For this assignment, you will need to choose either a visual arts event OR a performing arts event to attend. Make sure to keep your ticket or receipt as you will need to attach it to the back of your paper. While there, answer the questions from the appropriate chapter(s) in the book Beginner's Guide to the Humanities. If you have chosen to do a visual arts event you will need to select ONE piece of artwork to focus on for your paper. Make sure to take or sketch a picture that you can attach to the back of your paper. If you have chosen to do a performing arts event, you may need to select ONE piece of work to evaluate if your performance consisted of several pieces. An example of this would be if you saw a musical performance where six musicians played different works. You would need to choose one of them.
For the visual arts, you may go to one of the galleries or museums listed in class. Locally you may attend the MJC Gallery, Mistlin Gallery in Modesto, the Carnegie Arts Center in Turlock, or the Haggin Museum in Stockton. The major museums in the bay area that I recommend are MOMA, the DeYoung, Legion of Honor, or the Asian Art Museum. The Crocker Museum in Sacramento is also acceptable. Please check the hours of museums online before you go, as they sometimes keep irregular hours.
For the performing arts, you may attend any professionally produced performance that falls within the guidelines of the course and is intended for an adult audience. You may go to related events at colleges, like here at MJC, Stan State, etc. Most events at the Gallo center will work and everything at Prospect Theater will count. What does not work are popular music performances, standup comedy, speech night, etc. If you are wanting to go to a performing arts event and you are not sure if it will work for this assignment, please check with me first.
The actual content of your essay needs to contain three major categories: description, analysis, response. For the description portion you will need to describe the work you have chosen using the appropriate vocabulary terms from class. It needs to be an educated description that shows you are a humanities student. For the analysis portion you will need to critically analyze the ONE piece that you have selected. This analysis will be different for everyone, because you will be selecting different pieces to evaluate. This is the part of the paper where you look at the technical elements of the work you selected and analyze its meani...
