For your third (and
final) exam, I am going to give you a more creative assignment. Let’s pretend that ECU has received a grant
to bring 4-5 Monet paintings to the Fine Arts building for a Monet
retrospective. These paintings highlight
different moments of his career, and should take us on a ‘journey’ that
explains how he developed as an artist.
However, most people don’t know much about his life, career, or culture,
so the university has hired you (thanks to your knowledge of Humanities II) to
write a short narrative to help visitors ‘see’ the paintings and appreciate his
evolution from budding impressionist to symbolist master.
Your exam/paper is a
guide to the exhibit, much like the audio guides people can listen to at
museums as they tour an exhibit. It will
help your audience appreciate who Monet is, what Impressionism is, and how each
painting uses these ideas to explore the world in new and vibrant colors. Your paper should roughly have the following
parts:
- Introduction: introduce Monet, Impressionism,
etc.
- A brief paragraph on each painting (any
4-5 you choose from the book) that helps us ‘see’ them in a new
light. Show us what to see, what to
examine, and how to appreciate them in relation to Monet’s life, times, or
ideas.
- A short conclusion reminding viewers
what you hoped to show them in the exhibit.
Remember, you can
choose ANY of the paintings in our book, but choose no more than 5. Consider how these 5 paintings each say
something unique about his career and the world of the Impressionists
themselves. You MUST quote from the book
to help you discuss the paintings and/or to bring biographical/cultural details
into your tour. However, I am most
interested in how you see the
paintings and can help us appreciate them.
Consider what you knew (or didn’t know) about Monet before taking the
class, and help your former self see what you now know and understand. Try to write in a conversational style (not
in a stiff, formal essay) since this is mean to be read/recorded for people to
listen to as they examine the paintings.
Requirements
- At least 4-5 pages, though you can do
more if you wish
- Use at least 4-5 paintings, but no more
than 5
- Roughly follow the format above, but
imagine writing a script to be read, rather than a formal essay
- Use useful quotations from the Monet book, and cite according to
MLA Format; for example… “In Heinrich’s book on Monet, he writes, “For
Monet, flowers were bearers of light, and a feast for the eyes” (73). Be sure to introduce the quote, quote
accurately, and cite the page number at the end.
- Due by 5pm on Friday, April 11th
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