2 works
Dear All,
I am still trying to get through all of your essay drafts but I wanted to provide some general comments so that those of you who have not yet received my edits will have a bit to work from. I apologize, I have over 80 drafts to read and I am trying to read them carefully but I know that time is ticking so I am determined to get through all submissions tonight. I have listed a few things below that are common "errors" or "issues" in essays. They are not necessarily true of all essays so if they do not apply to your essay, please disregard :) These are meant to be helpful reminders :) I have reattached the essay guidelines. Please read through them before you submit your final drafts to make sure you have all the important parts!
1) Citations: Please remember that you MUST use footnotes or endnotes. You may not use parenthetical notes. Please also remember to reference the MLA for how to reference your sources in both your footnotes and bibliography. You will be marked down if you use parenthetical and not footnote or endnote citations and if your bibliography is not in MLA style. You can send me examples if you need help or please take advantage of the writing center. You run the risk of plagiarizing if you do not cite your references. The very best research and essays include references so you will not be penalized for citing others' ideas but you will be penalized for not giving credit where credit is due.
2) Sources: I required that everyone find at least 3 sources by late October/early November. You really should have 5 sources at the very least. You should also consider using more than just online sources. Online sources CAN be good but they are more hit or miss than journal or book sources. I expect that everyone should have one or two non-internet sources at the very least. There is a list of general sources on the essay guidelines and you can always search your topic in the Pace Library search engine or the JSTOR engine. You will be expected to use books and journal articles in other university essays so use this as a chance to work on this skill (whether or not you have done this in the past). Sometimes you will read a source and find that it is not useful...you can include this in your bibliography to show me that you have read sources to look for information. Even if these are not useful they may influence your paper and opinions so please include them.
3) Content: Many introductions are very general and show me that you are trying to connect your topic to the content of a very general survey course of western art. This is good in theory and I appreciate that you are thinking about the significance of your work but please make sure that your introduction is not too vague. Let me know know in the first sentence or two which piece or pieces you are going to discuss. Explain what you intend to tell me about. The content of the essay should display how your analysis should fit into the content of the course. If you are too general in the introduction you run the risk of saying too much and thus losing focus. Make sure that your introduction ends up focused in its final sentences.
4) Content: I suggest, if you are lost for a format or structure, use the generalformat as follows:
Introduction
In depth analysis of your work or works of art (this should constitute more than one paragraph and I would suggest at a minimum 2 pages, a maximum of 4 pages per work)
Explain the importance of your piece...is it typical? atypical? where was it displayed? how would it have been viewed? who would have seen it? what is important about it? is it similar to works we have seen in class?
Conclusion
*If you have given me a draft and I have signed off on it and you have not followed this structure, do not fret :) this is a general format for those that feel a bit lost.
5) Font: It may seem silly...but the font that you choose often affects how your essay is read. Please do not use a sans serif font. If you do not care about font...please use Times or Times New Roman as your default...these are much more appealing to read :) Sans serif is ok for emails and other less formal submissions but it is not appealing for a formal essay.
6) Identifying works of art: Many of you are concentrating on works that have neither a formal title or known artist. The title that the Metropolitan Museum gives is rather a general description than a title. Consider identifying your work and providing its accession number (acc. no.). For example, if you were writing about the image (www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/252890)
I would expect you to introduce it something like this...
One particularly fine Greek grave stele from the mid-5th century, now on display at the Metropolitan Museum (acc. no. 27.45), shows a young girl holding two doves.
If you need help with this, please let me know :)
Best wishes,
Molly
Dear All,
I am still trying to get through all of your essay drafts but I wanted to provide some general comments so that those of you who have not yet received my edits will have a bit to work from. I apologize, I have over 80 drafts to read and I am trying to read them carefully but I know that time is ticking so I am determined to get through all submissions tonight. I have listed a few things below that are common "errors" or "issues" in essays. They are not necessarily true of all essays so if they do not apply to your essay, please disregard :) These are meant to be helpful reminders :)
1) Citations: Please remember that you MUST use footnotes or endnotes. You may not use parenthetical notes. Please also remember to reference the MLA for how to reference your sources. You will be marked down if you use parenthetical and not footnote or endnote citations. You can send me examples if you need help or please take advantage of the writing center. You run the risk of plagiarizing if you do not cite your references. The very best research and essays include references so you will not be penalized for citing others' ideas but you will be penalized for not giving credit where credit is due.
2) Sources: I required that everyone find at least 3 sources by late October/early November. You really should have 5 sources at the very least. You should also consider using more than just online sources. Online sources CAN be good but they are more hit or miss than journal or book sources. I expect that everyone should have one or two non-internet sources at the very least. There is a list of general sources on the essay guidelines and you can always search your topic in the Pace Library search engine or the JSTOR engine. You will be expected to use books and journal articles in other university essays so use this as a chance to work on this skill (whether or not you have done this in the past). Sometimes you will read a source and find that it is not useful...you can include this in your bibliography to show me that you have read sources to look for information. Even if these are not useful they may influence your paper and opinions so please include them.
3) Content: Many introductions are very general and show me that you are trying to connect your topic to the content of a very general survey course of western art. This is good in theory and I appreciate that you are thinking about the significance of your work but please make sure that your introduction is not too vague. Let me know know in the first sentence or two which piece or pieces you are going to discuss. Explain what you intend to tell me about. The content of the essay should display how your analysis should fit into the content of the course. If you are too general in the introduction you run the risk of saying too much and thus losing focus. Make sure that your introduction ends up focused in its final sentences.
4) Content: I suggest, if you are lost for a format or structure, use the general format as follows:
Introduction
In depth analysis of your work or works of art (this should constitute more than one paragraph and I would suggest at a minimum 2 pages, a maximum of 4 pages per work)
Explain the importance of your piece...is it typical? atypical? where was it displayed? how would it have been viewed? who would have seen it? what is important about it? is it similar to works we have seen in class?
Conclusion
*If you have given me a draft and I have signed off on it and you have not followed this structure, do not fret :) this is a general format for those that feel a bit lost.
5) Font: It may seem silly...but the font that you choose often affects how your essay is read. Please do not use a sans serif font. If you do not care about font...please use Times or Times New Roman as your default...these are much more appealing to read :) Sans serif is ok for emails and other less formal submissions but it is not appealing for a formal essay.
6) Identifying works of art: Many of you are concentrating on works that have neither a formal title or known artist. The title that the Metropolitan Museum gives is rather a general description than a title. Consider identifying your work and providing its accession number (acc. no.). For example, if you were writing about the image attached (https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/252890)
I would expect you to introduce it something like this...
One particularly fine Greek grave stele from the mid-5th century, now on display at the Metropolitan Museum (acc. no. 27.45), shows a young girl holding two doves.
If you need help with this, please let me know :)
Best wishes,
Molly