HUM - 389 RR 2

HUM 389: Reading Reflection Prompt for:

“Black Expression in the Early 20thc—Visual Art” (use this for your “title” line)

*Before submitting your first RR, be sure you have reviewed the general info handout on RRs posted to the RR menu tab (particularly the sections on minimum length, formatting, submission requirements, general content, and avoiding plagiarism). Also note that you can find a sample blank rubric posted to RR menu tab which will show you the criteria I will use in evaluating your reflection.

Assigned Content: see the daily folder (pdf of images by themselves; BR of images with text, CP 77 and brief video clip)

Prompt: In your 2-4 page reflection (2 full pages minimum using required formatting), address each of the following three areas below. When you quote from the readings, “do it like this” (BR page number goes here. Remember that while the minimum length for all RR assignments is 2 full double-spaced pages, earning above-average scores may require going beyond that minimum.

First : BEFORE reading the Blackboard Reading file, look over the pdf of Powerpoint images slides posted (the file with the images by themselves, with artist, title, and date labels): Look over the images in this file, paying attention to visual details (if you feel you can’t see the image well enough from just the file view, you may need/want to do Google image searches for them—but if so, just look at the images themselves—don’t read about them). Select TWO images from the first six (by artist Aaron Douglas) that interest/stand out to you the most (for whatever reason) and then TWO additional images from images 7-13 (by artist Jacob Lawrence) that stand out to you the most. Write one thorough/well-developed paragraph about each of your choices. In each paragraph, explain why you chose the image (why/how/in what (ways) those particular images stood out to you/interested you the most) and what further questions the images raise for you. For each of the four images you choose, refer specifically to its title and to specific visual elements/details you notice in the image.

Then (minimum of two thorough/well-developed paragraphs per each of the two artists): AFTER reading the Blackboard Reading file about the visual art of Douglas and Lawrence (images + text), reflect on how/in what specific ways the discussion of these two artists and their works affects/relates back to your initial thoughts and questions about the four images you discussed above. For example: Did the BR material change any of your initial thoughts about the images? (Explain/develop). Did the BR answer any of the questions raised for you by the images? (Explain/develop). What further questions did the BR raise for you about these two artists and their works? (Explain/develop.) In this section of your incorporate/respond to some well-chosen, concise quotes from various parts of the BR. This section of your reflection should clearly reflect your reading of the BR as a whole (not just the brief parts with specific discussion of the four images you chose to write about above)—remember that other parts of the reading can and should inform your thoughts.

NOTE : You don’t have to write about the CP page and video clip on the “Strange Fruit” song, but you should be prepared to discuss/respond to it in our class discussion. (For example, what stood out to you from the clip? Can you think of any examples of contemporary popular songs that might somehow connect/compare/relate to this “protest song” of the early 20thc?