Overview: Your first step in developing Project Part One for the course is to identify the two artifacts you want to compare and the theme that is common to both artifacts. While you will analyze and compare these artifacts in Theme: Examining the Humanities, you want to make some initial observations. In this step, explain how you see the theme expressed in both of your artifacts. Then, reflect on how the theme itself is connected or relevant to you personally. For example, is this a theme you find particularly inspiring? Has this theme been particularly relevant to a past experience?
Prompt: Choose two cultural artifacts to analyze. These artifacts may take the form of any artistic medium, such as literature, poetry, music, film, dance, painting, and sculpture, and so on. However, it is important to choose two artifacts that have been created by different artists and were created during different time periods (ex. separated by at least 50 years). Then, identify an initial theme (or themes) that is common to both of your chosen artifacts. You will analyze these artifacts and their expression of the identified theme in Theme: Examining the Humanities and Theme: Impact of the Humanities.
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
- Describe the cultural artifacts that you have chosen. Consider questions such as these in your response: What is the name or title of the artifact? Who is the author or artist? What is the date or time period when the artifact was created? What is the cultural location or physical setting of the artifact? In addition, you could consider including a photograph or image of each cultural artifact, if they are visual artifacts.
- Identify at least one common theme that will serve as the framework of your exploration document. How is the theme expressed in your artifacts?
- Reflect on how the theme you identified is related to your personal experience. For instance, you could discuss how the expression of the theme in your cultural artifacts is connected to you personally.
Guidelines for Submission: Your artifacts and theme selection should adhere to the following formatting requirements: 1 to 2 pages in length, double-spaced, using 12-point Times New Roman font and one-inch margins.
Choose Two Works
The first step in developing part one of your course project is to choose two artifacts from the galleries you explored earlier in this learning block. Select two works that you would like to compare and remember that you’ll need to identify a theme that is common to both artifacts.
Describe Your Works
The initial description of your two works deals primarily with the information required to identify them. For each piece, use the identification information from the galleries to convey the following details:
- the title of the work
- the name of the artist, author, or composer
- the date (if known) and time period in which the work was created
- the cultural setting or physical location of the artifact
- the edition you’ve been reading (if the work is literary) and the name of the translator (if the work was translated into English)
- the performance you’ve been evaluating (if the work is musical)
Discuss Your Theme
Now that you’ve described your two works, you can move on to the next requirement, which is to discuss the theme you will use to compare them. This theme will serve as the framework or basis of your comparison of the two works. In your discussion of the theme, be sure to do the following:
- State the theme.
- Explain how the theme is expressed in each of your two works, being as specific and detailed as possible.
- Point out differences between how the theme is expressed in the two works.
Relate the Theme to Your Personal Experience
The next step is to reflect on the theme you’ve selected and relate it to your personal experience. In this next writing template, be sure to do the following:
- Explain how the theme is personally meaningful to you or how it relates to your personal experience.
- Provide specific details to support your explanation.
