On your own, view the portrait of Mr. and Mrs. Alson Smith in the lobby of the library. Spend at least a half hour viewing the portrait and taking notes.

Your paper is to be 2 pages long, typed, double-spaced Times Roman, GOOGLE DOC, with in-text citations and a works cited page. Illustrations are not necessary unless you wish to point out details.

THEMES (approximately one per page, granted that you will have an introduction and conclusion):

Symbolism (may include but not limited to pose, gesture, significant details, significant background, significant objects; may also include comparisons with other professional portraits by Bradley Stevens following a similar “academic” prototype (such as a university president or benefactor).

Biographical (sitter and artist)

Artistic (may include but not limited to elements of art, elements of composition, overall vividness (brushwork, light, color contrast, “popping out” with a 3-D effect)–may also include comparisons with other works by Bradley Stevens.

Your works cited list must include at least two sites from BB, SU Collections and Related Materials. USE THE FIRST FOUR SITES IN SU COLLECTIONS AND RELATED MATERIALS TO ACCESS INFORMATION ABOUT THE ARTIST AND MR. SMITH, OR DR. DAVIS. All closely paraphrased or quoted passages must include in-text citations. MLA format preferred.

SUGGESTION: MAKE A WRITING CENTER APPT ASAP FOR HELP IN THE BEGINNING, MIDDLE AND END OF YOUR PAPER. I DO NOT WANT TO SEE:

HALF-BAKED IDEAS

POOR WRITING (AUTOMATIC C OR LOWER)

ERRORS IN CITATION/WORKS CITED FORM

GRADING:

30% per topic, IF writing is well thought out with few errors and typos. All writing needs to be justified by the painting itself or your research.

Additional 10%: Giving it more than “the college try”: being creative, thinking deeply, and writing up to what you currently believe are Dr. Kiefer’s standards. Going deeper than fulfilling requirements (for example, how does Stevens “take us” through the painting to indicate key symbols? How might you “diagram” his painting to indicate the directions he wishes you to take and the pauses he wishes you to make?)

Immediate 75 with no further reading: poor organization, repetitions and run-ons, sloppy writing, sloppy form and spelling or any other clue that makes me believe you wrote this overnight in one draft.

Immediate 0 for any suspected plagiarism (outside source or another student)