Assignment: Project Paper - Comparative Essay

This assignment is a comparative essay focused on topics encountered in our HUM 111 class. The project will be based on research but will reflect your views and interpretation of the topic. This project is designed to help you stretch your mind and your abilities as an organized, innovative, and critical thinker. If approached properly, it should also be fun!

Write a three to four page paper (750-1,000 words) that follows instructions and covers each part of the topic. (The title page and References list do not get included in this word count).

For the topic:

1. Establish a clear thesis about your topic as part of the introductory paragraph (often the thesis is the last thing one determines after doing the basic research and outline; however it will be placed in the first paragraph of your paper).

2. This is a comparative essay. Comparison approached properly will require some critical thinking on your part. Use a point-by-point approach for the essay. That means, if comparing subject A with subject B, don't do the first half of the essay on subject A and then the second half on subject B--that will seem like two separate essays and comparisons will tend to get lost. Instead, you should be mentioning both subjects in most of your paragraphs as you compare them throughout the essay. Comparisons will identify similarities as well as contrasts.

3. Do not try to do everything on your two subjects. You should end up narrowing your focus to a few insights and issues about the subjects being compared. And, from those fairly specific points of comparison, you will develop a thesis and glean some lessons.

4. Follow closely the instructions below for your specific topic.

5. Include a concluding paragraph at the end. This paragraph will, in some way, refer back to the thesis established in your first paragraph, since now you have demonstrated and supported it. It may be here that you also include your observations relating your study to the modern workplace or society (see your topic). Try to finish with flair!

6. Use at least three good quality academic sources, with one source being the class text. Note:Wikipedia and other similar Websites do not qualify as academic resources. You are highly encouraged to use the Resource Center tab at the top of your Blackboard page.

Here is the Topic:

• Comparing Sculptures of Ancient India and Greece. Write an essay comparing the way gods and humans were depicted in sculpture in ancient India and Greece, and identify the cultural values and ideals that these art works reflect in each case. Your paper should:

a) Using specific examples, compare the way gods and people were depicted in the sculptures of ancient India and Greece, noting similarities and differences.

b) Identify the cultural values and ideals that these art works reflect for each society.

c) From this comparison, suggest a modern situation of artistic expression and the ways it reflects or counters prevailing cultural values.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

• Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides. Both in-text citations and a References list are required. Citations and references must follow APA style format.