have
Ex: “A great film also has a script that is
III. Conclusion
•
•
A re-cap, or prediction, or best-example-last
Go out with a POW
modulated and well-paced. It’s not all
action, or all dialogue, or all quiet brooding
or all shrieking crisis. It moves from one to
another in a way that keeps us continually
guessing. In Get On Up, the script does fall
a bit flat on this score. The middle of the
film is so full of intense emotional scenes
that we never get any relief, and no
moment stands out as especially moving or
important. All the moments sort of blur
together.”
Here’s another outline
Introduction
A.Orient reader; prepare them for what is to follow.
• Road-map style overview?
• Background info: dates, places, history, definition of key terms?
• MAKE CLEAR THE OCCASION FOR THE REVIEW.
B.Catch reader’s interest; engage them.
•
•
•
•
Pose a question?
Sneak-peak at interesting details to come?
Snazzy quotations?
First excellent example of something?
C.Make clear the work’s central idea or THESIS. Or hold
off on this—save it for later?
D.Your credentials (ethos)
Background
1. Any info that might be necessary or helpful
about the type of art your are reviewing.
2. Any info that might be necessary or helpful
about the artist or particular piece of art you are
reviewing.
3. Any info about your own credentials that would
help to build your ethos.
Body
A.ONE BY ONE, APPLY EACH OF YOUR CRITERIA.
1.A good [film, CD, concert] should _____x_______. This [film,
CD, concert] does/doesn’t do ____x_______. Examples:
2.A [film, CD, concert] worth buying should have
____y________. This [film, CD, concert] does/doesn’t have
____y_____. Examples:
3.All good [films, CDs, concerts] must ____z________. This
[film, CD, concert] does/doesn’t do _____z______. Examples:
4.etc.
B. Acknowledge and refute other views.
1. The New York Times...
2. Rolling Stone magazine...
3. Amazon.com...
4. Etc.
Conclusion.
Reaffirm main point!
Leave reader feeling convinced!
There’s no single way to organize a piece.
It’s how the thing ultimately “reads” that
matters.
In general, start with something strong, bury
your least interesting material in the
middle, and go out with your absolutely
strongest stuff.
Include lots of specific DETAILS!!!!!
Here’s a sample excerpt from a review of
the newer War of the Worlds. Notice that I
discuss my criteria, then apply it to specific
scenes with details.
This is an excerpt from half-way through....
Another important requirement for a good movie is well-developed characters. That is, the main
character especially has to change as a person in some interesting way in the course of the
story. Static characters are maybe ok for movies that are 100% plot-driven, but most of us want
interesting people involved in that plot action!
In War of the Worlds, we do indeed get some character development. If this movie were
absolutely nothing but gigantic monster machines spewing blood and guts everywhere, we’d
likely loose interest after a short while, or just expect ever bigger explosions and ever more
disgusting gore. But the film develops a sub-plot involving Cruz’s relationships with his
children—he actively learns to be a real father in the course of the story.
For instance, early on we see his son showing him disdain when they are playing catch in the
backyard. The Cruz character says [blah blah blah], and then the son says [yadda yadda]; the
Cruz character then furiously throws the ball through a window. They clearly do not share a very
good father-son relationship; not only is there continual miscommunication in language between
the two, but they can’t even toss a ball back and forth!
About mid-way through, however, in the scene where the boy is about to run off to join the
military battle, we see the father pleading with him to remain. They even have an intense eye-toeye moment of silence as Cruz grabs his son’s arm. We realize that this father is learning,
however gradually, to actively show his love, and that, likewise, his son is beginning to believe in
that love. This is the kind of character development which makes us want to see a film not just
once for its flashy computer effects, but for the real-life people in the story. And it’s another one
of the reasons why you will love this movie.
Division of Tasks!!
1. Write intro and segments of intro
2. Write background on type of art and/or the
artist
3. Write proof: apply criteria.
4. Write acknowledgement of opposing views
5. Write conclusion
6. Integrate and document sources
7. Design visual components of review
8. Edit sentences for clarity and concision
9. Proofread for mechanical errors
10.Format manuscript for hand-in
Ok. So.
Divide up segments among your group members.
Email a draft of your segment to your point person
prior to class on March 24th . Stay in touch with each
other as-needed and consider meeting outside of
class.
Throughout this process and the whole project,
remember to be assertive: clear and up-front about
what you each think and want. At the same time, be
courteous, respectful, and open-minded.
Remember to communicate clearly with your group at
all times, especially if you have questions or may miss
a meeting.
For Next Tues., March
st
31
• Read in Writing Today, “Designing,” pp. 374-p. 382 (up to
“Using Graphs and Charts”) and p. 387.
• Watch the Power Point presentation Visual Design and
Visual Rhetoric: Fundamental Principles.
• Take a look at How to Document Images
• Revisit Writing Today, “Style,” pp. 817-821.
• Be working on new materials as well as editing and
proofreading materials already written. Email group point
person any new material.
Again, What Makes a Review
Helpful and Interesting—or Not?
Watch segment from
Hollywood Shuffle.
According to what criteria
do the two men evaluate
movies? What are their
judgments and what
principles are those
judgments based on?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfWc47SEPA0
For the two guys in Hollywood
Shuffle segment:




A good movie is realistic.
A good movie reminds a viewer of
his/her own life.
A good movie provokes a strong
sensory response such as fear or
suspense.
A good movie doesn’t make the
viewer feel dumb. Doesn’t challenge
the viewer intellectually. Has an
easy-to-pronounce title!
How does their review fall
Obviously, the scene is meant to be funny. but let’s
short? look at it as though it were serious.

To
know
what
makes
a
review
really
great,
we
could
just
invert
each
of
these
items!



They don’t seem to have reflected much on their
own criteria. The principles they base their
judgments on could use a little thought and
discussion. They aren’t warranted.
Their judgments are extremely hasty as well as
absolutist, based on only seeing a fraction of a
movie.
They don’t do a lot to acknowledge alternative
points of view.
They don’t offer any real insights into the movies
they review.
NOW! Compiling & Further
Developing Group Materials




Look at a rough copy of your group review so
far (a single document with everyone’s
segments in their necessary order.)
Everyone offer feedback to the writer of each
segment in terms of writing quality.
Decide on how you will present your review
VISUALLY. How will you design it?
Determine what still needs to be done, and
again divide up tasks.
The Visual Component of this
Assignment IS
IMPORTANT!
Take a look at fairly simple graphics in The High
Plains Reader, or check websites which do
reviews:
Rotten Tomatoes
 Roger Ebert's site
 Movies.com



Study these documents carefully for how they
use inserts, images, charts, graphics, etc.
Notice layout, spacing, color, sizing.
Consider doing your review as a web page!
Again, for some good graphics in art
reviews, see:
Click on
individual
movies for
the graphics
at any of
these sites.
Movies.com
http://www.movies.com/
Roger Ebert’s site
http://www.rogerebert.com/
Rotten Tomatoes
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/
Looking at Your Drafts
www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/~cinichol/120/Cr
itiqueArtReviewDraft1.docx
You will almost certainly need to include a
comprehensive yet concise and consistent
statement of criteria. Common probs:
Stating one or two criteria early on, then
introducing a bunch more in the body...
Making some nice comprehensive statement
early on, but then, late in the paper and out
of nowhere, start talking about some new
criterion.
Making a good statement of one criterion
early on, but never applying it or never
applying it with any detail or examples.
Be aware...
that you may need to “warrant” your criteria.
That is, you need to anticipate possible
reader questions about your choice of
criteria. You don’t want them to come off as
arbitrary, thoughtless, uninformed, or
narrow-minded. If you think that violence is
good to have in a film, for example, you’ll
need to explain why.
Again, here’s another look at that sample
excerpt from a review of the newer War of
the Worlds. Notice that I discuss my criteria,
then apply it to specific scenes with details.
This is an excerpt from half-way through....
Another important requirement for a good movie is well-developed characters. That is, the
main character especially has to change as a person in some interesting way in the course of
the story. Static characters are maybe ok for movies that are 100% plot-driven, but most of us
want interesting people involved in that plot action!
In War of the Worlds, we do indeed get some character development. If this movie were
absolutely nothing but gigantic monster machines spewing blood and guts everywhere, we’d
likely loose interest after a short while, or just expect ever bigger explosions and ever more
disgusting gore. But the film develops a sub-plot involving Cruz’s relationships with his
children—he actively learns to be a real father in the course of the story.
For instance, early on we see his son showing him disdain when they are playing catch in the
backyard. The Cruz character says [blah blah blah], and then the son says [yadda yadda]; the
Cruz character then furiously throws the ball through a window. They clearly do not share a very
good father-son relationship; not only is there continual miscommunication in language between
the two, but they can’t even toss a ball back and forth!
About mid-way through, however, in the scene where the boy is about to run off to join the
military battle, we see the father pleading with him to remain. They even have an intense eye-toeye moment of silence as Cruz grabs his son’s arm. We realize that this father is learning,
however gradually, to actively show his love, and that, likewise, his son is beginning to believe in
that love. This is the kind of character development which makes us want to see a film not
just once for its flashy computer effects, but for the real-life people in the story. And it’s
another one of the reasons why you will love this movie.
• Good writing!
• Great effort to discuss and
apply your criteria.
• But: lots to work on
1. Need for specific, descriptive examples to back up each assertion
being made.
2. Need for meaningful, eye-popping visual design. You don’t want to
just randomly place pics in the review. Think about the principle of
FOCAL POINT: what do you primarily want your reader to see or
see first? second? Size, color, and spacing all help to create a focal
point. [MacKenzie, Top Gun, Spongebob] Try to “say” some of your
review visually.
3. Visual devices: pics with excerpts from review; insets with quotes
from your review; etc.
4. Spacing: be sure you don’t have meaningless hunks of blank space,
and that spacing is uniform around objects—unless there is a
purpose for unevenness. Remember: lots of space around a specific
item gives it emphasis and draws the eye.
5. Don’t let it read like an English paper. Bleh! Pick it up a bit, snappier
prose. Remember your audience. Introductions: look up sample
reviews for tone and style ideas.
6. Don’t switch from “I” to “We.” Stick to one or the other, or, if you are
going to switch back and forth, do so meaningfully.
7. Title formats.
And look out for...
awkward, wordy, repetitive
sentence constructions! All groups
need to work on this.
You want graceful, powerful, concise
sentences that have an impact and
communicate their meaning easily and fluently.
You want a piece that sounds like a popular
review. Remember to be reading lots of
sample reviews to get a feel for this genre.
See
assignments
in Writing
Today
having to do
with
sentence
style,
concision,
clarity,
editing.
For Next Tues. April 7th
Post a second draft no later than Sun. 11:59 pm,
April 5th. (Earlier is fine.)
Consider meeting with group once outside of class
before handing in the second draft.
LOOK AT RUBRIC FOR THIS ASSIGNMENT!
www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/~cinichol/120/Project2ArtRevie
wRubricSp2015.docx
Review Power Point and other class materials.
Review first few chapters of novel!
Documenting
Sources
for Project #2
• Use MLA-style in-text citations to integrate
brief source info smoothly into your text. You
don’t need lengthy URLS—those can
optionally be found on the Work Cited page.
(Short web page info is fine, such as
“Paramount.com.”)
• The trick is to provide just enough detail intext that your reader can easily look up
additional info on the Work Cited page.
• Provide a Work Cited page.
For excellent, easy-to-use
documentation info, see OWL
PURDUE (or our textbook!):
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/
11/
Passage from a sample student film
review with a PRINT source:
Surprisingly, most recent reviews of August,
Osage County are completely opposite of mine. In
the January issue of The New Yorker
magazine, Fred Fuzzywuzzle actually says that
“[T]he movie blows most family dramas out of the
water and opens up a whole realm of possibilities
for the creation of realistic, family-based stories in
popular film” (26). Sure, it’s possible that the
movie suggests some new ways to represent the
American family, but “realistic” is hardly a word I’d
choose to describe the characters in this film.
Alternative way to cite source
on previous slide:
Surprisingly, most recent reviews of August,
Osage County are completely opposite of mine.
Fred Fuzzywuzzle of The New Yorker actually
says that “T]he movie blows most family dramas
out of the water and opens up a whole realm of
possibilities for the creation of realistic, familybased stories in popular film” (26). Sure, it’s
possible that the movie suggests some new ways
to represent the American family, but “realistic” is
hardly a word I’d choose to describe the
characters in this film.
And another:
Surprisingly, most recent reviews of August,
Osage County are completely opposite of mine.
One film critic actually says that “[T]he movie
blows most family dramas out of the water and
opens up a whole realm of possibilities for the
creation of realistic, family-based stories in popular
film” (Fuzzywuzzle 26). Sure, it’s possible that the
movie suggests some new ways to represent the
American family, but “realistic” is hardly a word I’d
choose to describe the characters in this film.
And another!:
Surprisingly, most recent reviews of August,
Osage County are completely opposite of mine.
One review claims that “[T]he movie blows most
family dramas out of the water and opens up a
whole realm of possibilities for the creation of
realistic, family-based stories in popular film” (New
Yorker 26). Sure, it’s possible that the movie
suggests some new ways to represent the
American family, but “realistic” is hardly a word I’d
choose to describe the characters in this film.
Work Cited
[entry for the previous slides’ in-text citation of a PRINT source]
Fuzzywuzzle, Fred. “August, Osage County
Rocks." The New Yorker Mar. 2014:
143-48. Print.
Citing electronic sources:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resour
ce/747/08/
This page tells you everything you need
to know about using WEB sources in
your art review.
Sample passage from a student film
review with an ONLINE source:
Surprisingly, most recent reviews of August,
Osage County are completely opposite of mine.
One online review claims that “[T]he movie
blows most family dramas out of the water and
opens up a whole realm of possibilities for the
creation of realistic, family-based stories in popular
film” (“Osage County Rocks”). Sure, it’s possible
that the movie suggests some new ways to
represent the American family, but “realistic” is
hardly a word I’d choose to describe the
characters in this film.
Work Cited
[entry for the previous slides’ in-text citation of an
ELECTRONIC SOURCE]
Fuzzywuzzle, Fred. “August, Osage Country
Rocks.” The New Yorker Online. Condé
Nast, 16 Aug. 2013. Web. 4 May 2009.
Films or Movies
List films (in theaters) by their title. Include the name of the director, the
film studio or distributor, and the release year. If relevant, list performer
names after the director’s name. Use the abbreviation perf. to head the
list. List film as the medium of publication.
To emphasize specific performers (perf.) or directors (dir.), begin the
citation with the name of the desired performer or director, followed by
the appropriate abbreviation.
Lucas, George, dir. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.
Twentieth Century Fox, 1977. Film.
from Owl Purdue
The Usual Suspects. Dir. Bryan Singer. Perf. Kevin Spacey,
Gabriel Byrne, Chazz Palminteri, Stephen Baldwin,
and
Benecio delToro. Polygram, 1995. Film.
Recorded Films or Movies
List films by their title. Include the name of the director, the
distributor, and the release year. If relevant, list performer
names after the director’s name. Use the abbreviation perf.
to head the list. End the entry with the appropriate medium
of publication (e.g. DVD, VHS, Laser disc).
Ed Wood. Dir. Tim Burton. Perf. Johnny Depp,
Martin Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker,
Patricia Arquette. Touchstone, 1994. DVD.
Sample passage with film source:
In this age of high-quality, creative, dazzling
special effects, there is no excuse for awful scenes
full of what are obviously cheap vector graphics.
And yet “cheap” and “awful” are words that come
to mind with director Ross Collins’ newest effort,
Zombies of the Upper Plains, just out on DVD
through Touchstone.
Sample Work Cited entry:
Zombies of the Upper Plains. Dir. Ross Collins.
Perf. Leonardo Decapitated and Kristin
Stewpot. Touchstone, 2014. DVD.
To Document
Images
Click here for how to cite images from either
print sources or the web:
http://www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/~cinichol/120/
Documenting Images.docx
With all sources
and all citations:
make the source info
meaningful but unobtrusive.
For Thurs. April 9th




Project #2 due. Post in Bb as another
“Reply” to your group’s thread. PUT A
CLEAR HEADER ON THE SUBJECT LINE.
E.G., “FINAL VERSION, PROJECT 2.”
Don’t hand in the project unless you’ve
carefully reviewed this Power Point, the
assignment itself, assigned readings for this
unit, and the evaluation rubric.
Review first few chapters of novel before
class.
Bring novel to class.
 What passages or segments could be presented
VISUALLY instead of VERBALLY? Try to “say” more of
your review visually.
 Work on sentence concision and clarity.
 Include “process narrative”:
www.ndsu.edu/pubweb
/~cinichol/120/Project2ArtReviewProcessNarrativeSp20
15.docx
(you can attach this to your thread)
 All group members need to fill out anonymous member
evaluation sheet:
www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/~cinichol/120/GroupMemberEva
luationSheet.doc (give these to me in hardcopy)
Got it?