History of Art paper

Research Paper - Exhibit Proposal ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ARTS 1304 5002 APRIL 9: ​Draft due. Upload your draft as an attachment to the Research Paper Discussion. Remember that you are required to peer review TWO papers (by April 14). APRIL 28: ​Final draft due, uploaded to D2L assignment folder. WORD COUNT: 500-800 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Imagine that you have found Isamu Noguchi’s plaster models and other materials associated with his proposal for a memorial to the victims of the bombing of Hiroshima. The models had been lost for decades. You tell the Curator of Japanese Art at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston about your discovery, and the curator, Akito Tanaka, suggests that you submit a proposal for an exhibit that broadens the context of Noguchi’s models. You have already found one argumentative source about the models, “The Rejection of Isamu Noguchi's Hiroshima Cenotaph,” by Bert Winther, which is available through the Academic Search Premier database. You can access that database ​here​. Mr. Tanaka is requiring that you find a background source, two exhibits, and one more argumentative source to round out your research before you write your proposal (an explanation for those sources is below). Mr. Tanaka suggests that there are several ways you could add context to Noguchi’s models:

1. Investigate the history of memorials 2. Look further into Japanese ancient art discussed in Winther’s article, like the ​haniwa​. 3. Investigate Noguchi’s art 4. Look into the art of New York or Japanese artists who worked at the same time as him. 5. Research ways that other artists have explored some of the themes that Noguchi did, such

as: mother goddesses or nuclear war 6. Any other connection you can think of

Mr. Tanaka strongly suggests that you only investigate one connection, and certainly not all of these. He reminds you that the word count for the proposal must be between 500-800.

Your essay should include:

● An introduction that briefly lays out the problem, summarizes your summaries of the two argumentative sources, and introduces your thesis. (I recommend that you write the introduction after you have written most (or all) of the rest of the paper.)

● A paragraph explaining the background/context. You can draw upon the background source and the argumentative sources here.

● A paragraph summarizing the first argumentative source. ● A paragraph summarizing the second argumentative source. ● A discussion paragraph that brings together your ideas about the two exhibits and the two

argumentative sources (this may end up being more than one paragraph) ● A separate works cited page (do not include this page in the word count)

Explanations of sources: Background source​: A source, assumed to be noncontroversial, used to provide context--what writer and reader can stipulate as shared facts and information. Exhibit​: Documents, data, visual images, or other artifacts that the writer analyzes. Argument source​: The conversation of critical views and relevant scholarship surrounding the writer’s question. Scholarly articles.

Rubric for the Research Paper

Your Research Paper should include an organized introduction with a clear thesis, a paragraph that establishes the context, summary paragraphs for both argument sources, and a discussion paragraph. In order to do well on this paper, you need to do these things:

1. Have an organized introduction with a clear thesis that explains the way you have added context to Noguchi’s proposal.

No thesis or unclear thesis Clear thesis 4 8 12 16 20

2. Have a paragraph that establishes the background (the context). No or unclear explanation of context Clear context 2 4 6 8 10

3. Have a thorough and organized summary of your first argument source Incomplete, unclear, or missing summary Clear summary 2 4 6 8 10

4. Have a thorough and organized summary of your second argument source Incomplete, unclear, or missing summary Clear summary 2 4 6 8 10

5. Have a discussion section that brings together the argument sources and your ideas and explores the exhibits (the artworks)

Unclear or missing discussion Effective discussion 6 12 18 24 30

6. Accurate mechanics: grammer, spelling, punctuation, neatness Poor mechanics Exceptional mechanics 2 4 6 8 10

7. Have a correctly formatted MLA 8 works cited page Very poor formatting, missing sources Correct formatting 2 4 6 8 10