thesis feedback this is a great start i have highlighted the part wher
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Thesis feedback
This is a great start! I have highlighted the part where I think your thesis statement is
and it seems like you have picked specific religious symbolism as a context of the
paper. You did a good job on framing the argument how the Great Temple of Aten's
architectural design incorporates specific Atenist symbolism, reflecting the pharaoh's
religious beliefs and the shift towards Atenism. This might not need to be included in the
thesis paragraph but I would like to know more about the significance of the sun disk
Aten in Atenism. Was it seen as a physical manifestation of the god or a more symbolic
representation? I'm also curious about how open-air altars differed from traditional
Egyptian temple designs and how this choice related to Atenism's focus on the sun. I
would also go beyond "generous use of sunlight." Did the temple's layout or orientation
maximize exposure to the sun at specific times, maybe during rituals? You can consider
these questions when writing other paragraphs of the paper.
Context paragraph feedback
Farhana, I love how you include detailed descriptions of how the temple used the
specific architectural elements to represent certain concepts. One thing I would consider
to revise for the final paper is that it is hard for me to understand what context you're
trying to argue with the information you provided here. I would make a clear connection
how the information you stated in this paragraph relates to the context you've chosen.
Also, please include footnotes as in-text citations!/n Amarna, Egypt. Great Temple of Aten.
(New Kingdom Egypt, circa 1353-1336
BCE)
1. Sunk Relief: Technique for carving religious and royal sculptures that produces shadow
effects.
2. Akhet: A representation of the sun rising between two mountains, it is connected to the
sun god Aten and is linked to solar worship.
3. Solar Alignment: Orientation toward the sun to highlight sun worship.
4. Solar Disk (Aten): depiction of the sun deity, representing the power to provide life, with
rays ending in hands.
5. Amarna Pillar: Special to Amarna are thin columns decorated with open papyrus
designs.
6. Sunshade Temple: An outdoor place of worship devoted to Aten and sunshine.
7. Columned Portico: Column-lined entrance that blends the outside with the hallowed
internal areas.
8. Solar Courtyard: Within the temple premises, an area set aside for prayer in the sun.
9. Nile Mudbrick: Sun-dried bricks made primarily of Nile mud used in Amarna
construction.
10. Royal Tomb Complex: The inventive burial location of Akhenaten reflects changes in
culture and religion.
11. Stela: engraved stone slabs commemorating Aten that signify the reformation of religion.
12. Niche and Buttress Walls: components used in temple construction, both decorative.
13. Processional Way: Ritual route highlighting the relationship between the temple and its
surroundings.
14. Garden of Aten: representing the blessings of the sun deity and fertility
15. Sanctuary of the Aten: Ritual space that has a direct line of communication with Aten. NORTH
CITY
NORTH
PALACE
RIVERSIDE
NORTH
PALACE
0
NORTH
TOMBS
0
KILOMETERS
MILES
LI
Desert Altars
NORTH
SUBURB
View of East/West Axis
GREAT ATEN
TEMPLE
ROYAL ROAD (NORTH)
PALACE
GREAT
NTLE
RIVER
CENTRAL
CITY
SMALL ATEN
TEMPLE
RIVER
TEMPLE
ROYAL WADI
WORKMEN'S
VILLAGE
MAIN CITY
SOUTH
SUBURB
ROYAL ROAD (SOUTH)
SOUTH
TOMBS
FIGURE 1.8. Map of the ancient capital el-Amarna. (Adapted from Silverman et al. 2006) Figure: The Sanctuary of the Great Aten-Temple, Plan and Elevation 口
MST&ES
Figure: The Sanctuary of the Great Aten-Temple, Plan and Elevation Bibliography
Christie, Jessica Joyce. 2016. “Akhenaten's Amarna in New Kingdom Egypt:: Relations of
Landscape and Ideology.” Edited by Jessica Joyce Christie, Jelena Bogdanović, and
Eulogio Guzmán. JSTOR. University Press of Colorado. 2016.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1dfnt2b.7.
"Plan (and Elevation).” n.d. JSTOR. Accessed February 22, 2024.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.11652539.
“Plan (and Elevation).” n.d. JSTOR. Accessed February 22, 2024.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.11652540./n ARCH 225: HISTORY OF WORLD ARCHITECTURE I
Paper Assignment: Historic Architecture and its Context
OVERVIEW
For this paper, you will research and analyze a specific building that falls within the
chronological period covered in class--up to 1500 CE (see list below). The paper is a careful
visual analysis of your building relating it to a specific, well-articulated social or cultural
context. For the purpose of this paper, a context is any specific historical condition or
circumstance immediately affecting the construction of a particular building (see list
below). A context is not an architectural feature of the building, but rather a political, social,
economic, cultural, or technological factor affecting the building from outside it. (N. B. An
architectural style, such as Islamic or Gothic, is NOT a context.)
It is important to choose a context that helps explain as many visual and physical
aspects of your building as possible. For example, a paper on the Byzantine church of H.
Sophia in Constantinople (Istanbul), might choose as a context the patronage of Emperor
Justinian, along with his propaganda of reviving the ancient Roman Empire.
As part of your research, you must learn the approximate dates of construction of
the building in its original build. Use the library resources we discuss in class to guide you
to sources on dates, patronage, political regimes, etc.
You will compose your paper piece by piece over the course of this semester. First,
you will complete eight separate draft components. Then, based on feedback from your
instructor, you will revise your draft components and compile them into your final paper.
1 PAPER DRAFT COMPONENTS
1. Topic and Start-up Bibliography (2 pts; DUE THURS. 2/15 IN CLASS).
a) Choose a building from the following list:
- Amarna, Egypt. Great Temple of Aten (New Kingdom Egypt).
- Susa, Iran. Apadana of Darius (Achaemenid Persia).
- Delphi, Greece. Tholos sanctuary of Athena Pronoaia (Classical Greece).
Rome, Italy. Domus Aurea, octagonal reception hall (Imperial Rome).
- Teotihuacán, Mexico. Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent (Ancient Mexico).
- Ravenna, Italy. Neonian Baptistery (Early Christian).
- Chang'an, China. Great Wild Goose Pagoda (Tang China).
- Conques, France. S. Foy (Romanesque Europe).
- Reims, France. Reims Cathedral (Gothic Europe).
- Djenné, Mali. Great Mosque of Djenné (Islamic sub-Saharan Africa; N. B.
please discuss original build, not the 20th-century restoration).
On the first page of your document, give the name of your building in the following
way:
(City), (Country). (Conventional name of building). (Approximate date range).
b) On a new page, write a bibliography of at least three peer-reviewed journal
articles, books, or entries from a scholarly encyclopedia such as Oxford Art Online
(access through UMD online catalogue). You should search the database JSTOR
(available through the UMD catalogue) for journal articles. N. B. Many books are
available electronically during the COVID-19 through HathiTrust and other
open-access resources--make sure to access the book through the UMD online
catalogue, and then, when you get rerouted to HathiTrust log in again using
your UMD credentials. Your bibliography should rigorously follow correct
Turabian-style bibliography format.¹
¹ https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/turabian/turabian-notes-and-bibliography-citation-
quick-guide.html
2 2. Glossary and Images (4 pts; DUE THURS. 2/22 IN CLASS).
a) On the first page of a new document, write a glossary of fifteen specialized
architectural terms necessary for the description of your building, accompanied by
definitions in your own words. These terms should not be universal vocabulary such
as "massing" or "poché," but terms specific to the style of your building, such as
"flying buttress," "apadana," or "talud-tablero".
b) Starting a new page on the same document, include three images, each with a
caption that reads "Figure [#]. [Name of building]. [Type of image (eg. Plan, Section,
Elevation, Axonometric Drawing, Isometric Drawing, Photograph of Exterior,
Photograph of Interior, Detail]]."
3. Thesis Paragraph (4 pts; DUE THURS. 3/7 IN CLASS).
Starting a new document, write a thesis paragraph, 4 - 7 sentences in length. The
purpose of this paragraph is to launch your research argument, which states a
hypothesis that relates the architectural form of your building to a specific historical
context. A context is a historical condition pertinent to the moment of the building's
construction and directly affecting the form of a particular building (see list below).
Think deeply about the first sentence and how it will hook the reader directly into
the premise of this paper.
Please pick one of the following as a context:
- function of use.
- site (the dimensions, topographical, environmental, or urban character of
the specific location).
- patron (the individual who paid for or ordered the construction of the
building, whether a ruler, a priest, or a wealthy elite).
- political regime.
-building technology.
3 - specific religious symbolism (only choose this if your sources know the
specific symbolism; do not write a paper about how a Gothic Cathedral is
vaguely religious).
N. B. The style/building culture (Roman, Gothic, etc.) of your building is
NOT a suitable context, as it refers to the general character of
architecture during the time period rather than a condition affecting
your particular building. Please do not write a paper explaining that a
building has Gothic features because it is in the Gothic style.
4. Annotated Bibliography (4 pts; DUE THURS. 3/14 IN CLASS).
The purpose of this assignment is to take research notes based on your reading and
consolidate them in one document. Duplicate your Bibliography document as a new
file and rename it "Annotated Bibliography." Under each bibliographic entry, take
research notes based on your reading of that source, using correct Turabian style
footnotes. DO NOT COPY sentences directly from your sources. Write them as short,
simple notes in your own words, citing the source from which the information for
each note comes. Later, you will copy-and-paste these notes (along with their
footnotes) into your paper and mold them into a cohesive argument.
5. Context Paragraph (4 pts; DUE THURS. 3/28 IN CLASS).
In a new document, write a paragraph detailing the context you have chosen for
your paper and how it relates to the construction of the building. This paragraph
should synthesize your research notes to tell the specific story that is your context.
Give any relevant events and trends directly relevant to the context, as well as
contemporaneous building events of your building (founding, dedication, building
campaigns, etc.). This paragraph may make passing reference to more recent
restorations of your building but should not dwell on this for any more than two
sentences. This paragraph is about the original construction of your building and
how your context directly affected it.
4 6. Typological Comparison Paragraph (4 pts; DUE THURS. 4/4 IN CLASS).
In a new document, write a paragraph comparing your building to other examples
from the same building culture (eg. Gothic) that belong to the same formal typology
(eg. Early Christian octagonal Baptistery). Name and define the typology using
architectural vocabulary, and describe the features that define your building as part
of the typology and those that expand on or depart from the typology. What do these
similarities and differences from other examples of the typology do to help your
building address the context you have chosen to write about?
7. Thick Description (4 pts; DUE THURS. 4/18 IN CLASS).
In a new document, write a 3-to-4-paragraph thick description focusing on the
particular ways that the architecture of your building responds to the context you
have chosen to write about. As opposed to a thin description, a thick description
explains the deeper rationale behind architectural choices. Start your description at
the general level (plan, massing, elevations, or the total form of the voids), and zero
in on details that hammer home your point.
8. Conclusion Paragraph (4 pts; DUE THURS. 4/25 IN CLASS).
In a new document, write a paragraph that synthesizes the main points of your thick
description and reinforces their relationship to the context. Just as your
introduction opened with a hook, the last sentence of your conclusion should be
short and punchy, and ring with a sense of finality.
5