FAS 201 Final Project Guidelines and Rubric

FAS 201 Final Project Guidelines and Rubric Overview Throughout history, humans have represented certain shared themes visually and through the written word. The purpose of this final project is to explore the representation of such shared themes across time and culture. You will consider the persistence of such themes through the ages. To do this, you will employ a comparative approach. A primary method in the study of the humanities, a comparative approach allows us to reflect on a singular element and observe both the similarities and the differences. In employing a comparative approach, we begin to ask the questions necessary to come to an understanding of the objects being compared and the conditions/circumstances of their creation. We learn that each object is a product of its environment and its social, historical, and cultural climate. The final project for this course is the creation of an essay. You will utilize the comparative approach to study two works of art, one visual and one literary, and a common theme they share. This will help you come to an understanding of the meaning conveyed in these works. Finally, you will locate the shared theme in contemporary culture, whether in a work of art, a work of literature, a film, a marketing campaign, or a social construct (e.g., reality television or social media). Doing this will demonstrate how certain themes resonate with various cultures, and it will highlight the persistence of shared themes across time. The project is divided into two milestones, which will be submitted at different points in the course to scaffold learning and ensure a quality final submission. These milestones will be submitted in Modules Three and Five. The completed final project will be submitted in Module Seven. In this assignment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course outcomes:  Illustrate the interplay between creative endeavor and culture for their reciprocal influences  Utilize appropriate vocabulary for conducting effective visual and contextual analyses of art, from the prehistoric era through the Renaissance  Draw parallels between the values and concepts represented in the artwork studied to those of contemporary culture  Analyze the relationship between cultural artifacts and historical themes and settings utilizing critical and comparative thinking skills Prompt The purpose of this project is to evaluate your knowledge of the skills necessary for performing a visual and contextual analysis of two works, one visual and one literary, and to measure your application of these techniques as you relate the works chosen to real-world relevance, popular culture, ideas, or concepts. Refer to this list of suggested works of art and their shared themes from which to choose a topic for your essay. You will be required to identify the shared theme in the works you choose. You will develop an essay that explores how each presents the theme, both in terms of similarities and differences. Finally, you will be required to identify a modern or contemporary representation of that theme in popular culture and discuss how the contemporary example reflects the influence of those that came before it. Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed: I. Introduction A. For each work, identify the author/artist, the name or title of the work, the date, the cultural origin or period of creation, and the current location or physical setting. B. What is your main argument/idea about the relationship between your selected works and their shared theme? II. Historical Background A. What is the relationship between each of your chosen works and culture of origin? B. How did cultural traditions and ideologies influence/shape the two works you have selected? Use examples to support your response. III. Similarities/Differences A. In what similar ways do your selected artist and author approach the shared theme found in their respective works? Provide specific examples to support your response. B. In what different ways do your selected artist and author approach the shared theme found in their respective works? Provide specific examples to support your response. C. How does each work express its specific cultural and historical setting? Provide specific examples to support your response. D. How have the similarities and differences you identified come to represent the culture in which these works were created? Provide specific examples to support your response. IV. Modern Influence A. What impacts or influence have your two selected works had on a modern or contemporary expression of the identified shared theme? B. How has each work continued to influence or define contemporary culture? Use examples to support your response. C. What can we learn today from the works selected and their culture, taking into consideration the idea that history tends to repeat itself? Provide specific examples to support your response. D. Identify examples of modern and contemporary events or ideals that echo the theme of the works you have selected to discuss. Provide a rationale for your choices. For example, Ajax and Achilles Playing a Dice Game illustrates two soldiers as they compete in a dice game and mentally prepare for war. Based on this, one could ask, “How do we prepare today’s military for battle both physically and mentally?” E. How have the works you selected come to serve as archetypes for the theme you have identified as a commonality? Provide examples to support your response. F. What parallels do you see between the contemporary world and the culture that produced the works you selected? V. Conclusion Your conclusion should reiterate your thesis and summarize the main arguments of your essay concerning the similarities and differences between the two works of your choice and their relevance today. Milestones Milestone One: Draft of Introduction (Section I) In Module Three, you will submit a draft of your final essay’s introduction. First, choose a pair of works from the list of suggested comparisons. For each work, identify the author/artist, the name or title of the work, the date, the cultural origin or period of creation, and the current location or physical setting. Then formulate an argument or idea about the relationship between these works and their shared theme. You may think of this as the thesis statement, used to guide the direction of your essay. The components of this milestone will serve as the skeletal framework of your essay and help you develop the rest of the required elements. This milestone will be graded with the Milestone One Rubric. Milestone Two: Rough Draft (Sections I, II, III, and IV) In Module Five, you will submit a rough draft of your essay. Incorporate Milestone One with the rest of the required elements from the final project document in the form of a rough draft of your essay. (This submission will not include your conclusion, which you will submit as part of your final project in Module Seven.) Use the feedback given on Milestone One to form a thorough introduction. This draft should be as detailed as possible, addressing each of the following major headings: Introduction, Historical Background, Similarities/Differences, and Modern Influence. This milestone will be graded with the Milestone Two Rubric. Final Project Submission: Essay In Module Seven, you will submit your essay. For this submission, you will develop your conclusion (Section V) and combine it with Sections I through IV, revised to incorporate feedback gained throughout the course. You will also apply knowledge you gained throughout the course, including feedback from the discussion assignments and any relevant and valuable feedback you may have gained from your peers’ posts and/or responses. This submission will be graded with the Final Project Rubric. Final Project Rubric Guidelines for Submission: Your essay should be 3 to 5 pages in length (in addition to a cover page and references) and should use double spacing, one-inch margins, and 12-point Times New Roman font. It should include at least 4 scholarly sources, cited in MLA format. Instructor Feedback: This activity uses an integrated rubric in Blackboard. Students can view instructor feedback in the Grade Center. For more information, review these instructions. Critical Elements Exemplary Proficient Needs Improvement Not Evident Value Introduction: Author/Artist Comprehensively identifies both works, including the author/artist, name or title, date/period, and the cultural location or physical setting (100%) Identifies both works, but response does not cover all elements specified in the prompt (55%) Does not identify both works (0%) 7.92 Introduction: Argument/Idea Meets “Proficient” criteria and makes especially clear connections between the main argument/idea, the selected works, and the chosen theme (100%) Discusses the main argument/idea about the relationship between selected works and the chosen theme (85%) Discusses the main argument/idea about the relationship between selected works and the chosen theme, but discussion is cursory or illogical (55%) Does not discuss the main argument/idea about the relationship between the selected works and the chosen theme (0%) 7.92 Historical Background: Relationship Meets “Proficient” criteria and makes especially clear connections between each chosen work and its respective culture or origin (100%) Explains the relationship between each chosen work and its respective culture or origin (85%) Explains the relationship between each chosen work and its respective culture or origin, but explanation is cursory or contains inaccuracies (55%) Does not explain the relationship between each chosen work and its respective culture or origin (0%) 7.92 Historical Background: Influence/Shape Meets “Proficient” criteria and demonstrates a complex grasp of how each work was influenced by its respective culture (100%) Determines how each respective culture’s traditions and ideologies influenced/shaped the chosen works, using examples to support response (85%) Determines how each respective culture’s traditions and ideologies influenced/shaped the chosen works, but determination is cursory or illogical or does not use examples to support response (55%) Does not determine how each respective culture’s traditions and ideologies influenced/shaped the chosen works (0%) 7.92 Similarities/Differences: Similar Meets “Proficient” criteria, and examples demonstrate a sophisticated awareness of how the theme was approached similarly by the writer and artist (100%) Discusses the similarities in the ways the selected artist and author approached the shared theme found in their respective work, providing specific examples to support response (85%) Discusses the similarities in the ways the selected artist and author approached the shared theme found in their respective work, but discussion is cursory, contains inaccuracies, or does not provide examples to support response (55%) Does not discuss the similarities in the ways the selected artist and author approached the shared theme found in their respective work (0%) 7.92 Similarities/Differences: Different Meets “Proficient” criteria, and examples demonstrate a sophisticated awareness of how the theme was approached differently by the artist and author (100%) Discusses the differences in the ways the selected artist and author approached the shared theme found in their respective work, providing specific examples to support response (85%) Discusses the differences in the ways the selected artist and author approached the shared theme found in their respective work, but discussion is cursory, contains inaccuracies, or does not provide examples to support response (55%) Does not discuss the differences in the ways the selected artist and author approached the shared theme found in their respective work (0%) 7.92 Similarities/Differences: Express Meets “Proficient” criteria, and examples illustrate clear connections between each work and its cultural and historical setting (100%) Determines how each selected work expresses its specific cultural and historical setting, providing specific examples to support response (85%) Determines how each selected work expresses its specific cultural and historical setting, but determination is cursory or illogical or does not provide specific examples to support response (55%) Does not determine how each selected work expresses its specific cultural and historical setting (0%) 7.92 Similarities/Differences: Represent Meets “Proficient” criteria, and examples offer keen insight into how the identified similarities and differences now represent the respective cultures (100%) Determines how the similarities and differences identified have come to represent the respective cultures, providing specific examples to support response (85%) Determines how the similarities and differences identified have come to represent the respective cultures, but determination is cursory or illogical or does not provide examples to support response (55%) Does not determine how the similarities and differences identified have come to represent the respective cultures (0%) 7.92 Modern Influence: Expression Meets “Proficient” criteria and makes especially clear connections between the selected works and the expression of the shared theme (100%) Discusses the impacts or influence the two selected works have had on a modern or contemporary expression of the identified shared theme (85%) Discusses the impacts or influence the two selected works have had on a modern or contemporary expression of the identified shared theme, but discussion is cursory, lacks clarity, or contains inaccuracies (55%) Does not discuss the impacts or influence the two selected works have had on a modern or contemporary expression of the identified shared theme (0%) 3.96 Modern Influence: Influence or Define Meets “Proficient” criteria and demonstrates a sophisticated awareness of the ongoing influence of the selected works (100%) Determines how the work of each respective creator continues to influence or define contemporary culture, using examples to support response (85%) Determines how the work of each respective creator continues to influence or define contemporary culture, but determination is cursory or illogical or does not use examples to support response (55%) Does not determine how the work of each respective creator continues to influence or define contemporary culture (0%) 7.92 Modern Influence: Learn Meets “Proficient” criteria and examples provided demonstrate a sophisticated awareness of the value of the selected works (100%) Discusses what can be learned today from the works selected and their specific cultures, providing examples to support response (85%) Discusses what can be learned today from the works selected and their specific cultures, but discussion is cursory, lacks clarity, contains inaccuracies, or does not provide examples to support response (55%) Does not discuss what can be learned today from the works selected and their specific cultures (0%) 3.96 Modern Influence: Echo Meets “Proficient” criteria, and rationale shows keen insight into how the theme continues to be echoed both in modern and contemporary examples (100%) Identifies examples of modern and contemporary events or ideals that echo the theme of the selected works and provides a rationale for choices (85%) Identifies examples of modern and contemporary events or ideals that echo the theme of the selected works, but not all examples accurately reflect the theme, or there is no rationale for choices (55%) Does not identify examples of modern and contemporary events or ideals that echo the theme of the selected works (0%) 3.96 Modern Influence: Archetypes Meets “Proficient” criteria, and examples are particularly clear and relevant for supporting explanation (100%) Explains how the works selected have come to serve as archetypes for the common identified theme, providing examples to support response (85%) Explains how the works selected have come to serve as archetypes for the common identified theme, but explanation is cursory, lacks clarity, contains inaccuracies, or does not provide examples to support response (55%) Does not explain how the works selected have come to serve as archetypes for the common identified theme (0%) 3.96 Modern Influence: Parallels Meets “Proficient” criteria and makes especially clear connections between the contemporary world and the cultures that produced the works (100%) Discusses parallels between the contemporary world and those cultures that produced the selected works (85%) Discusses parallels between the contemporary world and those cultures that produced the selected works, but discussion is cursory, or comparisons made are illogical (55%) Does not discuss parallels between the contemporary world and those cultures that produced the selected works (0%) 3.96 Conclusion Meets “Proficient” criteria and demonstrates a sophisticated ability to synthesize the main points and prove the thesis (100%) Reiterates thesis and summarizes the main arguments of the essay concerning the similarities and differences between the two works and their relevance today (85%) Reiterates thesis and summarizes the main arguments of the essay concerning the similarities and differences between the two works and their relevance today, but summary lacks clarity or contains inaccuracies (55%) Does not reiterate thesis and summarize the main arguments of the essay concerning the similarities and differences between the two works and their relevance today (0%) 3.96 Articulation of Response Submission is free of errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, and organization and is presented in a professional and easy to read format (100%) Submission has no major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization (85%) Submission has major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that negatively impact readability and articulation of main ideas (55%) Submission has critical errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that prevent understanding of ideas (0%) 4.96 Total 100%