The document provides several prompts for students to respond to using sources on various artistic styles and periods. The prompts ask students to analyze works from the Baroque era, Classical era, Romantic era, and modern works. They are asked to compare features of works from different eras and discuss the purpose and impact of art in different historical contexts.

1. Baroque Style"
Please respond to
one (1)
of the following,
using sources under the Explore heading
as the basis of your response:
Listen to one (1) composition that demonstrates the qualities of
the Baroque musical style. It may be from the Websites below
or from this week’s Music Folder. Identify your choice, and
describe it by relating key terms from the textbook to your
selection. Explain what you like or admire about the work.
Compare it to a modern soundtrack or song that evokes a similar
mood.
Select two (2) Baroque style paintings from the Websites below
that no other student has selected. Identify each as to artist,
date, and title or description. From the summaries of the
Baroque style’s features in our class text, identify specific key
aspects of each painting that fit the Baroque style. Explain why
you selected each and what you like or dislike about it.
Compare this style to a modern film, type of film, or to a
modern situation.
"The Arts and Royalty; Philosophers Debate Politics"
Please respond to
one (1)
of the following,
using sources under the Explore heading
as the basis of your response:
In this week’s readings, a dispute in the French royal court is

2. described about whether Poussin or Rubens was the better
painter. Take a painting by each, either from our book or a
Website below, and compare them and explain which you
prefer. There is another conflict between the playwright Moliere
and a well-born Parisian; Louis XIV stepped in. Explain how
Louis XIV used the various arts and his motives for doing so.
Identify one (1) example of a modern political leader
approaching the arts this way.
The philosophers Thomas Hobbes and John Locke disagreed on
the understanding of political authority, with Locke taking what
is commonly called the “liberal” view. Choose a side (be brave
perhaps; take a side you actually disagree with). Using the
writings of each given in our class text or at the Websites
below, make your case for the side you chose and against the
other side. Identify one (1) modern situation in the world where
these issues are significant.
"Classical Music; Early Abolitionist Art and Literature"
Please respond to
one (1)
of the following,
using sources under the Explore heading
as the basis of your response:
Listen to one (1) composition (for a symphony) by Haydn or
Mozart, either at the Websites below or in this week's Music
Folder. Identify the work that you have chosen, and describe the
way in which the composition expresses the specific qualities of
the Classical music style. Use the key terms from the textbook
that are related to that particular music style, and explain what
you like or admire about the work. Compare it to a specific
modern musical work for which you might use the term
"classic" or "classical".

3. Explain whether you think an autobiographical or fictional
account by a slave (such as Phillis Wheatley and Olaudah
Equiano) is more persuasive than a biographical or fictional
account by a white author (such as John Gabriel Stedman or
Aphra Behn). Explain whether you believe the representations
of slavery in the visual arts (such as William Blake’s
illustrations, William Hackwood’s cameo, or John Singleton
Copley’s painting) were more compelling and convincing of the
injustices of slavery than the literary representations already
mentioned. In your explanations, use specific examples and
consider both audience and the content and nature of the w ork.
Identify the literary or art form in modern times that you think
is most effective at depicting injustice.
"Intrusions in Asia; Opera and Society and a Dilemma"
Please respond to
one (1)
of the following,
using sources under the Explore heading
as the basis of your response:
Describe two (2) examples of how either black slaves or white
abolitionists used literature or the visual arts as a form of
protest against slavery. Compare this to a modern example of
art used for social protest.
Describe the key motives involved in the increased presence of
Westerners in India, China, and Japan in the 1700s and 1800s.
Identify the key factors that led to Britain's successful
imposition of its presence and trade policies on China, despite
communications like those from Emperor Ch'ien-lung (i.e.,
Qianlong) and Commissioner Lin Zexu (i.e., Lin Tse-hsu).
Argue for or against the British policies regarding China in the
1800s, using analogies from our own modern times.

4. "Tchaikovsky and Women in Art"
Please respond to
one (1)
of the following,
using sources under the Explore heading
as the basis of your response:
Select one (1) composition by Tchaikovsky that you enjoy.
Describe the music and subject matter of that work, and explain
why you enjoy it. Explain the key reasons why you believe that
compositions by Tchaikovsky continue to be popular with
contemporary orchestras and audiences. Passionate nationalism,
like Tchaikovsky's for Russia, could be a feature of Romantic
art and music and in the arts of the late 1800s. Give primary
examples of music today (besides national anthems) that is
characterized by nationalism.
Select two (2) paintings depicting females by both a male artist
and female artist named within the Explore section. Compare
and contrast these two (2) depictions of women, and comment
on any general tendencies that you detect among artists of that
era in this respect. Compare this situation in the late 1800s to
the way females are depicted in our own modern times, using at
least one (1) specific modern example.
treaming Live and Harlem Renaissance"
Please respond to
one (1)
of the following,
using sources under the Explore heading
as the basis of your response:
Write for one (1) minute using the stream of consciousness
writing method (Note: You may also type it offline and copy it

5. within this discussion thread). Describe your experience and
your reaction to what you wrote. Of the samples of the stream
of consciousness technique given in this week's chapters,
determine which you prefer and explain the reasons why.
Of the various authors, artists, and musicians who participated
in the Harlem Renaissance, identify the person whose autograph
you would most want, and explain the reasons why. Provide one
(1) example that illustrates the reason why you selected the
person that you did.
Government and the Arts; Abstract Expressionism and Music"
Please respond to
one (1)
of the following,
using sources under the Explore heading
as the basis of your response:
Examine the U.S. Government's support during the Great
Depression for programs, such as the Federal Arts Project, the
Federal Writers' Project, and other such efforts. Determine
whether or not such projects were good government investments
during those hard times, and provide two (2) examples that
support your viewpoint. Determine in what ways the U.S.
government currently tries to support the arts.
State whether you agree or disagree with the perception of
Abstract Expressionism as exemplifying individualism and
freedom. Explain the reasons for your views. Compare and
contrast one (1) example of Abstract Expressionist visual art to
John Cage’s musical compositions. After reviewing the pages
and Websites below, explain how an abstract expressionist artist
might respond to the assertion "my kid could paint that".
Explain your position on that assertion.

6. "Twentieth Century African-American Artists; Postmodern
Architecture"
Please respond to
one (1)
of the following,
using sources under the Explore heading
as the basis of your response:
Choose two (2) of the following late 20th century African-
American artists, and compare and contrast their art: Bearden,
Lawrence, Basquiat, or Colescott. Describe specific elements of
the works from the chosen artists that represent the multiplicity
of the African-American experience. Identify one (1) of these
works (or some other by an African American artist) that you
would like in your workplace, and explain why.
Choose one (1) example of architecture that you believe best
exemplifies the characteristic post-modern style. Provide a
rationale for your selection, and describe two (2) of the features
of post-modern style that you find intriguing.