Visual Literacy : Writing about Art

PART I. ELEMENTS OF VISUAL ANALYSIS
Chapter 1 Responding to Art: Visual Literacy and the Practice of Writing

Writing Assignment: Journal Responses to a Work of Art
Visual Memory and Visual Literacy
Observations and Questions
The Art History Context
Intertextuality
The Comparative Method
Medium
Genre
Iconography
Moving from Observation to Interpretation
Research and Connoisseurship

WORKS CITED AND SUGGESTED READING
Chapter 2 "Intelligent Seeing": Description and Analysis of Form

Writing Assignment: Formal Analysis of a Work of Art
The Visual Elements
Line, Shape, Mass and Volume
Color and Value
Texture
Spatial Depth, Perspective, and Scale
Time and Motion
Principles of Design
Unity and Variety
Balance
Scale and Proportion
Rhythm, Movement and Tension
Using Description to Support a Thesis
Writing Formal Analyses
Reviewing and Revising Your Impressions

WORKS CITED AND SUGGESTED READING
Chapter 3 On Site: Art and Architecture in Social Contexts

Writing Assignment: Contextual Analysis of a Work of Art
Site as Context: The Rock Garden at Ryoan-ji
Subject Matter, Function, and Form: The Beaune Altarpiece
Historical Context: Main Entrance and Floorplan,
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Patrons, Performers, and Audience: A Mende Helmet Mask

WORKS CITED AND SUGGESTED READING
Chapter 4 The Museum as Context: Display and Representation

Writing Assignment: Analysis of an Exhibition
Fine Art Display: A Mende Mask at the Metropolitan Museum
Formalist Display: Bamana Masks at the Barnes Foundation
Updated Ethnographic Display: A Baule Mask at the Museum for African Art
Artist's Installation: Fred Wilson's Installation at the Seattle Art Museum
Continuing Controversies
Writing Assignment: Position Paper on a Current Museum Controversy
What Is Exhibited?
Who Is Represented?
Who Owns the Object?

WORKS CITED AND SUGGESTED READING
CONCLUSIONS TO PART I: ELEMENTS OF VISUAL ANALYSIS
PART II. ESSAY WRITING STRATEGIES
Chapter 5 Planning and Developing an Essay

Case Study: Contextual Analysis of a Work of Art
Recording Impressions
Freewriting
Browsing: Conducting Preliminary Research
Narrowing the Topic and Formulating a Thesis
Outlining: Mapping Your Route through the Essay
Drafting the Essay
Composing an Introduction
Developing Conclusions
Student Essay: "Reading a Mughal Miniature," by Mahwash Shoaib (MLA documentation style)
Incorporating Research in Your Essay

Chapter 6 Structuring an Essay

Case Study: Formal Analysis and Comparison/Contrast
Student Essay: "The Private Made Public: Goya's Josefa Castilla Portugal de Garcini y Wanabrok," by Baz Dreisinger (Chicago Manual documentation style)
Linking with Transitional Words and Phrases
Structuring with Topic Sentences
Organizing Description and Formal Analysis
Structuring Comparison/Contrast
Unifying Verb Tense
Unifying Tone and Diction

Chapter 7 Revising an Essay

Case Study: Exhibition Catalogue (A Group Project)
Re-examining the Thesis
Rewriting Paragraphs
Revising the Essay Structure
Reviewing Your Use of Sources
Revisiting Sentences

Chapter 8 Editing an Essay: Grammar, Punctuation, Usage

Editing for Consistency
Subject/Pronoun Agreement
Subject/Verb Agreement
Parallel Structure
Reviewing Word Order
Misplaced Modifiers
Dangling Modifiers
Split Infinitives
Punctuation Problems and Solutions
Apostrophe for Possessives
Misused Commas
Usage: Commonly Confused Words
Manuscript Mechanics, from The Art Bulletin Style Guide
Titles
Numerals
Capitalization
Spelling and Hyphenation
Abbreviations
Italics
Quotations
Usage
A Note on Captions

CONCLUSIONS TO PART II: ESSAY WRITING STRATEGIES
PART III. RESEARCH AND CRITICAL METHODS
Chapter 9 Researching and Documenting an Essay

Case Study: Reception History of a Work of Art
Online Research
Visiting the Public Library Online
Primary and Secondary Sources
A Word of Caution on Using Internet Sources
Museum Web Sites
Using the Online Catalog in Your School Library
Searching the Stacks
Consulting Art Periodical Indices
The Art Index and the BHA
Locating Articles and Taking Notes
General Reference Works
Visiting Specialized Libraries
Documenting Sources
What to Document
Why and How to Document
Chicago Manual of Style Format
Footnotes and Endnotes
Footnote Citations for Books, Dissertations, and Theses
Footnote Citations for Articles in Journals and Newspapers
Footnote Citations for Interviews, Correspondence, and Internet Sources
Bibliography or Works Cited
Bibliographic Citations for Books, Dissertations, and Theses
Bibliographic Citations for Articles in Journals and Newspapers
Bibliographic Citations for E-Mail and Internet Sources
Art Bulletin Style
Text References, Footnotes, and Frequently Cited Sources
MLA Style

Chapter 10 Critical Perspectives: On Women of Algiers in Their Apartment by Eugène Delacroix

Case Study: Critical Approaches to a Work of Art Biographical Studies
From "The Life and Work of Eugène Delacroix," by Charles Baudelaire
Psychoanalytic Approaches
Formalism
From Eugène Delacroix, by Barthélémy Jobert
The Social History of Art
Marxist Theory
"About Critical Reception: Women of Algiers," by Véronique Chagnon-Burke
Gender Studies, Feminist Criticism, Gay and Lesbian Studies, and Queer Theory
Postcolonial Theory
'Passivity and Politics in Delacroix's Women of Algiers," by Joan DelPlato
Structuralism, Semiotic Theory, and Iconographic Analysis
Poststructuralism
Pablo Picasso's Women of Algiers, After Delacroix
Assia Djebar's Women of Algiers in Their Apartment
Houria Niati's No to Torture
Shirin Neshat's Rapture

WORKS CITED AND SUGGESTED READING
CONCLUSIONS TO PART III: RESEARCH AND CRITICAL METHODS