Assignment 2: Research Project
(Preliminary Bibliography and Critical Essay)

Assignment Objectives

For this assignment, your primary objective is to produce an essay which surveys a cross-section of the literature on a single form of artistic expression related to the third unit on the course syllabus titled BETWEEN AND BEYOND BOUNDARIES (winter term). As you work your way through the assignment, you’ll become familiar with one of these forms before we reach this unit.

Once you’ve selected a form to work with, you will need to compare and contrast different points of view on, or different approaches to, that form. These points of view and approaches might be expressed by a range of thinkers including but not necessarily limited to critics, academics, philosophers, and artists. Begin by asking yourself: “How and what do the individuals whose words I’ve chosen to work with think about the form of artistic expression I’ve selected?” Imagine a dialogue between them.

The emphasis is on research and the critical interpretation of the material you discover through the research process. Thus, the assignment also gives you the opportunity to:

  • Develop some basic library research skills.
  • Learn that interpretation is subjective and that multiple viewpoints on a given subject are both common and desirable in broadening our understanding of artistic activity and expression.
  • Integrate your own views into an established historical framework.

Forms of Artistic Expression

  • Digital Media
  • Happenings
  • Installation
  • Intermedia
  • Performance Art
  • Soundscape

Preparation

Before you select the form you wish to work with, you will need to have some sense of what each one entails. I will introduce them in class 23/11/06. In the meantime, you may choose to begin locating and reading a summary outline of the forms that you think might interest you. You can find this type of outline in general reference books available in Scott Library, and/or on Yorkline. The internet may also be helpful at this stage. Don’t be shy about asking a reference librarian to assist you. Several of the forms are outlined in the Grove Dictionary of Art Online.

Preliminary Bibliography

Once you have decided which form you will work with, compile a preliminary bibliography of source material. Depending on the form you select, your preliminary bibliography might include books, articles, exhibition catalogues, and/or performance records (including audio, video, and film). It must include at least two articles from scholarly journals and one non-print source.

In compiling this material, be sure to search widely; make use of the periodical indices as well as catalogues for other research libraries in the city such as those at the University of Toronto and the Toronto Reference Library. (Both catalogues are available through Yorkline.) The number of entries on your preliminary bibliography will vary depending on the form you are researching and the languages you can read. (Do not include any works written in languages with which you are not familiar.)

To provide you with the research tools you need to negotiate the library system and locate useful material, we will be joined in class on 23/11/06 by Adam Taves, Assistant Librarian, Scott Library. His presentation will make this portion of the assignment significantly more manageable and, hopefully, more enjoyable.

In addition, please visit the Library Research Roadmap website, which will serve as a reminder on how to access research material.

All bibliographic entries must be formatted in accord with:

Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6th ed. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 2003.

This book is available in the Reference section of Scott Library; it is also on reserve. If you can’t access the 6th edition, any other recent edition will do.

Note: The preliminary bibliography should be accompanied by a xerox copy of the first page of any journal article on your bibliography. Please note that journal articles are available both electronically online and in hard copy in the library stacks. Because I want to be sure that you know how to find journals in the stacks, the copy you make must be taken from there. A print of the first page of an electronic journal is not acceptable.

Refining Your Project

Once you have prepared your preliminary bibliography on one of the forms of artistic expression, review in more detail a range of the material you have located and then select three or four sources which represent different points of view or take different approaches to defining the form. These sources will form the nucleus of your essay and should be studied carefully to ensure that you are conversant with their details. In making your selection, you’ll need to recognize that not all sources will necessarily state a given viewpoint or approach in an obvious manner; some reading between the lines may be necessary on your part.

When selecting the sources on which you will concentrate, include at least one journal article and, where possible, one non-print source. Also, try to select sources which have been published or released over a span of years. Finally, while you may well list internet sources on your preliminary bibliography, proceed with caution if you decide to work further with such sources because they are often derivative and/or too general to be useful within the context of this assignment. For this reason, please limit yourself to one internet source only.

Two Tips

  • Is the material you’ve encountered too general to set up a comparison of views? If so, this likely means that you have been restricting your search to survey-type books. Be sure to seek out articles and catalogue essays which tend to be more focused and/or opinionative.
  • One way of determining the content of a given book or article without reading the entire text is to review the abstract provided by some arts indexes available through Yorkline. This technique should be used to help you narrow down the list of sources you will work with; it is not a substitute for the careful study of that smaller group of sources you will address in your essay.

Critical Essay

In planning and then writing your essay, please include the following:

  • An introduction in which you outline the aim(s) of your essay. (As with Assignment 1, the more interest-catching your introduction, the better.)
  • A section in which you introduce broadly the form of artistic expression under consideration. Tell the reader something about the form’s origins and basic characteristics, for example. This is where more general works on the form will be most helpful.
  • A section in which introduce explicitly the specific sources you are working with before illuminating for your reader the positions they represent.
  • An analysis of the some of the ways in which the form of artistic expression has been viewed or interpreted, noting both patterns of continuity and changes of attitude. Cite specific projects which belong to the form to illustrate the points you want to make.
  • Your response to these views and interpretations with respect to the course content and your perspective(s) on it. This means you will need to address whether any of the sources you study consider the form you’ve selected in terms of our theme of interdisciplinarity and the related term, hybridity. Do they even address interdisciplinarity/hybridity? If so, how do they frame it? Do they include either of these terms or are synonyms employed?
  • A conclusion which sums up the key points of your essay without simply reiterating them. Instead, try to integrate these points with your own final thoughts on the material.

Presentation Format

As with Assignment 1, the essay should be typed (10- or 12-point font) and double-spaced on 8.5 x 11" inch paper with 1" margins on all four sides. But because this is a more substantial assignment, aim for about 1500 words or 6 pages in length. Moreover, the essay should be more formally written than your review; nonetheless, writing in the first person may in certain sections be appropriate — especially when you offer your own opinion.

Before you begin writing, you should review carefully the comments which your TA attached to your submission for Assignment 1 so that you can improve the quality of your writing and avoid repeating errors in form and/or organization.

Each submission must include a title page (with the course name and number, my name, your name and student number, your tutor’s name, and your section and tutorial number.) All pages following the title page must be numbered. If you decide to augment your submission with visual material, it must be cleanly presented and clearly labelled. The source(s) must also be documented.

Please ensure that you document your text, using footnotes or endnotes, so that you avoid plagiarism. (To review the definition of plagiarism, see the section on the syllabus titled ACADEMIC HONESTY.) Use the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers as your guide for documentation. Your essay must be submitted with a bibliography of all sources you cited in your essay.

Reminder: Your essay should be proof read for grammar and spelling, preferably be someone other than you, so that you submit error-free and polished work. As usual, do not simply rely on the spell-check feature on your computer!

Note: Ensure that you keep a copy of your essay; it is your responsibility to replace it in the unlikely circumstance that it goes astray.

Due Dates

This assignment will be submitted in tutorial in two sections.

Preliminary Bibliography: 04/01/07.
Critical Essay: 25/01/07.

Reminder: Late preliminary bibliographies and/or essays will not be accepted except under the circumstances outlined on the syllabus.