Write a paper on Wooden portal of the stave church at Urnes, Norway, ca.
Requirements:
*minimum 3 typed double-spaced pages of text (font: Times New Roman, 11 or 12 pt.)
*The essay must include AT LEAST TWO integrated solid academic references with
appropriately quoted material and citations (from academic databases and/or publications –
books, journals – you have access to online databases through the college; check with a
librarian if you don’t know how or have trouble accessing them). (You may use and cite
Wikipedia, but it doesn’t count as one of your required sources.) Quote at least one source
directly. Cite all sources in parentheses in the body of the text (MLA style), directly after the
quoted or paraphrased material. List all works fully in your Works Cited list, which you will
arrange alphabetically by author’s last name.
*Include your Works Cited page and the images that you discuss (if not in the textbook) at
the end of your essay.
*Remember that any amount of plagiarism earns a zero or worse, so please be sure to cite all
your sources carefully.
*Introduce and integrate all quotations by naming the source in the body of your essay, like
so: As Wendy Ewald says in her essay “Ever Is Over All, “The quotation begins here and
ends with an in-text citation” (Ewald 20). Also, any quotation over three lines long needs to
be indented as a block quotation. Avoid using more than one block quotation in an essay of
this length.
Topic: why did the stave church at Urnes take inspiration from Viking style
Papers should include: [1] Comparative formal analysis of two works from different
periods that are connected by your chosen theme; [2] an introduction that states a thesis
claim regarding relevant similarities and/or differences of the artworks in light of your chosen
theme and the art-historical periods and/or regions the works come from. Following your
introduction, in which you briefly introduce both works and state your main idea, you can opt
to use either the “lumping” or the “splitting” method of comparative analysis (see tip sheet).
Tips: Your focus in comparative formal analysis is what you see in the artworks. The bulk of
your writing should consist of detailed descriiptions of relevant aspects of the art, but be
sure to focus on the details that best support your claims about how your chosen theme is
reflected in the works (i.e., your thesis). Your final analysis should be sharply focused on a
few aspects of the works at hand, and you will integrate your research to support the specific
claims. Again, your essay should rely most heavily on your observations of formal elements
you can point to in the works themselves.
*Pay attention to grammar, spelling, sentence clarity, and other essay-related issues. Overall
presentation does affect the assessment of your essay.
