Note: You must work on this assignment independently. To avoid academic dishonesty, do not collaborate with a classmate on your report!

Your perception assignment for this course requires three activities: searching, analyzing, and reporting

Search:

To prepare for your report, identify two paintings (or two sculptures) on display in the museum. The art works you select should have distinctive treatments of the same theme. The subject matter should be similar: two portraits, two landscapes, two Madonnas, etc. Your selections should be substantially different in terms of style, however. Picking works that are at least one hundred years apart in their creation is generally a good rule, though not a necessity.

You probably should not spend more than an hour in your search for a workable pair. Try to settle on two works that really interest you.

Analysis:

Observe the two art works with some care so that you can make appropriate notes for your report. Carefully consider how each artist has employed the elements and principles of composition in his or her work.

As part of your notes, be sure to make thorough schematic sketches for each painting (or sculpture). In your sketch, roughly diagram the important lines (literal & implied) and forms which contribute to the composition. Purchase a postcard of the work in the museum shop (if available) to submit with your report.

Report:

Your report should be a two-to-three page essay (700-900 words) that compares/ contrasts the two art art works you observed. Develop your report on the notes that you made regarding the elements and principles of composition--report on what you saw.

Arrange your paper as a formal report, one that has an introduction that summarizes your findings and a body that develops, explains, and justifies them. At the end of your report, attach postcards if you were able to obtain them.

Your introduction should identify the works that you analyzed by providing their titles, artists, and dates of execution. It should also sum up the essential difference between each work: what were the most prominent elements or principles of composition that you perceived.

In the paper's body, discuss elements and principles that were remarkable more or less in the order they appear in the chart on page one. Try to get a feel for how the artists employed the elements of composition worked to establish certain principles of composition that you observed. Each paragraph should discuss (and support with specific examples) a major point you are trying to make. Do not try to tell absolutely everything you saw--focus on aspects which are truly worth mentioning.

Format:

• Typewritten (computer or typewriter) double-spaced on 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper
  
  
• Do not use erasable paper--correct with Liquid paper or correction strips
  
  
• Use one-inch margins at the top and on the sides, slightly larger at the bottom
  
  
• Put your name and the page number in the upper right-hand corner of each page, one line above the first line of text and justified against the left margin (or use a header on computer)
  
  
• Include a cover sheet. It should have a title, centered almost halfway down the page. In the lower right corner, list your name, the course, and the date
  
  
• Please staple your paper in the upper left corner to hold materials together. (Do not crimp the corners or use report covers, paper clips, etc.)
  
  
  

Carefully proof read your paper before submitting to check for typographical errors, misspellings, and errors of grammar, punctuation, or expression. Reading the paper out loud is a good way to check for mistakes.

Check out Writing Tips for Reports!


Here's a sample art report from a previous semester