Questions for Thought

 As you have read by now in The Call to Write, the review is a ubiquitous genre. It appears as evaluation of consumer products, as instructor comments on student papers, as arguments about the latest big budget movie. For this project you'll gain some expertise with this genre by reviewing and evaluating a work of art. You'll learn about the art form in question, and examine your own assumptions and beliefs about art as well. Afterall, everyone commonly passes judgment—sometimes rather severe—on movies, books, and music, but how often do we stop to consider what we mean by “good” and “bad”?  Where do our tastes come from? Evaluation of art is obviously a very subjective and relative matter, but then how do we decide, as a community, what art will be supported?  And how is it that so many people over decades and centuries—indeed, even over the span of a millennium—have agreed that certain works are especially great?  What do you know about the canon debate, and about how art gets produced, funded, sanctioned?  Are the arts an escape from the world, or a way to confront the world?  What is sentimentality in art?  Is art a minor, low-priority recreation, or a vital human endeavor? Should children (or for that matter college students) be required to take classes in art and music? What is imagination, and what is its role in our lives? Finally, what  works in particular do you especially like, and why? What art would you recommend to others, and how important is it in your everyday life?
 

Instructions

Pick a NEWLY RELEASED work of art or recent performance by a specific artist, and write a four to five-page review of it for High Plains Reader, Art Forum, The Spectrum, or a source of your choosing. "Art" here can include painting, music, literature, film, dance, etc.—whatever interests you.

Be sure, in your review,  to do the following.

1) Provide a clear thesis (a general statement of evaluation: is your subject worth buying/viewing/hearing/reading/attending?).

2) Establish clear criteria for your evaluation; that is, make clear what principles your judgment is based on.

3) Apply your criteria clearly, logically, and consistently to your subject in the body of your review.

4) Make sure the occasion for the review is clear: has a new work recently been released by the artist in question? Do you believe there should be a re-examination of that artist's work? Has the artist been in the news recently?

5) Back up all claims with specific reasons and concrete, vivid, descriptive details and examples.

6) Acknowledge and refute competing views (heed other reviews of the same topic and put your own review in context).

7) Pay careful attention to your audience. Where, hypothetically, will this review be published? Is the tone, diction, rhetorical stance, ethos, etc. appropriate? Keep in mind that place of publication affects the writing style considerably, and that visual information (pictures, graphics, box-insets telling where something is playing or available…) is sometimes appropriate.

 

Some additional considerations:

For some questions about art to get you thinking, click here.

For a helpful packet of quotations about art, click here.

And for yet another interesting Web site, click here.

 

Purpose

Your task here is to evaluate your subject and help a reader decide whether to buy/view/read/attend it. Also: help your readers come away with a better understanding of the piece in particular and of art in general.

 

Audience

You get to pick your audience—an actual newspaper, magazine, or website which typically includes developed (not just super brief) reviews of books, art, plays, movies, CDs, etc. Again, keep in mind that place of publication affects the writing style considerably, and that visual information (pictures, graphics, box-insets telling where something is playing or available…) is sometimes appropriate.

 

Scoring Criteria

When I score your final product, I'll look for a consistent thesis about a work of art.   You should make very clear your personal criteria for evaluating the type of art in question, you should justify those criteria, and you should apply those criteria to your subject clearly, distinctly, and logically. (Think 1 criterion per paragraph, give or take.) Be sure to demonstrate any needed knowledge of your subject.  All sources should be documented appropriately (informally, and in-text). Provide a comprehensive introduction and conclusion,and focus your paragraphs with strong topic sentences and transitions.  Pay careful attention to the needs and expectations of your targeted audience. And, finally, remember to proofread your work for lapses in style or mechanics.
 

Need help? Try the Center for Writers


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