Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review"Extraordinarily useful and necessary for any class in art history!" - Johanna Movassat, San Jose State University "A step-by-step guide, incorporating both theory and practice, to critically thinking and writing about art." - Janet Carpenter, City College of San Francisco "An extremely useful book for art history students at all levels of study." - Melissa Dabakis, Kenyon College "I find the text to be fundamental in teaching students to write. It is concise enough to cover in a course on a particular art historical topic without overtaking the topic itself. It is always my secondary text." - Rebecca Trittel, Savannah College of Art and Design "Excellent definitive source on writing about art for the advanced student." - Carey Rote, Texas A & M University-Corpus Christi
Table of Contents In this Section:
- Brief Table of Contents
- Full Table of Contents
BRIEF TABLE OF CONTENTS:
- Writing About Art
- Writing About Art: The Big Picture
- Formal Analysis and Style
- Analytical Thinking
- Writing A Comparison
- Writing an Entry in an Exhibition Catalog
- Writing a Review of an Exhibition
- Virtual Exhibitions: Writing Text Panels and Other Materials
- How to Write an Effective Essay
- Style in Writing
- Art Historical Research
- Some Critical Approaches
- Writing a Research Paper
- Manuscript Form
- Writing Essay Examinations
FULL TABLE OF CONTENTS:
-
Chapter 1: Writing About Art
- What Is Art?
- Why Write about Art?
- The Imagined Reader as the Writer's Collaborator
- The Functions of Critical Writing
- Some Words about Critical Thinking
- A Sample Critical Essay
- What Is an Interpretation—and Are All interpretations Equally Valid?
- Expressing Opinions: The Writer's “I”
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Chapter 2: Writing About Art: The Big Picture
- Standing Back: Kinds of Writing (Informing and Persuading)
- Close-Up: Drafting the Essay
- Checklist of Basic Matters
-
Chapter 3: Formal Analysis and Style
- What Formal Analysis Is
- Formal Analysis Versus Description
- Sample Essay: A Formal Analysis
- Postscript: Thoughts about the Words "Realistic" and "Idealized"
- Cautionary Words about Slides and Reproductions in Books and on the World Wide Web
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Chapter 4: Analytical Thinking
- Subject Matter and Content
- Form and Content
- Getting ideas for Essays: Asking Questions to Get Answers
- Another Look at the Questions
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Chapter 5: Writing A Comparison
- Comparing as a Way of Discovering
- Two ways of Organizing a Comparison
- Sample Essay: A Student's Comparison
- Rebecca Bedell: "John Singleson Copley's Early Development: From Mrs. Joseph Mann to Mrs. Ezekial Goldthwait"
- Checklist for Writing a Comparison
-
Chapter 6: Writing an Entry in an Exhibition Catalog
- Keeping the Reader in Mind
- A Sample Entry
- Checklist for Writing a Catalog Entry
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Chapter 7: Writing a Review of an Exhibition
- What a Review Is
- Three Sample Reviews
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Chapter 8: Virtual Exhibitions: Writing Text Panels and Other Materials
- Kinds of Exhibitions
- Kinds of Writing Assignments
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Chapter 9: How to Write an Effective Essay
- The Basic Strategy
- Looking Closely: Approaching a First Draft
- Revising: Achieving a Readable Draft
- Peer Review
- Preparing the Final Version
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Chapter 10: Style in Writing
- Principles of Style
- Get the Right Word
- Writing Effective Sentences
- Write Unified and Coherent Paragraphs
- A Note on Tenses
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Chapter 11: Art Historical Research
- Accounting for Taste
- Historical Scholarship and Values
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Chapter 12: Some Critical Approaches
- Social History: The New Art History and Marxism
- Gender Studies: Feminist Criticism and Gay and Lesbian Studies
- Biographical Studies
- Psychoanalytic Studies
- Iconography and Iconology
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Chapter 13: Writing a Research Paper
- Primary and Secondary Materials
- From Subject to Thesis
- Finding the Material
- Art Research and the World Wide Web
- Keeping a Sense of Proportion
- Reading and Taking Notes
- Checklist for Note-Taking
- Incorporating Your Reading into Your Thinking: The Art of Synthesis and Drafting and Revising the Paper
- Checklist for Reviewing a Revised Draft of a Research Paper
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Chapter 14: Manuscript Form
- Basic Manuscript Form
- Some Conventions of Language Usage
- Quotations and Quotation Marks
- Acknowledging Sources
- Documentation
- Footnotes and Endnotes: Chicago Manual Style
- Chicago Manual of Style
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Chapter 15: Writing Essay Examinations
- What Examinations Are
- Writing Essay Answers
- Last Words
