Contextual Analysis Discussion

Engagement and participation are important aspects of any college course. For this online course your engagement and participation are partly determined by your presence on the Discussion Boards.

As mentioned in the syllabus, each of the three Contextual Analysis Discussions gets progressively more complex as your skills increase. For this second Contextual Analysis Discussion, you should make at least one original contextual analysis post and two comments to other posts for each module. Posts should be in full, grammatically correct sentences that create at least one solid response of at least 900 words–make sure you include a word count. The word count does NOT include any headers or references section. All posts must be relevant to the assigned materials (although you may build upon previous knowledge from earlier weeks and include personal observations). Start by answering the prompt, and then build upon the prompt to consider your own perspectives and experiences. You MUST attach photos and web links to support your position. An important part of your grade for this assignment is to communicate with your classmates. Because this is intended to be your opportunity to discuss topics with your classmates, the professor/TA will generally refrain from commenting or actively participating in the discussions aside from reading and grading them.

Each of the two comments should be at least 300 words (include a word count) on two different classmates’ posts each module to receive full credit.

Posts: For this post, select one work of art (architecture, literature, music) that has NOT been already analyzed or extensively discussed in the course readings or videos…part of the fun in learning about art is in DISCOVERING it! You are required to make one post to conduct both a formal and contextual analysis or your chosen work. Then, you will compare it to the work you selected in Module 1 AND to any other work in Module 1 that was analyzed by another student in this class. This will give you THREE works to discuss in this assignment:

• One work of art you select from the mediums we discussed in this module (architecture, literature, or music) in which you conduct a formal and contextual analysis with social angles.
• You then compare the work you chose in this module (architecture, literature, or music) with the work you chose in module 1 (two-dimensional art or three-dimensional art). This comparison will be a brief compare/contrast/ways of seeing between the two works.
• Last, you compare the work you chose in this module to any other work analyzed in module 1 by a peer. Again, this comparison will be a brief compare/contrast/ways of seeing between the two works.

This process expands your skills of doing a contextual analysis by comparing works to each other.

In a narrative format, the post should contain the following elements:

• Define and Identify: Brief information about the artist and work. For example, birth/death dates, place of birth or work, where work is displayed, name of work, medium of work, context for creation of work.
• Experience and Appreciation: For example, where you found the work (website, another book, museum), what made you select the work, what about this work speaks to you.
• Observe and Analyze: Use and underline three terms that were introduced in the module to observe/analyze your chosen work. Add any other relevant information to improve your paper.
• Critique and Compare: Compare your work to similar pieces or to examples used in the book. Consider the impact of the work on a particular social angle and/or the evolution of the media. Consider the impact of experiencing the work on your general outlook on the medium or appreciation of art.
• Apply Social Angles AND Context: Identify at least one social angle from the list below that can be observed or analyzed as part of the work. Address how the social angle is connected to the work. Plus, a thorough contextual analysis of the historical, cultural, and social implications should be discussed.
  • race and ethnicity,
  • gender and sexuality,
  • class and highbrow/low,
  • colonialism, postcolonialism, place and regionalism,
  • nature (environment, ecology) and culture,
  • memory, history, generational identity,
  • food culture, and
  • body and mind

Students will be expected to define, identify, and apply at least three terms (underline them so I can quickly find them) from the module in the post. Make sure to underline the terms so that I can quickly identify them. College-level writing and mechanics are expected; however, the purpose of this assignment is to move from experiencing art to analyzing art to evaluating art. Make sure to include a references section at the end of every post, even if you only cite the lecture video. All in-text citations and references should be in MLA.

Comments: For each of the two comments, select a classmate’s post, read the post, critique the post, indicate your reaction to the chosen work, discuss a comparison work from the module or any other outside source that is similar to the work identified in the post, and either add personal commentary or pose a question to stimulate conversation.

Here are some examples: