1. TWENTIETH CENTURY HUMANITIESProfessor Will Adams · Wadams5@valenciacollege.edu
Course Blog: hum2250.blogspot.com
Osceola Campus · Building 2, Room 228
Mondays & Wednesdays, 4:15 – 5:50 PM
Research project instructions
For your research assignment, you will be tasked with researching a piece of art, and
then reinterpreting it in your own creative way. The following will guide you through the basic
process you will use to create your reinterpretation:
1. You will choose your piece of art by drawing a topic, at random, from a hat.
2. Once you’ve chosen your piece of art, perform research on it.
3. For a four-page research project, you should use no fewer than 6 credible sources.
i. With the exception of the databases available through Valencia’s libraries, none of
your sources may come from the Internet.
4. After you’ve completed your research and have a good understanding of the piece of art’s
meaning, use what you’ve learned to create your own interpretation of it.
• You may, and in fact are encouraged to, change the medium from the original
work of art to your own.
• For instance, if you choose a painting, you may reinterpret that as a painting, a
song, a film, etc.
• Be sure the medium you choose caters to your own abilities and interests, not
the original artist’s.
• Possible media to consider for your interpretation include photography, fashion
design, painting, dance, sculpture, modeling, film, or poetry.
• Be creative and “think outside the box”!
5. Finally, craft a research paper that first discusses the original artwork, as you understand it
from your research.
• This section should make up the bulk of your paper’s length – at least 3 pages.
• In addition, you should not use first or second person point-of-view when writing
this section of your paper.
• After discussing the original artwork, then discuss your own interpretation. Be
sure to explain your own perspective and artistic choices. This is the only section
2. of your paper in which you are allowed to use first-person point-of-view (i.e.
“After completing my research on Andy Warhol, I concluded that…”).
• Collectively, the written component of your project should total 4 full pages (not
including cover or Works Cited pages).
• Your text should be double-spaced, set in Arial size 12 font, and have standard
1” margins. 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).
6. Both the artistic and the written components of your project are due in class on Friday,
July 20th
.
In Conclusion: Have as much fun as you can with this! This assignment isn’t meant as
a punishment, but rather as an opportunity for you to synthesize academic skills with personal
expression. The more passionate you are about your chosen topic, that less “work” this
assignment will be.
