Skidmore College: Art History

1. Standards and expectations for an art history paper

What does your art history professor expect in a paper?

First, we want all papers to have the same features. This means that we want all papers to have:

an interesting or insightful title (a title page is not necessary)
double-spacing
1" margins all the way around
computer-printed or typed page numbers beginning on the second page (you count but do not number the first page of text)
10-12 character-per-inch font
formatting that is neither "compressed" nor "expanded"

We also expect papers to have these basic parts:

Introductory Paragraph
Briefly introduces the artwork (underline or italicize titles of artworks, include in your first citation its date of production, artist and original location if relevant) or concept that is the subject of your paper, includes a thesis statement that presents the argument of your paper, and specifies how you will prove this argument (this latter part will spell out the organization of your paper). Focus your attention on a well-defined question or problem and briefly suggest how you will go about explaining your solution and what kinds of evidence you will use. You should develop your argument as if you are addressing an intelligent reader with a general knowledge of whatever your class is about.

Body of the Paper
Paragraphs contain evidence to support your thesis statement. Each paragraph should be a coherent unit with a topic idea; each sentence should relate to the one it precedes and follows. The introductory sentence of each paragraph should state the main theme of the paragraph (sometimes it can be helpful to think of this as a "mini thesis statement"); the concluding sentence may summarize it. As you edit your paper check each paragraph to make sure that you have not included material in one paragraph that would be more appropriate in another. In the body of your paper you will convince your reader of the validity of your argument. Focus on the problem that you established in your thesis statement. In order to convince your reader, consider organizing your paper around (or at the very least addressing) these key points if you are drafting a paper on an object: (1) formal properties (based on your observations of the work); (2) the meaning of the work based on style, iconography and original function; (3) its historical/cultural context.

Conclusions
This is not the time to introduce new material or ideas. Rather, briefly summarize your principal arguments, referring back to your thesis statement, and explain how your analysis extends to our understanding of the problem.

How will we evaluate your work?
Papers will be graded for specific content (your own ideas or argument), general content (the supporting material -- research or class material -- you bring to bolster your argument), organization (thesis, body, and conclusion well argued with a logical progression of ideas), format (neatly typed, correct margins, standard footnote style), grammar ,style and spelling.

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