ENG 100
English Composition
Gunn

Second Paper

Write a short essay in which you describe--in detail, for the rest of the class--a work of art that you love and explain what you love about it.

You may interpret "work of art" loosely.  Among the possibilities: a novel, a film, a poem, a painting, a song, a music video, a television show, a poster, a building or other structure (considered as architecture), a photograph.
If you have doubts, write me e-mail.

Try to keep the perspective of the Barry Lopez essay in mind as you develop this essay.  Your goal should be to demonstrate the connectedness of the elements in your work of art.  Try to move from small, precisely observed details--a few words, a scene, the curve of a line, a splash of color--to a sense of the whole.  To achieve this final result, you'll have to do a lot of preliminary work observing, contemplating, noticing.

Two warnings:

(1) Don't read through the work of art to something else--at least not immediately.  Of course the work will have personal associations for you, and it's fine to include these. But don't use the work of art as a mere pretext for writing about something else.  Try to focus your attention on the work itself--its texture, its design, the way it is put together.

(2) If the work you're writing about has a narrative element--i. e., a story--don't just summarize.  Think about how the story is arranged, what effects it creates.

Please write an hour-long exploratory journal entry on the work of art you have chosen as soon as possible--by Friday or Saturday, preferably, but at the latest by Monday, September 20, when you will need to hand in your journal at my office, some time during the day.

After you've finished the journal entry, try to work up a draft by Tuesday, in class (B group) or Tuesday or Wednesday in conference (A group).  As you move from your exploratory writing to the draft, try to define a central idea for your paper.  What is the main idea or impression you want to communicate as you describe and explain this work of art?

The final version will be due, in my office, on Friday, September 24, at 2 PM.

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