Paper Topic for Modern and Contemporary Latin American Art

Collective Suicide by David Alfaro Siqueiros

Art Work: Collective Suicide

Artist: David Alfaro Siqueiros

Paper Length: 5 pages (typed, double-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman font in black ink). You must also include a 6th page with an image of the work you selected to analyze. If you mention additional artworks as foils please include images of them as well.

This paper requires you to integrate incisive visual analysis (which emphasizes careful looking, analyzing, and writing about works of art) with research to help build and support your observations. Research into the artist, subject matter, and historical context will help you build a richer interpretation of your selected object. In class we will discuss the appropriate sources and research methods you must follow. While you must use research to ground your analysis, be sure to offer your interpretation of the work; your paper should be grounded primarily in your own observations and ideas. Take care to cite any research and be extremely careful not to steal language from a source- do not plagiarize. Make sure that none of the exact language of the wall text appears in your paper unless in quotation marks. If you plagiarize, you will receive a 0 on the paper and the matter will be addressed with the deans. Finally, this must be a thesis-driven paper; present an argument or a precise interpretation of your selected artwork.

To build your interpretation, carefully consider some or all of the following questions and criteria:

1. What is the subject matter? Why is that subject important to the artist? What is interesting about the way the artist chose to represent that subject? If a person, is he/she famous or unknown? If known, you will want to do a bit of research into who the subject was. If a landscape, think about the land in relation to the artist; is it his or her homeland or does he/she see it as a tourist?

2. What is the tone of the work? Somber, exciting, dramatic, moody, etc?

3. What medium has the artist employed? Why is it particularly useful/suited to the subject or artist's needs?

4. What themes interest the artist in this image? Politics? Gender? History? Identity? Emotions? Sex? Death? Be creative and really think about the relevant themes.

5. Look carefully- characterize any distinctive shadows, colors, movement, composition, cropping, stylistic choices, etc.

6. Analyze the style. Is it naturalistic, stylized, or abstract? Are proportions realistic or exaggerated? Why would the artist choose this manner of working?

7. What role or position does the viewer occupy in front of the work? Are we looking up at the subject or down over it? What effect does that have? What interaction with the subject does the artist facilitate?

8. Consider context. How is the artist engaging with ongoing struggles that are political, economic, social, etc.
There are of course many additional matters-ideas sparked by the specific artworks-that you will wish to consider. You do not need to address every issue listed above. In fact, a bad, unfocused paper would attempt to address all of those topics.

Organization/Editing:

1. Do not just list unrelated observations! Instead you must organize your ideas thoughtfully to build a comparative analysis. Bring the works into dynamic contrast with each other; this will bring out their most interesting and salient aspects. I highly recommend not writing 2 pages on one object, then two on the other. Instead, organize your ideas into thematic paragraphs with strong topic sentences.

In your introduction, write about the central theme of your comparison, ending the paragraph with your thesis statement. Each body paragraph should compare aspects of the work (for example: subject matter, medium, style, tone, context in which the artist was working, etc.) As a general rule for this kind of assignment, when deciding how to order your paragraphs, it often makes sense to start with what the two works have in common, then move toward their differences. But you should led your ideas guide the structure of your paper.

2. Use the most specific, detailed, and vivid language possible! Vague generalizations are the enemy.

3. Do not be fooled into thinking you can write this paper quickly due to its short length. The paper must be very incisive, concise, and carefully organized. We are going for quality of writing, not quantity.

4. Give yourself time to edit! I should be reading your fourth draft, not your first. Proof-read your paper carefully for grammar and spelling. Italicize all titles of artworks.

5. Avoid first person narration.

6. Your paper should include an introduction and conclusion.

7. Create a snappy title for your paper.