For this semester, you will prepare a sort of preliminary research report on a group of museum objects or works of architecture or architectural features.  Start exploring the sites you will or would visit in  France and/or Atlanta, depending on whether you will make the trip to France.  Select the one you want and claim it, because no two people will work on the same topic.  E-mail me to claim your choice, and I will post it in the grid.  If the one you wanted is selected by someone else, you should choose another.  You should develop a sort of theme as you accrue selections, from which you will develop a thesis about the group of works.  If you have a specific idea about which you are uncertain, consult with me to see if it is feasible.

                For each of our meetings, you will prepare  the Museum Object Writing for one of the works in your group.  

                Your final report will be posted on the class CourseDen site and everyone will be able to read the reports of the other students in the class and to comment upon them.  You will submit your work through the dropbox and I will publish it (before I make comments or grade them).  Your work will include the following:

Thesis Statement:   Another brief statement, probably a paragraph long.  By the time you have created a good annotated bibliography, you will have likely already developed and refined a sort of thesis, as the thought processes for the two parts go hand-in-hand.   The thesis will result from your careful thinking process about the particular significance of your topic and your careful consideration of the work, and from collecting and organizing the materials you have found on your selection, as you have searched for bibliography that seems relevant and that has potential for illuminating the possible links between what you think important and what can be supported by scholarly writings.  Be careful to distinguish between what you consider known or apparent facts and what can actually be substantiated through research.  As you progress and accumulate thoughts and research materials, their relative significance will become clearer and your" working thesis" will emerge and become increasingly defined and refined.  You will develop a basic or main idea, an argument that you think you can support with evidence but that may need adjustment along the way.  You must be prepared to change direction as the evidence requires.  Remember the dictates about PLAGIARISM  and intellectual honesty -- do not cheat yourself out of an education.

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An annotated bibliography is a list of citations of books, articles, and documents. Each citation is followed by a brief (usually about 150 words) descriptive and evaluative paragraph, the annotation. The purpose of the annotation is to inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited.

Abstracts are the purely descriptive summaries often found at the beginning of scholarly journal articles or in periodical indexes. They are not sufficient as annotations -- you must state how the source fits your exploration.  Annotations are descriptive and critical; they expose the author's point of view, clarity and appropriateness of expression, and authority. Relate the value of the source to its importance in your study and your use of it for this project.

Creating an annotated bibliography calls for the application of a variety of intellectual skills: concise exposition, succinct analysis, and informed library research.

First, locate and record citations to books, periodicals, and documents that may contain useful information and ideas on your topic. Briefly examine and review the actual items. Then choose those works that provide a variety of perspectives on your topic. Do not just choose the first five that you find.

Cite the book, article, or document using the appropriate style. (Chicago style)(find on UWG library website or Google to find on another university website) Art History uses footnotes (preferred) or endnotes. DO NOT insert parenthetical references into your writing.

Write a concise annotation that summarizes the central theme and scope of the book or article. Include one or more sentences that (a) evaluate the authority or background of the author, (b) comment on the intended audience, (c) compare or contrast this work with another you have cited, or (d) explain how this work illuminates your bibliography for the topic.

For further information on how to create the annotated bibliography, visit that site.

TOPICS:.  These may be selected from the various sites and museums, around whatever theme/thesis you are developing, in the expectation that you will respond in a way that will lead you to expand upon the idea. They need to become increasingly specific as your project evolves, so you will need to make them so, depending your own choice of works to exemplify an idea or theme.  As always, we are concerned with specifics works and particular aspects of those works.

Do not pick something that you have already researched for another class.  If there is something that interests you, of which you are uncertain, that seems to fit the framework of the project, you could ask to do the study on them, subject to my approval. Submit your requests through the class CourseDen e-mail.  First come, first served. I will post your name next to the topic that you will research, with a more specific description as appropriate. For most of these, you should develop the idea a bit before you settle into it as your choice – for instance, a specific manuscript or the same type of image in several different manuscripts – whether close in time or across several periods. Likewise for an architectural feature, or the borrowing of motifs or traits, influences that migrate from one culture or form to another, or whatever. If you have difficulty deciding, or are uncertain about the suitability of your choice, plan to consult with me in my office this week or at class on the 12^th. You must make make your selection by that day.

Clearly, a report of this short length cannot be exhaustive, but it should be insightful and to the point.  It should not be primarily biographical nor anecdotal, although those issues may be a minor or explanatory part of your discussion.  Your writing should be based in your research about the medieval character of the works.  You may select your few works and discuss them and their specific significance without drawing general conclusions of any sort, as long as what you say is accurate and meaningful.  Your writing should be based firmly in the scholarly sources you use, rather than too-creative or showing conjectural interpretation. Especially avoid generalizations. And make sure you acknowledge the ways that you are using your sources.  AVOID QUOTATION.  Rather paraphrase what the scholar has said and credit them with the thought.  Clearly distinguish any of your own thinking from what you have read.

Class Presentations:  Prepare a Power Point Presentation of your image(s) that you will share with the class.  We will project it for everyone to see and you should be prepared to discuss why it is one of your choices and how it fits into your theme/thesis.  Bring it to class on a thumbdrive.  The computers in 203 are PCs. For the Fridays in June classes, you should prepare a 1-2 minute presentation.  For the Final presentation (July 27th -28th), you should prepare a polished 5-7 minute presentation (also with PowerPoint).  It will be more formal and you should plan accordingly -- you will dress up -- business-like attire -- no shorts, no halter tops, no jeans.

Final Written Presentation due July 28th, in class, by classtime -- NO EXCEPTIONS): You have a choice of format for this.  It can be a catalogue-type, or term-paper type.  For the catalogue, you would create an introductory essay for the group of objects that you have researched and follow that with an individual essay on each of the objects/site/structures.  If you would like to see some samples of this type, please arrange to meet me asap.  The alternative format is a regular termpaper.  Either would require a clear and cogent thesis and a total written text of 1300-1500 words, exclusive of bibliography.  In either format, the presentation should be polished and professional, but the intellectual content is paramount.  Do not get too caught up in having fun with the layout, at the expense of the information and thought.  Either format would include the presentation of the images, properly incorporated into the format, and correctly captioned, as above.