ArtH 3281 Women & Art                                                                                                                                    Fall 2016

 

Annotated Bibliography Project

 

Due:   Thurs. Dec. 15, 10:30 a.m., at the latest; hardcopy to HFA 5 or Humanities Office

          [I’m happy to look at a draft anytime before that date]

 

Worth:   15% of course grade (in combination with your presentation)

 

Topic:   the artist you will be doing a class presentation on

 

Required:   5 primary, or scholarly secondary sources dealing with your artist should be read (or at least skimmed) and then a concise summary/evaluation written in the form of an “annotation.”  One objective of this project is for you to have an increased awareness of the different kinds of art-writing and their varying interpretations;  to that end, your bibliography must have an example from at least 3 different categories below (again, a total of 5 sources should be annotated). If you are having difficulty finding a variety of sources, please let me know in advance of the due date.

 

Source Categories:

 

1) An artist's autobiography/memoirs/letter(s)/interview

          A couple useful items on reserve are:

    - Nemser, Cindy. Art talk: conversations with 15 women artists (NY: Icon

          Editions, 1995).   N 8354.N45 1995

 

     - Slatkin, Wendy. The Voices of Women Artists (Prentice Hall, 1993).

          NX164.W65 S5 1993   [scope: 17th century through 20th century]

 

2) A biography [or biographical essay]

 

3) A monograph [scholarly book about an individual artist’s life and works]

 

4) An exhibition catalogue (either for a solo show, or multi-artist).

 

5) An exhibition review (these only exist for modern/contemporary artists).

 

6) Journal article (scholarly strongly preferred).

 

7) A scholarly essay (published, whether in a book or on the web)

 

8) Website (1 max.)

 

9) Documentary Video (1 max.)

 

 

Format of Annotated Bibliography:

 

 List sources in order by author's last name. Give the complete bibliographic entry, as indicated below. *Please use either MLA or Chicago or Turabian style guides, and include the following information:

 

1) For books:  author/editor; title; publisher & year; total # of pages/illustrations.

 

2) For articles:  author; “title of article”; title of journal; vol. no., year, & pages.

 

[For other formats, see one of the above style guides for how to/what info to include].

 

Below this info, include an evaluative annotation, between 75-125 words in length (for each annotation). The purpose of an annotation is to give another reader a brief overview of the publication, and to help them decide whether or not to consult the work; for this assignment, it is also to challenge your writing skills! The annotation must be written in your own words (very brief quotations are o.k., but use only when crucial). Any plagiarism will result in an automatic “F.”

 *You can turn in a draft of one or more of your annotations in advance if you would like feedback.

 

Include the following in the annotation:

a. Very brief background on the author, if available (see example below)

b. Scope and main purpose(s) of the source.

c. Any bias that you note.

d. Presumed audience and level of reading difficulty. Who does this seem to be directed to,  e.g. children, scholars, general audience?  

e. Quality of illustrations (if applicable).

f. Summary comment, e.g. "A must read!"

 

BE CONCISE, but use complete sentences.  Avoid unnecessary repetition/wordiness, and don’t use “I.”

 

SAMPLE CRITICAL ANNOTATION:

London, Herbert. "Five Myths of the Television Age." Television Quarterly 10(1) Spring 1982:81-89.

          Herbert London, a Dean at New York University and author of several books and articles, explains how television contradicts five ideas commonly believed by most people, using specific examples seen on television, such as the assassination of John Kennedy, to demonstrate his points. His examples contradict such truisms as "seeing is believing", "a picture is worth a thousand words", and "satisfaction is its own reward." London uses logical arguments to support his ideas, and doesn't refer to any previous works on the topic: the article is his personal opinion. His style and vocabulary would make the article of interest to any reader. The article clearly illustrates London's points, but does not explore their implications, leaving the reader with many unanswered questions.   [this is 121 words]

[adapted from http://myrin.ursinus.edu/help/resrch_guides/annotate.htm   [Ursinus College library website; accessed Sept. 8, 2002]