This document provides instructions for a two-part research project in an art history class. For the first part, students will research and write a 4-page analysis essay about an assigned piece of art. For the second part, students will create their own interpretation of the assigned artwork in a different medium of their choosing, such as photography, painting, or poetry. The instructions provide guidance on researching credible sources, developing an understanding of the original work, and creating and justifying their own reinterpretation. Students are assigned specific artworks and the requirements include submitting a draft by July 12th and the final project with both written and artistic components by July 26th.

1. THE HISTORY OF ART: PART II
Professor Will Adams • wadams5@valenciacollege.edu
Online • Downtown Campus
Research Project Instructions
▪ For your research assignment, you will have a two-part project. For the first part, you will be tasked with
researching a piece of art and authoring a 4-page analysis essay about it. For the second part, you will be
creating a piece of art that reinterprets your assigned topic artwork in your own creative way.
▪ The following will guide you through the basic process you will use to create your reinterpretation:
1. You will be assigned a work of art or architecture by me (see list below).
2. Once you’ve received your topic, perform research on it.
i. For a 4-page research project, you should use no fewer than 6 credible sources.
ii. With the exception of the databases available through the College, another University or
College, or the public library, none of your sources may come from the Internet (i.e. Results
from a Google search).
4. After you’ve completed your research and have a good understanding of the piece of art, use what
you’ve learned to create your own interpretation of it.
i. You may, and in fact are encouraged to, change the medium from the original work of art
to your own.
i. For instance, if you choose a painting, you may reinterpret that as a painting, a
song, a film, etc.
ii. Be sure the medium you choose caters to your own abilities and interests, not the original
artist’s.
iii. Possible media to consider for your interpretation include photography, fashion design,
painting, dance, sculpture, modeling, film, or poetry.
i. Be creative and “think outside the box”!
ii. You will need to photograph your work for submission if is not written or a digital
file.
5. Finally, write a research paper that first discusses the original artwork, as you understand it from
your research.
i. This section should make up the bulk of your paper’s length – at least 3 pages.
ii. In addition, you should not use first- or second-person point-of-view when writing this
section of your paper – instead use the “academic third-person”. Instead of “I think that this
represents”, try using “One could interpret this to mean”.
iii. After analyzing the original artwork, then discuss your own interpretation within the final
page(s) of your essay. Be sure to explain your own perspective and artistic choices. This is
the only section of your paper in which you are allowed to use first-person point-of-view
(i.e. “After completing my research on Exekias, I concluded that…”).
iv. Collectively, the written body of your essay should total 4 full body pages.
v. Your text should be double-spaced, set in Times New Roman size 12 font, and have
standard 1” margins.
vi. Use proper MLA style citation for in-text citations, the Works Cited page, and the cover
page (refer to attached MLA style guide for help).

2. 6. One draft may be turned in for instructor feedback by July 12th
– this must be done via email at
wadams5@valenciacollege.edu.
7. Both the artistic and the written components of your project are due in on Sunday, July 26th
.
Topic Assignments by Student
Student Name Topic Assignment
Jalisa Alvarez Jacques-Louis David, Oath of the Horatii, c. 1784
Faryal Ansari Jean-Honore Fragonard, The Swing, c. 1767
Katherine Castaneda Sandro Botticelli, Primavera, c. 1482
Isabella Cellucci Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Good Government in the City, c.
1338
Sophia Cowie Gustave Courbet, The Stone Breakers, c. 1849
Brandon Davies Eugene Delacroix, The Women of Algiers, c. 1834
Deborah Fair Gertrude Kasebier, Blessed Art Thou Among Women,
c. 1899
Dayris Felix Lopez Le Corbusier, Villa Savoye, c. 1928
Sierrah Fievre Masaccio, Expulsion from Paradise, c.1425
Amber Frank Michelangelo, Pieta, c. 1498
Arianna Infante Diego Velasquez, The Water Carrier of Seville, c. 1619
Jennifer Mai Judith Leyster, Self-Portrait, c. 1633
Noah Manchon Edouard Manet, Olympia, c. 1863
Alexandra Paterson Marcel Duchamp, Fountain, c. 1917
Nalani Perry Umberto Boccioni, Unique Forms of Continuity in
Space, c. 1913
Joselyn Rodriguez Auguste Rodin, The Thinker, c. 1879
Shivanie Roopnaraine Antonio Canova, Cupid and Psyche, c. 1787
Daniel Santos Jean-Antoine Watteau, A Pilgrimage to Cythera, c.
1717
Natalia Tavio Thomas Cole, The Oxbow, c. 1836
Jomary Velilla Roy Lichtenstein, Drowning Girl, c. 1963
Nya Williams Robert Smithson, Spiral Jetty, c. 1970