Make a ten-minute presentation on one of the paintings from the calendar.  This presentation should be a hybrid between a traditional presentation and a discussion.  In other words, I'd like you to give us some basic information about the painting to begin (brief artist biography, date and circumstances of creation, etc.--2 minutes MAX) and then I'd like you to lead us through a discussion about the painting in terms of the elements below.  In general, you should elicit and manage our reactions, but also fill in things we might have missed.

• What do we see when we look at the painting?  What objects are represented and how are they represented? What are the formal elements of the painting? (line, color, shapes, production procedures) Elicit from us what we see and then show how that aligns with what you see.

• What are the meanings of the painting?  How might we interpret it? How does this painting relate to a literary work or an idea from our course?  What does it reflect about the culture/historical moment?  Again, elicit from us what we see and then show how that aligns with what you see.

• Gives us the experts' views.  Try to find two or three scholarly interpretations of the paintings and share their thoughts with us--if you can't find interpretations of your painting, look at interpretations of the artist's more famous paintings or work in general and try to make connections that way.  Make sure to give the critics credit (cite them orally) and be VERY clear about who said what about your painting.  Give us OVERVIEWS of these ideas--don't read long sections of their critiques to us.
• Wrap up your presentation with your views on the "best" interpretation of the painting and what you think it reveals about Victorian culture. 

SPEND A LOT OF TIME INTERPRETING YOUR PAINTING BEFORE YOU DO ANY RESEARCH

After your presentation is over, you should provide us with a one-page, single-spaced handout that includes a small image of your painting in color, an outline of the ideas from your presentation, and a bibliography of the sources you used.  It should look something like this. 

The Images

These images are hyperlinked to the Artstor database the College subscribes to--these are the best available online resources.  We'll use the course calendar to organize who does what painting, when. 

Library Resources

I have placed a number of books on reserve in the library.  You should also search the card catalog under the words preraphaelitism, pre-raphaelitism, and pre-raphaelites.

The library subscribes to Art Abstracts as well, and this resource might point you in the direction of some useful articles on individual works of art.  I would also recommend searching appropriate databases under the libraries Art & Humanities databases (Academic Search Premier,  Arts & Humanities Search, JSTOR, Literature Online (LION), MLA International Bibliography, Periodical Abstracts, and Wilson Select Plus might all be worth checking) .  Also, don't forget to search the card catalog for books about your artist--these will often contain sections analyzing individual paintings. 

Evaluation Criteria

Your presentation/discussion will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Presentation of the painting (could we actually see it? did the presenter practice with the presentation software?)
• Knowledge of the painting (mastery of the painting, familiarity with its elements, ability to answer questions, connections to Victorian culture)
• Structure of the presentation/discussion (effective management of the discussion with questions, transitions, follow-up, and fill in)
• Energy/enthusiasm (generation of interest, intellectual excitement, curiosity about your painting)
• Quality of the handout (well-written, polished, substantive)