Critical Analysis

Your Chapter 21 Critical Analysis will help you build and refine your analytic abilities as you work to identify the visual characteristics that differentiate prominent painting styles of the post-war to post-modern periods of the Twentieth-century. Do not research this topic beyond the information that is included in your book. Do not use direct quotes. See below for formatting information. The content length of this essay must be a minimum of 400 words in length in order to be graded, anything less will automatically earn a grade of 0.

Begin by selecting one of the image groups provided below. As we focus on viewing the innovative approaches of American artists your task is to identify the styles of the unknown images and discuss the influences and thought processes that led to the creation of each. Your response to the analysis prompts below should be a reflection of your own observations of the provided images and your textbook readings. You should not research these images; apply only your own original thoughts.

Your essay should follow the format below:

Paragraph 1: Identify the image set you have selected and briefly describe both unknown images, making sure you reference each image by the label they have been given (Image A; Image B). State the style you have associated with each image and very briefly relate at least one dominant visual characteristic that led you to associate your selected style with the image (at this point do not provide an explanation).

Paragraph 2: Discuss Image A, restating what style you have related it to. In this paragraph you should restate the dominant visual characteristic that led you to connect Image A to your stated style and explain why. You should also relate two more additional visual elements from Image A that also helped with your stylistic attribution of this image. Lastly, make sure you relate the influences and thought processes that are unique to your stated style. This information can be woven into your discussion about the visible characteristics.

Paragraph 3: Discuss Image B, restating what style you have related it to. In this paragraph you should restate the dominant visual characteristic that led you to connect Image B to your stated style and explain why. You should also relate two more additional visual elements from Image B that also helped with your stylistic attribution. Lastly, make sure you relate the influences and thought processes that are unique to your stated style. This information can be woven into your discussion about the visible characteristics.

Paragraph 4: Create a brief conclusion that sums up the outstanding differences between these two styles.

Citation Information: Content for this critical analysis should come from your own observations as you work to apply the necessary concepts and vocabulary. Refer to the document titled: Avoid Plagiarism! provided in the Chapter 21 folder for guidelines on correct paraphrasing and documentation. If you have questions regarding citations, please don’t hesitate to contact me

Please note: if you do not provide citations for information that is not from your own observations you are committing plagiarism. This will result in an automatic 0.