Writing About the Humanities, 3rd Edition

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Chapter 1: An Overview of the Writing Process 1

Prewriting 1

Making Lists 2

Annotating 3

Asking Questions 4

Focused Freewriting 4

Summarizing and Analyzing 6

Writing 8

The Purpose of Drafting 8

Organizing Your Draft 9

Revising 10

Editing 11

Proofreading 12

Considering Purpose and Audience 13

Considering Tone 14

The Aural/Oral Dimension of Writing 17

Chapter 2: An Approach to Writing About the Humanities 19

Responding 20

Responding to a Painting: Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night 21

Responding to a Poem: Anne Sexton’s “Starry Night” 23

The Starry Night in Context 24

Responding to Walt Whitman’s “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer” 26

Interpreting 26

Interpreting van Gogh’s The Starry Night 28

Interpreting Whitman’s “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer” 29

Interpreting a Song: Franz Schubert’s “Erlking” 30

Evaluating 33

What Is Evaluation? 33

Changing Values 34

Considerations in Evaluation 35

Chapter 3: Writing About Art and Architecture 37

Painting 37

Doing Comparative Analysis 41

Sample Student Essay About an Artist 43

Critical Thinking: Feminism and Painting 48

Photography 48

Sample Student Essay Using a Photograph 49

Critical Thinking: Photography and Truth 53

Sculpture 53

Student Essay on Sculpture 57

Critical Thinking: Art Forgeries 59

Architecture 60

An Architectural Proposal 61

Student Essay on Architecture 64

Critical Thinking: Monuments 67

Chapter 4: Writing About Music and Dance 69

Writing About Music Directly 69

Writing About Music Indirectly 70

Using Questions to Write About Music 71

Writing About a Musical Performance 73

Sample Student Essay About Music 76

Critical Thinking: The Popularity of the Beatles 80

Writing About Dance 81

Elements of Dance 81

Chapter 5: Writing About Fiction and Poetry 85

Reading and Writing About Fiction 85

Reading Fiction 86

Writing About Fiction 89

Sample Student Essay on Fiction 92

Critical Thinking: The Popularity of the Novel 94

Reading and Writing About Poetry 95

Analysis 95

Elements of Poetry 95

Sample Student Essay on Poetry 101

Critical Thinking: Does Poetry Matter? 104

Chapter 6: Writing About Drama and Theater 105

Drama as Literature 105

Drama as Theater 106

Elements of Drama 107

Plot and Structure 110

Character and Conflict 111

Dialogue and Monologue 112

Setting and Staging 113

Thought and Theme 114

Writing About Drama 115

Annotation 116

Double-Column Notebook 116

Analysis 119

Sample Student Essay About Drama 119

Writing a Review of a Play 122

Critical Thinking: Who Wrote Shakespeare’s Plays? 124

Chapter 7: Writing About Film 127

Film and the Other Arts 128

Reading a Film 129

Elements of Film 130

Photography (Shots) 130

Acting 131

Mise en Scene and Movement 132

Editing 133

Sound and Music 134

Documentary Films 135

Animated Films 136

Critical Thinking: Ancient Rome in Film 137

Writing About Film–The Film Review 138

An Example of a Film Review 138

Chapter 8: Writing with Sources 141

The Research Assignment 141

Selecting a Topic 142

Working with an Assigned Topic 143

Using a Library to Conduct Research 143

Finding Books 144

Accessing Books Using the Library Catalog 144

Searching for Ernest Hemingway 145

Finding Periodical Articles 147

Using Interlibrary Loan 148

Using the Internet for Research 149

Gaining Access to the Internet 149

Browsing the Web 149

Some Dangers of Web-Based Research 150

Using Secondary Sources Wisely 150

Note Taking 152

Taking Efficient Notes 153

Summarizing and Paraphrasing Secondary Sources 154

Quoting 154

Integrating Quotations 155

Plagiarism 156

Writing the Paper 158

Sample Student Research Papers 159

Chapter 9: Documenting Sources 171

In-Text Citations 171

Listing Sources at the End 172

Notes 173

Basic Format for Footnotes and Endnotes 174

Bibliography and Works Cited List 175

Appendix I: Writing Essay Examinations 181

Preparing for an Exam 182

Reviewing the Questions 183

Writing Your Answer 185

Additional Advice 186

Appendix II: Making Oral Presentations 189

Reducing Nervousness 189

Using Notes or a Prepared Text 190

Body Language: Posture and Gesture 190

Using a Rostrum or Lectern 191

Using Visuals 191

Making Team Presentations 191

Credits 193

Index 195