Essay Guide Lines
Students will write a brief essay due at the end of each unit. Students will choose one
piece of art (either visual, musical, a film, or an example of architecture- depending on
the unit) that was presented in the unit either in a text, or video. After selecting the
piece of art to write about, the student will craft an essay that addresses the points
below. Essays will be due on the date marked on the schedule. The essay must be
between 500 and 800 words long (please do not write more than 600 words) and use
correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Each essay is worth a possible 20 points.
Please see the Mini Essay rubric below for more details as to how you will be graded.
Mini essays cannot be submitted after the due date for any reason. A MISSED
ESSAY CANNOT BE MADE UP.
Note that each essay will be reviewed via plagiarism checking software including
Winston AI and Safe Assign. Essays found to be either entirely or even partially
written by someone (or something) other than the student will receive a failing grade.
Additional assignments submitted using AI will incur consequences including failing
the course and being reported to the Dean of Students. Please see the section on
Academic Honesty in the syllabus.
Step 1: Choose one piece of visual art (my visual art topic is Mona Lisa) discussed in
the readings or videos from this unit.
Step 2: Write a brief summary (2-3 sentences) that quickly identifies and describes the
piece you chose. This could include when the piece was created, who
made/wrote/designed it, and what style it follows.
Step 3: This should be the longest section of your mini essay. Address one of the
following prompts (either 1, 2, or 3) to answer/explore in this next section of your
essay:
What does the piece say about the culture from which it comes? What values are
expressed in the work? Why are those the values of the community/culture? (You may
need to do a little additional historical research for this one). Include a discussion of
Dracula and Einstein's Theory of Relativity as part of your discussion.
What steps were involved in the creative process in terms of creating this piece? What
were the creator’s goals or intent with the piece? Include a discussion of Dracula
and Einstein's Theory of Relativity as part of your discussion.
What are the elements (think color, line, form, etc. here) that the piece is composed
of? How do those elements work together to form a whole, and how do those elements
affect our perception of the work/piece? Include a discussion of Dracula and Einstein's
Theory of Relativity as part of your discussion.
As you are composing this part of the essay, be sure to include at least two direct,
word-for-word quotes from the texts into your essay. Use quotation marks- “â€
around the quotes to show that they come from another source and not you. At the end of the quote, after the end-quote mark, insert a parenthetical citation like this -
(last name of author you are quoting). So if you were quoting me, it would look like
this- “As you are composing this part of the essay, be sure to include at least two
direct, word-for-word quotes from the texts into your essay.†(Clifford). The quotes
you use should be inserted in places in your essay that make sense and that support the
ideas you are trying to communicate. Just inserting two random quotes into the essay
somewhere will not fulfill the requirement.
Step 4: Provide a description of what you feel when confronted with the piece you
chose. Did it challenge you in any way? Did it make you uncomfortable, puzzled, or
curious? Did you feel any positive emotions like excitement or familiarity? These are
just a few emotions to consider, however, don’t feel limited by them. Consider
even the most subtle emotions you experienced while looking at the work you chose
for this essay. Identify and explain the emotions you experienced in some depth and
detail. Include a discussion of Dracula and Einstein's Theory of Relativity as part of
your discussion.
Step 5: Enter the number of words you typed for this essay at the bottom/end of the
document. Use word-processing software or other method to do this. Remember, you
must write between 500 and 800 words not counting any header or title.
