HISTORY Of ART
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Essay guidelines
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Preparing and writing an essay
Preparing an essay
The key to a good essay is good preparation. Ensure that you understand the question you have selected - read it carefully. There is nothing worse than completing all your research to realise it was not relevant for the question. When you begin to research a topic start with the general books on the subject (e.g those marked out as essential reading in your unit booklet). Once you have a solid grasp of the main points move onto more specialised works. You should pay attention to both the arguments of the secondary sources and to the evidence on which they base their arguments. You should always read critically. If you are having difficulties adopting a critical approach you may want to consider undertaking the Critical Thinking course run by the students union. To find further information on this course please refer to the student course list.
Structure
A strong essay will present a well-structured discussion of the given topic. The reader needs to be presented with a clear, coherent and continuous argument, which develops throughout the essay. It is important to remember to concentrate on providing an answer to the set question. You can make some beautifully eloquent points but if they are not relevant to the question, they do not belong in the essay.
Plan your essay. Decide upon a structure before you begin to write an essay. The level of detail depends on the individual, but it may be worth making a list of your main points and then short summation of the information you want to attach to that point. You cannot hope to make your essay a clear extended argument if you are undecided on the position you are going to take. If you leave making your mind up until half way through, the chances are you will end up contradicting something you have said earlier.
There are certain key forms within an essay that are the anchors to a good structure.
Paragraphs
Paragraphs are devices used to clarify the structure of the essay. Use paragraphs to separate the discussion of different points. Each paragraph should represent a unit of information where particular points fit together. Be aware of the length of your paragraphs; long ones containing too many points may cause the reader to lose the thread of your discussion. Conversely lots of very short paragraphs disrupt the flow of the essay. The first and last sentences of paragraphs can be good places to indicate the course of your argument.
Introduction and conclusion
The introduction and conclusion of an essay are crucial. Do not rush them as they send very clear messages to the reader about your discussion. Both should provide a summary of the argument you will be pursuing within the essay, including the problems and issues you will address. This does not need to be handled in a mechanical way, i.e 'In this essay I will show....'. If possible the introduction should catch the attention of the reader, an essay beginning, 'Futurism was a twentieth century visual arts movement which originated in Italy' does not arouse the expectation of intellectual riches to follow.There can be an inclination to get tired at the end of an essay meaning that the conclusion suffers. As you have spent so much time on the rest of the work, why allow this part to let you down. Do not let your essay just peter out but equally do not be tempted to raise completely new issues that have just occurred to you. It will be obvious. The conclusion should provide a clear summation of the key points you have presented in the essay and what they demonstrate.
Content
Obviously the content of an essay is dependent upon its subject. However there are certain key ideas that are relevant to every essay's content. The function of the content is to persuade the reader of your particular view of the matter and this cannot be done by unsupported assertion. It is important, where appropriate, to use works of art to support the arguments you are trying to express. Finding your own example will demonstrate to the reader that you have not just regurgitated your research. It is also important to address obvious objections to your position. Think carefully about the logical status of your arguments, and also about your implicit assumptions and presuppositions.
An essay should be analytical and argumentative. You are called upon to argue a case, or analyse a piece of art; you need to pose questions and offer possible answers. An essay which consists of nothing but facts will never get very high marks; we take it as read that you're capable of producing summaries of the information contained in books, we want to see what you then do with that information.
Illustrations are not compulsory but they can be helpful, and add to the usefulness of an essay for later reference or so you can refer to them in your text and point out details of significance without describing them. They can make life easier for both the writer and the reader. Writing a good art history essay is not a matter of describing things that can be seen, it involves discussing salient features and using significant details to interpret the evidence.
Spelling, punctuation and grammar
The aim of an essay is to communicate with another person; hence an essay is inter alia an exercise in rhetorical persuasion. Poor presentation always detracts from its effectiveness. Moreover, faulty English and inexact thinking usually go hand in hand. Try to write clearly, concisely and elegantly. Take pride in the craftsmanship involved. Try to put yourself into the position of a reader, and ask yourself if what you have written is likely to be intelligible to him/her.
Poor spelling immediately creates a poor impression. As the the vast majority of the work you will submit is word processed using Microsoft Word, use the spell check provided. Always remember to check the options the spell check will offer. Also, there is always the English dictionary. Certain terms employed by art historians may not be in the spell check, and this also applies to the tiles of works. It is essential that you check these elements as mistakes made in such crucial areas will undermine the reader's perception of your work.
Correct punctuation will make your essay much easier to read. A particularly common error is the use of a comma to link complete sentences, which creates an irritating 'stream of consciousness' effect and leaves logical connections unclear.
The rules of grammar help to ensure the exactness of communication. Construct your sentences correctly. Avoid using slang, or unduly colloquial, or abbreviated language.
Unsure about your grammar skills? Why not try the self-assessment grammar tutorial on Blackboard which will test your knowledge and provide you with helpful feedback. To access this course simply log on to Blackboard. and in the courses section type 'arts skills' into the search box. The course will them appear and your will be able to enrol.
Referencing and bibliography
There are certain standards set by the department with regard to presentation, use of quotations, citing of works of art, referencing and bibliographies. They can also be found in your course handbook.
All students are advised to purchase their own copy of an invaluable handbook to art historical writing, which has become a standard reference in the English-speaking world of art scholarship:
Sylvan Barnet, A Short Guide to Writing about Art, 5th edition, 1997 (Longman, £8.95)
Referring to works of art in the text
- When citing the title of a painting or sculpture for the first time in the text, give full details of date and location: e.g. ... Botticelli's Mystic Nativity (1500, London, National Gallery).
- Subsequent references to the same work normally require only the title, but sometimes when an artist has produced several works of the same subject (such as Cézanne's painting of Mont Sainte-Victoire) it is necessary to specify the particular work referred to by identifying it by date and/or location. This avoids the possibility for confusion.
- Titles of works of art should always be italicised.
- References to architectural works should be in normal script, not underlined or italicised, but should have dates and locations: e.g... the church of S.Giorgio Maggiore by Andrea Palladio (begun 1566; Venice)
References to published works in the text
- References to books in the text should have titles italicised: e.g. .. in his Lives of the Artists Giorgio Vasari states ...
- References to articles or to essays in books should show the title in single inverted commas: e.g. ... .. an interpretation proposed by E.H. Gombrich in 'Botticelli's Mythologies: A Study in the Neo-Platonic Symbolism of his Circle' ...
- Usually a reference to a book or article should be accompanied by a footnote giving the precise reference (author, date, page reference) to the work consulted in a form that can be correlated to the listing of the same work in the Bibliography.
Footnotes
Footnotes should be used to indicate the source of a quotation, to acknowledge indebtedness to an idea or opinion, or to add a detail or material which is relevant but not appropriate to the main body of the text.
- E.g.: 1Evelyn Welch, Art and Society in Italy 1350-1500 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997), p.64.
- For a second reference, use 2Welch, p.80.
Bibliography
Arrange in alphabetical order by author's name. If more than one book or article by the same author is cited, arrange by chronological sequence of publication date.
- Books:- author, title, place of publication, date e.g. Welch, Evelyn, Art and Society in Italy 1350-1500, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.
- Articles:- author, title of article in inverted commas, journal in which published italicised, volume number, date, page references e.g. Lilley, Ed, 'The Name of the Boudoir', Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 53 (1994): 193-198.
- Exhibition catalogues:- a) if there is an author or editor, list by name, title, place of publication and museum/gallery, date e.g. Macmillan, Duncan, Painting in Scotland. The Golden Age, exh. cat. Edinburgh, (Talbot Rice Art Centre), 1986. b) if no author/editor is given, list by gallery/museum, place, title, date e.g.Tate Gallery, London, Manners and Morals. Hogarth and British Painting 1700-1760, exh. cat. 1987.
- Essays in edited books:- author of essay, title in inverted commas, followed by publication details of book and page references eg. Bell, Quentin, 'The Pre-Raphaelites and their Critics', in Pre-Raphaelite Papers, ed. Leslie Parris, London, 1984, 11-22.
- Jointly authored/edited works:- list by first named author, other authors followed by convention for a book, article or catalogue as appropriate e.g. Heckscher, Morrison and Leslie Bowman, American Rococo 1750-1775 or Elegance in Ornament, New York (Metropolitan Museum of Art), 1992.
- Editions of early sources:- list by original author, title, editor/edition, place of publication, date e.g. Reynolds, Sir Joshua, Discourses, ed. Pat Rogers, Penguin Classics, London, 1992.
- Encyclopedia references:- reference book entries: list by author, article, title of source underlined/italicised, place of publication, date. Single volume reference books with an editor or editors may show the name(s) of the editor(s) e.g. Portoghesi, Paolo, 'Francesco Borromini'. Encyclopaedia of World Art, New York, 1966.
- Internet sources:- must be cited.
World Wide Web pages are cited thus (with the date on which you found the material you have used):
Limb, P., ‘Alliance Strengthened or Diminished?: Relationships between Labour & African Nationalist/Liberation Movements in Southern Africa’.
<http://www.neal.ctstateu.edu/history/world_history/archives/limb-l.html> 11 May 2006.
A comprehensive guide to such conventions can be found at:
Melvin E. Page, ‘A brief citation guide for internet sources in history and the humanities’ prepared for H-AFRICA Humanities On-Line, and History Department, East Tennessee State University. <http://www.h-net.msu.edu/~africa/citation.html>. (Version 2.1)
Quotations
Short quotations of phrases may be incorporated into the main text using double inverted commas (" ... "). Longer quotations of whole sentences or paragraphs should be indented from the margin (5-10 spaces) to stand clear of the main text. The source of quotations should be identified either by a footnote or by showing the author and title, date, etc. in parenthesis immediately after the quotation.
Essay format
Every essay or seminar paper submitted must conform to the following standard requirements:
- Paper size - A4
- Typed or word-processed, on one side of the paper only, double-spaced for main text (i.e. leaving a line space between each line of printed text), with margins on the left of not less than 1.5 inches or 4 cm and on the right of approximately 1 inch or 2 cm
- Minimum font size: 12 point
- Legibility is essential for hand-written essays: students may be required to rewrite, re-type or word-process (or have professionally typed) essays which are judged unacceptable by the tutor.
- Stapled at top left corner (i.e. not paper clipped or tagged, never loose): essays should not be presented in files or bindings
- Sequence of sheets: departmental cover sheet, footnote references (if not at foot of each page), bibliography
- Illustrations are optional, but where used should be numbered for reference in text ("fig.1" etc.) and properly captioned (artist, title/subject, date where known, collection if known or location; architect, building, place, date, part of building shown; other art forms such as manuscripts, objects, etc., should be captioned in accordance with the usual conventions for the art form); alternatively, illustrations can be simply numbered, and a list of illustrations added with full details given as appropriate. Illustrations (postcards, photocopies, etc.) should be mounted on A4 paper and stapled with the essay: they may be dispersed in the text, or collected in a group at the end of the essay.
Essay length
Students should adhere to the following word limits for essays
- First Year essays: 2000 words
- Second Year essays: 2500 words
- Third/Fourth Year essays: 3000 words
These limits should not be exceeded for the principal text (i.e. the essay itself, excluding footnotes and bibliography).