Assignement Due 3/25: Thesis and Bibliography

Thesis statement and annotated bibliography.  Due 3/25

Write a thesis statement for your final research paper.  You may have to change this as you write, but write it the best you can for now.  It should be one sentence and include your topic, point of view, and a general summary of all the information you will focus on in your paper.

Provide the following for three sources of information you will use in your paper:
-Bibliographic entry.  Follow MLA format.
-Summary of the source as a whole in 2-3 complete sentences.  Who is the author?  Why is she/he important?  What is the purpose of the text?  How will it be useful in your writing?

Provide one or more of the following for each source of information:

-Useful quotation(s) with page numbers.
-Paraphrased section(s) with page numbers.
-Summarized section(s) with page numbers.

Type and print this information.  Follow MLA formatting guide (double-space, 12pt font, etc).

Assignment Due 3/18: Additional Readings

Find and read three additional academic readings that you can incorporate into your final research paper.  On Monday, we will work on creating an annotated bibliography for these sources.
Please bring to class:

• at least one of these sources
• the bibliographic information for all three (author, title, publisher, date, print or web, etc.)

In the next week and the following week we will be working on summarizing and paraphrasing exercises.  We will also be discussing how to develop and support your thesis statement.

I apologize that we did not have enough time to take a look at the readings that you brought to class last week.  Please let me know if I can be of help in deconstructing your difficult readings!

I hope you all have been able to get at least a little bit of a break!  See you soon~

Assignment Due 3/4: Difficult Readings

For Monday, please choose a reading that was assigned to you from another class at Pratt to bring to class and share.  This should be something that you consider to be challenging.  We will work on applying strategies for making these types of readings more manageable.

In addition, start thinking about what you would like to do for your final paper.  Will you continue with what you started in your first paper or will you choose a different subject?  If you are going to expand upon your first paper, what information will you be looking for in the coming weeks?  What theories from your field will you be incorporating into your writing?   

Grammar Presentaions

Here is the schedule for grammar presentations and topics.  Please prepare a 30 minute lesson for the class.  Your lesson should include a presentation and explanation of the rules associated with that topic, practice exercises, a review of answers, and suggestions for further study.  Remember that 30 minutes is not a lot of time, so focus on information that can be easily understood and put into practice within that time frame. 

Feel free to talk with me if you are having trouble finding or understanding your material. 

2/25  Catherine - question form for different tenses
3/4  Jingyi- verb forms, helping verbs, use of -ing (progressive, gerund)
3/18  Violeta -prepositions
3/20  Renee- complex sentences - conjunctions + transitions
3/25  Seyoung- count and non-count nouns, quantifiers
4/1  Paula

Writing an Outline

Being able to write an outline is a very helpful skill when you are trying to organize all of your thoughts and information.  For the mini-research paper, I'd like you to write an outline with your first draft.  You can write it before you start and then modify it if you need to as you go along.  This will help your peers and I understand how you structured your essay.

Here is a helpful link from the wonderful web:
How to Write an Outline - wikiHow

Site Visit Ideas

Parks, Buildings, and Community Development
Brooklyn
http://www.brooklynbridgepark.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumbo,_Brooklyn
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barclays_Center
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_Terminal

Manhattan
http://www.thehighline.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuyvesant_Town%E2%80%94Peter_Cooper_Village

Interiors
Brooklyn
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn_Museum
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_Terminal
http://www.galapagosartspace.com/

Manhattan
http://nymag.com/listings/stores/prada09/

Art and Animation
Gallery Listings
http://artcards.cc/

Museums
http://www.movingimage.us/
http://www.metmuseum.org/
http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/

Other
http://stores.disneystore.com/NY/NEW-YORK/777/index.html

Assignment: Mini-Research Paper and Presentation

Mini-Research Paper and Presentation

Topic: 
Choose a site in New York City to visit, photograph, research, write, and speak about.  It should be a place that is important and related to your area of study.  For example, you may wish to visit a historical building, a park, or an exhibit in a museum or gallery.  If you have no ideas please speak with Nichole.  Do some preliminary online research about your site and discuss your plans in class on Wed. Feb 6.

Site visit:
Plan to visit your site during class time on Monday Feb. 11.  Photograph important aspects of your site.  Think about how to convey the experience of being in the place through your images.  Use wide-shots to give a sense of space and close-ups to show important details.  If people are using the space, demonstrate how through your images.  Think about the space or the work from the designer's or the artist's point of view. 

Research:
Find out more information about this site or about the work there.  Visit the library during class on 2/13 and learn some essential research techniques from a librarian.  Look for texts which explain the history behind what you saw, in additional to critical responses from cultural theorists and/or the public at large.  Learn insightful information by reading what the designers or artists say about their own work. 

15 Minute Photo Presentation:
Present your photographs in PowerPoint to the class on 2/20.  Include your point of view (thesis) about your chosen site or the work there and relevant research your uncovered.  Organize your photos and ideas in a logical manner.  Introduce your main points briefly at the beginning of your talk and summarize again at the end.    

Write: 4-5 pages, 12pt, double spaced. 
As a class, discuss how to write an outline and use it to help organize your ideas into paragraph form, including strong topic sentences and supporting examples.  Provide a clear introduction to your topic.  Develop a precise point of view (thesis) about your chosen site or the work there.  Summarize, paraphrase, and quote from your readings to support your point of view.  Give a solid conclusion.  Use MLA format correctly and include a bibliography of all the sources used in your paper.  Give feedback to your peers on the first drafts of your paper.  Receive feedback from your teacher on the second draft.  Turn in a final draft on 2/27. 

Important dates:
2/4 Homework: Preliminary online research for site selection
2/6 Explain your site selection in class.  Discussion: Writing an outline
2/11 Site visit during class time.  Take 15-20 photographs to use in second presentation.
2/13 Library visit: Searching for more information about your site
2/18 Due: First draft and outline.  Classwork: Prepare photo presentation
2/20 Due: Second draft and photo presentation
2/25 Discussion: The second draft
2/27 Due: Final draft

2/4 Assignment: Personal Statement

Personal Statement 
Due Monday, Feb. 4

Length:1-2 printed pages, 12pt font, double space

Your statement should contain at least 2 paragraphs, but may be up to 5.  Each paragraph should be 6-12 sentences long.  Each paragraph should also have a clear focus. 

It is important to imagine how your statement may be used in the real world: as part of a cover letter for a job application, a project proposal, or your website, for example.  In general, your statement should give the reader a clear picture of your working philosophy.  It also should reveal something unique about you without straying from the goal of making your work understood.  Don't dumb it down too much, but use English that is to-the-point and easily understood.

Please turn in a printed copy.  You do not need to upload it to this blog.

E-Portfolio

Here is a link to a few resources which will can help you while you're working on your e-portfolio.  We'll go over the basics together in class tomorrow.
http://iep.pratt.edu/?page_id=726

Lessons from TED

We watched the beginning of three talks on TED today:
Jaime Lerner
Vik Muniz
Doris Sung Kim

Jaime Lerner was speaking about city design.  He seemed very comfortable and earnest, but he was also not afraid to joke around.  He began with very beautiful photos of cityscapes and he also used slides of basic drawings, city plans, and text outlines.  He spoke about cars and cities not just factually but also metaphorically to engage the audience.

Vik Muniz had an interesting opening strategy: he appeared to be somewhat nervous and began by talking about a very serious subject (creation v. creativity) and then turned the seriousness on its head by showing a slide of a dog with a chicken pattern on its fur.  Through his introduction, which was a series of jokes, we learned that he was born in Brazil, he loved media, his first job was is advertising, and he was shot!  He then talked about his own work.  Some of his slides used text which introduced different categories of his work.

Doris Sung Kim was the most straightforward of the three speakers.  She began with a slide of girl with her out of the window and a personal story, which she then linked to a discussion about the energy that buildings consume.  She showed the special energy sensing metal she uses in her work as a prop and in a video.

Mon. 1/28 Assignment: 15-20 Images

Thank you all for a great class today!  I enjoyed learning about what you all are doing and look forward to working together this semester.

For Monday's class, please select 15-20 images that you would like to use in your PowerPoint presentation about your own work.  You will use these images to give a presentation on Wednesday.  You should be able to talk about each image for about 1 minute.  Think about how to define your philosophy towards your career choice through images.  This is not a research project, but should be based on what you already know.   

Ideally, the images will all be of your work or be photographed or created by you.  However, as "your work" may be in development, you may also use outside source images to talk about your inspirations, ideas, and dreams for the future.  Be sensitive about plagiarism, however (let's talk more about this on Monday!).  If you find images online, be sure to note the URL.

Personal Statement: 1/23 Assignment

In the last class, we discussed personal statements and looked at a few examples on the White Columns website.  In the next class on Wednesday, please address the following questions by doing some brief online research or by speaking with your professors or other professionals you know.

• How and why is the personal statement used in your field?
• How long should it be?
• What should be included in the personal statement?
• What kind of language is used?  Is it formal or casual?  How 'smart' should it be?
• Should a personal statement reflect a consistent style? Can you talk about different types of work in the personal statement?
• Have you written a personal statement before?  Was is successful?

Create a brief post on this blog with a summary of your ideas on the personal statement and links to examples if you found them (Great work Paola!)

I handed out a reading titled Explaining Your Art with suggestions about writing an artist statement.  Please look through this and let us know what you think.  Do you agree with the author?  Any questions?

See you Wednesday!

Introduction - Nichole

Neither Art Nor Part, 2010.  

Nichole van Beek

Hello everyone! Great to meet you today.  Here is a link to my website.  As you know, I am an English teacher, but I am also an artist.  I mainly make paintings, but I also occasionally work three-dimensionally.  I have a studio in Dumbo and hopefully sometime this semester we'll have some time to stop by there and I can show you what I'm working on.

I'm looking forward to working with you this semester! 

Please take a minute to make an introductory post for yourself.  Include a link and an image.  It can be about your work or just something you are interested in.  Don't forget to label the post with your name.

Inventing Abstraction

MacDonald-Wright.  Conception Synchromy, 1914

Saltz on Inventing Abstraction 

This review by Jerry Saltz of the "Inventing Abstraction" show at the MOMA is right on.  He gives a frolicking run through the developments that led to abstraction in Western art from 1910-1925.  His main criticism of the show is that abstraction was not "invented" in 1910:

"Yet even with much to love, there’s something demented, even dangerous about this show... Abstraction wasn’t invented in the West in those years...[It] is there in the caves."

I saw the show this week and was bowled over by so many amazing works of art, but similar to Saltz, I felt that the language framing the show was oversimplified and gave too much credence to White men.  I'm sure these artists were exposed to abstract art that was made in other non-Western cultures.  For example, Picasso owed a great debt to African masks and basic abstracted human forms in African art in general.  The show is definitely worth seeing, but take the history with a grain of Saltz.

Check out this amazing interactive graphic of the artist network:
Inventing Abstraction at MOMA

New words:
demented; synonymous with mad, crazy, insane, lunatic, daft
to take something with a grain of salt; to view something skeptically, to not take something literally