Cartoon/Advertisement Project Instructions Fall 2016

For your written project, you will analyze EITHER a cartoon OR an advertisement that employs a work of western art dating from the Ancient Greek through the Gothic periods. The instructions for your project will vary somewhat depending on whether you choose to analyze a cartoon or an advertisement. Please make sure you follow the instructions corresponding to the project you select!

Option 1: Cartoon Project:

Analyze ONE of The New Yorker cartoons listed below, all of which are illustrated in the Cartoon/Advertisement Project Images file in BbL.**

• Aug. 9, 2004 New Yorker Cover, “Modern Olympics” by Christoph Niemann

• July 4, 1988, “I’m fully committed to bronze, but I must say I have a certain nostalgia for working in stone.” By Al Ross

• Feb. 23, 2009, “Tell me you kept the box and receipt” by Sidney Harris

• July 5, 2012, “You know, I wish they’d never found the arms!” by Stik (jantoo.com)

• July 5, 1999, “I’m bored. When do we get to kill the ump?” by Ed Fisher

• Nov. 11, 2002, “Hail Caesar! This weekend’s gross set a new record!” by Lee Lorenz

• June 13, 1988, “So far so good. Let’s hope we win” by Boris Drucker

**Other cartoons may be used SUBJECT TO MY APPROVAL.

Find a picture of the actual work of art—or type of artwork—which the cartoon employs. Make a photocopy or printout of the work to hand in with your assignment.

Answer the following questions regarding your chosen cartoon:

1. Identify the work (or works, or type of work) of art/architecture illustrated in your cartoon by
artist (if known), title, style period(s) (i.e. Geometric, Early Classical, etc…), and date.
If more than one work of art/architecture is depicted, try to identify as many works as
you can.

2. Provide a short history of the artwork. Why was it created? Why was the work
important/significant in its own time period?

3. Describe how the work of art relates to the context of the cartoon. (i.e. How is the
artwork functioning in the scene? How/Why does the artwork make the cartoon funny?)

4. Is the work of art accurately depicted or has it been altered in some way? If the work has
been altered from the original explain how. Be specific! Discuss the relevance of
the changes to the cartoon. Do the changes heighten the humor of the cartoon and, if
so, how? Do these changes alter the original context of the work? Do the changes challenge
modern assumptions or expectations about the work?

5. Does the cartoon contain any accompanying text? If so, how does the text relate to the
artwork?

6. Would you have understood the cartoon before you took ARH 141? That is, does the
cartoon require the viewer to be knowledgeable about ancient art/culture or not?

Option 2: Advertisement Project

Analyze ONE of the advertisements listed below, all of which are illustrated in the Cartoon/Advertisement Project Images file in BbL.

• Fendi (multi page ad; pictured in Vogue, March 2012)

• Karlie Kloss in a Nina Ricci “Slip Dress” (pictured in Vogue, June, 2013)

• Romana Sambuca (pictured in Time, 2007)

Find a picture of the actual work (or works) of art/architecture which the advertisement employs. Make a printout or photocopy of the picture to hand in with your assignment.

Answer the following questions regarding your advertisement:

1. Identify the artwork (or type of artwork) illustrated in your advertisement by artist
(if known), title, style period (i.e. Archaic, Early Classical, Early Roman, etc…), and date.
If more than one work of art/architecture is depicted, try to identify as many of the works as
you can.

2. Provide a short history of the artwork. Why was it created? Why was the work important or
significant in its own time period?

3. Describe how the work of art relates to the context of the advertisement. (i.e. How is the
artwork functioning in the scene? How does the artwork make the advertisement funny
or effective?)

4. Is the work of art accurately depicted or has it been altered in some way? If the work has
been altered from the original explain how. Be specific! Discuss the relevance of the
changes to the advertisement. Do the changes heighten the humor of the advertisement or
make the advertisement for effective, and, if so, how? Do these changes alter the original
context of the work? Do the changes make the artwork more relevant to the product being
advertised and, if so, how?

5. Does the advertisement contain any accompanying text? If so, does the text relate to
the artwork and, if so, how?

6. Would you have understood the advertisement before you took ARH 141? That is, does the
advertisement require the viewer to be knowledgeable about ancient art/culture or not?

** Other advertisements may be used subject to my approval. Advertisements must incorporate a work of western European art from a style period covered in this course (i.e. Ancient Greek through Gothic).

Project Format for Cartoon and Advertisement Projects:

You may structure your paper either as a continuous essay, or you may number your responses to correspond with the questions as they appear here. Your assignment should be typed, double-spaced, employ 12 point font, 1” margins, and be free of spelling and grammatical errors. Your paper should include no less than two and no more than four pages of text (excluding pictures). Presentation, grammar, spelling, quality and specificity of analysis and paper length will all be taken into consideration when grades are calculated.

Please be sure to address all the questions as completely as possible, as you will lose points for questions omitted.

Please remember also to include the required picture of the artwork—or type of artwork—used in your cartoon/advertisement. Projects missing this required image will lose points.

You MUST turn in a hard copy of your project. Projects submitted on-line will lose points!