Artifact Critique

How to Write

 an Artifact Critique

for a humanities course.

Objective and Rationale:

 Some of you are wondering, why do I have to write a paper for this Humanities class? Well, there are several reasons. Writing is one of the most rewarding skills you will learn in college. With this information, I want to express three simple reasons for becoming a capable researcher and writer.

 First, a paper assignment is way your professor assesses your skills as a writer and communicator; it is also a graded assignment for this course.  Through writing, you can communicate with other people in a clear intelligible way, to help them understand your ideas and your world view. Second, it is a useful skill that you can use in most jobs or career paths.  More than before, I noticed most jobs require writing skills and if you are better at comprehending, thinking, writing, the more successful you will be in your career or even operating your own business. Third, it is a map you can use to follow your understanding of information. Personally, it is interesting and enrichening to understand the way you think. Simply, your writing is a glimpse into the way your mind works. That said, I encourage everyone to write more not just for classes but for self-reflection and analysis.

 Format paper #2: Artifact Critique

 Your paper will be a critique of an artifact which is a man-made product of a specific time and place. First, your paper should have your name, date, professor’s name and the class. This information will vary in location on your paper whether your using APA or MLA formatting styles (See Manuals for appropriate formatting style). Next, a title is necessary for an organized paper. Your title could be simple like the name of the artifact (Vaphio Cup), the assignment (Paper #2), or a title you created (The Most Beautiful painting in Ecuador”). You can write about, a building, bridge, poem, short story, dance, song, freestanding structure, instrument, hairstyle, a type of clothing, movie, myth, legend, epic, etc.

The format of your paper should be in a basic five paragraph form used for most research papers. Your paper should have an intro with a thesis, a body with three minimum paragraphs for your main ideas, and a conclusion.

 After you have chosen a topic, you need to develop a thesis that explains your thoughts or main ideas about the artifact. Your thesis statement should be a general statement about your topic and your unique perspective or viewpoint about your artifact.  Thesis statement= your topic + an argument. Your thesis statement should be in your intro paragraph.

 The body of your paper will be three main ideas that address the importance of the object from your perspective i.e. background or history, ideas, techniques or technologies, themes or ideas.  Main ideas are not limited to these examples, be creative and think outside of the box. Here are some more examples: artist’s, author’s, director’s, or playwright’s background and life; awards; summary of the artifact; a discussion of technologies or techniques, character analysis, plot summary, public or personal commentaries, materials, etc. These main ideas will be three points that you can discuss in the body of your paper. Finally, you need a conclusion that closes or concludes your paper.

 You are writing a critique, so you need to know a bit of information before writing about your artifact. Your paper should address questions such as your reason for choosing the artifact. What is the history behind the artifact? Who made it? When and how was it made? Where was it made? These are a few questions that you can answer in your paper.

In the end, you should have a finish product that you are proud of submitting. This assignment should open a path for you to follow your interest and passions within the boundaries of humanities. It should also help your skills at researching and analysis. Your writing style, grammar, mechanics, punctuation, and sentence structure will influence your grade. Your attempt at completing this task should be serious however, education should at least be gratifying, so it leaves you yearning for your next academic experience.

 If you have any questions after reading this, read it again. Then, if you still have questions, you can send me an email.

Best,

1. Henry

Template for Cultural Artifact Critique

Name:

Date

Class

Professor

Title

Intro:  Opener

Thesis: Topic +Argument (a simple way to this is to include your three main ideas)

Body: Three main ideas

1. First Main idea
   1. supporting details
   2. s/d 2
   3. s/d 3
2. Second Main idea
   1. supporting details
   2. s/d/2
   3. s/d 3
3. Main idea
   1. Supporting details
   2. s/d/2
   3. s/d3

Conclusion

Citations/Citation page

 Your paper should be 750 (minimum) words type and submitted to turnitin.com which you will find under week number 13. I will allow you to a have 25% similarity or less.