Directions: Discussion Board (sculpture)

ASSIGNMENT: Directions (sculpture discussion board)

Directions: Discussion Board (sculpture)

This discussion board is comprised of two parts:

1) Self-reflection:  You have 20 famous sculptures from which to choose for this project; the video with the 20 artifacts is just below in this module.  This is not a “paper.”  It is a weekly assignment.  For the grading criteria, please see the rubric attached to the assignment.  

Once you choose one of the 20 to research, you can begin your post.  (AVOID the Statue of Liberty as your choice unless you know nothing about it already — highly unlikely).  In at least one or two full paragraphs (five to seven sentences per paragraph), please explain why you picked your choice over the other 19 that are presented.  Is there a personal connection?  Do you think the art is historically/politically/socially/geographically/religiously, etc. significant?  Perhaps the symbolism of the art elevated it on your short list?  In sum, for you, what makes this piece more worthy of your time than the other 19?  In this part only, you may use the first person (“I,” “me,” “my”).  Avoid the 2nd person (“you”) to refer to just anyone.  

2) Objective research: The majority of your post will be devoted to reporting what you have learned about your chosen piece.  Rather than provide direct quotes from source information, you should instead paraphrase by putting the information in your own words and giving proper credit (attribution) to your source.  

One Word of Caution…:

For this discussion board, you will rely on scholarly research, but all of your post must be your own writing.  Do not include direct quotes; just reveal your paraphrased source information by author and/or title of article. Do not copy / paste from any source; this is plagiarism. Everything in the post should come from you or, if it is paraphrased from a source, you must provide attribution (“credit”) in two places: within the post, and the works cited at the end of the post.  

What is paraphrasing?

 Pretend that the following is from a source you found on a database.  The article is by Jane Lewis, and she writes this:

“Recently, there has been much discussion about restorations and repairs to Christ the Redeemer. The sometimes harsh climate takes its toll on the statue, but the biggest threat is lightning. It is estimated that persistent strikes to the statue cause much more damage than any other natural force, including acid rain and wind.”

In your post, you want to report this information by Lewis, but you know the directions forbid direct quotes. Therefore, rather than quote it, you report the information in your own words while giving credit to the source (which is called a paraphrase). Example from student’s post:

Of course, keeping the beloved statue healthy is a top priority, but some forces can’t be controlled. According to Jane Lewis in her article “Christ the Redeemer: Nature’s Impact,” the biggest threat to the art is not acid rain or wind, but lightning (18).

Note that the student introduces both the author and the title of the article — the latter of which is optional as long as the author’s name is there — but there is no direct quote; the student has borrowed ideas but has not quoted. (If the student paraphrases from this same article multiple times, he or she does not have to type out the title over and over again. The student would just refer again to Lewis when the information is paraphrased).  Since the article has page numbers, we include the page number in the citation.  If this were an article from the internet that lacked page numbers, we could skip the citation entirely since we have already identified the author at the beginning of the paraphrase.  If the article is a web source that lacks page numbers but has clearly distinct paragraphs, cite the paragraph number by using the abbreviation “par.”, e.g. (par. 3).  

Like all academic research, your first stop should be the databases. If after searching multiple databases you can’t find information that is appropriate for your post, you can branch out to credible internet sources. Wikipedia is never an academic source. Also watch out for other online encyclopedias which offer nothing but dry, general and generic information which may or may not be accurate.

For this second part of the assignment, share with the class what you learned during your research. Write at least (more is better) two full paragraphs (five to seven sentences each–at least) about what you learned. Do cite your sources within your paragraphs by identifying the author and the page number (or paragraph number if you have that but you lack page numbers) and then again at the end of the post.  (See the sample posts and descriptions within this module for an example). Provide a MLA citation at the end that shows where you obtained the source(s).  See the online Writing Center (Links to an external site.) resources for information about how to cite from online databases or from websites.  You should state in your post where you got the information.  Example: “According to Prof. James Lewis in an article in the Journal of Sculpture and Pictorial Art, the famous mermaid in Denmark, although rather small compared to some other pieces, is famous because … ” [you get the idea] 

(Why is the title of the journal above in italics?  The titles of journals appear in italics; the titles of specific articles within journals should appear in quotes, not italics).  

At the end of your post, supply your Works Cited information.  Canvas plays tricks with formatting sometimes, so don’t worry about the hanging indent in discussion board posts.  (“Hanging indent” is the “backwards” indentation you find in Works Cited pages,  i.e. the first line of the entry is not indented but all subsequent lines are indented five spaces).  

For Part Two, avoid the 1st person (I, me, my) and the 2nd person (you).  Stay in the present tense when presenting source information, even if the researcher is deceased.  Example:  “Jenkins observes” rather than “Jenkins observed.”  

Finally, if you find something interesting about another student’s or students’ post(s), you can reply.

IN SUM

You should write at least one to two full paragraphs (five to seven sentences per paragraph) for PART ONE and and at least two paragraphs (five to seven sentences per paragraph) for PART TWO.  Label them as “Part one” and “Part two.”  If you are hoping for a top grade, you must go beyond the minimum requirements.