Guidelines for Your Term Paper (25%)
Length: 6 – 8 pages of text in length (ex
Guidelines for Your Term Paper (25%)
Length: 6 – 8 pages of text in length (excluding illustrations, foot/end notes and bibliography), typed, double-spaced.
Due Date: Your paper should be uploaded on Canvas by September 9, 6pm. No late papers will be accepted.
Topic: Of your own choosing related to the art of modern China. You should develop an issue related to but not duplicating the course material (Chinese art from the 1850s to 2000s) and submit the paper proposal (100-150 words) and your working bibliography (at least 3 sources) by September 1, 11:59pm. The topic may be changed or developed as your research makes appropriate. Please make good use of provided references materials and digital resources available through the library website and major museum sites. Typical topics for term papers (among many other possibilities) might include a close study of a single monument or work of art, examination of developments within a single innovative artistic style, a particular aspect of a single artist’s work, or a carefully delimited discussion about the development of a particular type of subject matter, to mention only a few possibilities. The grade will be based on your clarity of presentation, perceptive use of existing scholarship, effectiveness of the evidence you present, the quality and persuasiveness of your argument, and the soundness of your conclusions.
In your research, use all the resources available to you in the library and on the web to find additional material about the topic in the form of books, articles, and images.
Your final paper, like all good writing, should be organized to tell a story or to solve a problem, with an introduction, presentation of the evidence, and clear conclusion. Achieving this goal usually requires careful editing and some rewriting, so don’t wait until the night before the paper is due to start writing, but budget your research time so that you can get to work on your draft as early as possible. Please edit the paper carefully and critically. This will probably lead you to do some reorganization, so please leave yourself adequate time to do so.
Technical matters:
The paper should be roughly 6-8 pages in length (excluding illustrations, foot/end notes and bibliography). Longer is acceptable, if needed, after editing, but not required.
Please type your paper in a font of 12 pitch, double spaced, and paginated.
Please use the standard scholarly note and bibliography format and cite all your sources, including both notes and bibliography. You may use either MLA or Chicago Style for notes. The textbook can be used as a model for the formats of bibliography and Chicago Style notes. All sources, including online ones, should be documented.
Be careful and critical of your sources, especially online sources. Wikipedia is not scholarly and should not be cited as a primary source, although the better articles sometimes have bibliography that is well worth consulting. Academic, museum, and peer-reviewed sources should be your primary references. When in doubt, please ask.
Please include at least 3 illustrations of the works of art you discuss or that support your argument. You should identify each illustration in a caption or list of illustrations in a format similar to what you see in the textbook. In addition to artist, title, medium and format, date, and dimensions, you should include the collection that owns the work, if known, and the source of your illustration (whether print and internet). Please do not insert the illustrations in the text but append them at the end.
Format of References:
Book:
Cohen, Joan Lebold. The New Chinese Painting, 1949-1986.New York: Abrams, 1987.
Book Chapters:
Wu, Hung. “The Origins of Chinese Painting (Paleolithic Period to Tang Dynasty),” in Three Thousand Years of Chinese Painting, eds., Yang Xin and others. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1997. pp. 15-86.
Journal Article:
Hay, Jonathan. “Ambivalent Icons: Works of Five Chinese Artists Based in the United States.” Orientations 23, no.7 (July 1992): 37-43.
Format of Citations:
MLA (in-text citation): (Author’s last name, page number of the article or book you cited)
(Cohen, 68) or (Hung,1997, 85) if the author have multiple publications you cited
Chicago Style (footnotes or endnotes): Author’s last name, the title of book or article, page number
Cohen, the new Chinese Painting, 164
or
Hung, “The Origins of Chinese Painting (Paleolithic Period to Tang Dynasty),” 75
