Monsters in AmericaProject
As W. Scott Pooles text will serve as the conceptual framework for the course, this assignment seeks to promote regular critical engagement with the text.
Part 1: Chapter by Chapter Engagement.For each chapter of the text, students will maintain comprehensive, written dossiers separated into three components as follows.
Component 1: Annotated Reflections.(1.5-2 pages)Students will compose written reflections on the material covered, using annotation as a strategy to highlight their perspective and response to the readings. Keeping the principles outlined in Adlers How to Mark a Book in mindwhile reading, students should seek to identify moments/passages in the text that were illuminating, confusing, instructive, dubious, biased, fascinating, problematic, and so forth.
The written reflection itself should be both specific and representative of the whole range of the required reading, and not simply be from the first few pages of the reading. This piece is a reflection of how the reader interacts with the text; there is no right or wrong, only different levels of academic curiosity and critical thought.
The reflection should include a series of insightful, well-developed entries of select annotations the student has made. Each entry should begin by citing the first few words of the relevant phrase or passage, followed by the page number. The remainder of the entry should examine the significance of the passage. Entries can clarify a reference and explain its significance, explore something that is unclear, or explain why something resonates with the reader, etc. (There is a reason that you made the annotation, and each individual will annotate something different.)
Reflections will be submitted according to the due dates outlined in the weekly schedule. Those students scheduled to present for a given chapter are not required to submit a reflection (seeMonsters in AmericaPresentationsassignment). An individual grade is not assigned to each reflection; however, reflections will be graded collectively upon the completion of the project. Failure to submit a reflection will result in a 10 point reduction from the overall project grade.
Component 2: Summary.(1 page)Students will compose a summary of the chapter, highlighting the key elements of Pooles text. These summaries should not exceed one page in length.
Component 3: Vocabulary.Students will maintain a list of unfamiliar words they come across in the chapter. The list should also include the page on which the word was found. Once completing the chapter, students will define these words using a college dictionary and observing the definition appropriate for the words usage in context.
Part 2: Comprehensive Reflection.The comprehensive reflection will be a culminating work composed at the end of the semester. Prior to the class, students will have their chapter reflections returned to them for review. The comprehensive reflection will call upon students, using their chapter reflections as their only reference, to treatMonsters in Americain its entirety, focusing on their overall impressions of the work as well as anything learned from the text with long ranging applicability beyond the context of the course.

Topic: essay 2

Order Description
You are going to “invest” in some art in a purely hypothetical fashion. This assignment is intended to give you a feel for what it would be like to invest in art.

Format your work to look like you are an art dealer and I am your client.

My name is Pierre Stee; I am a 42 year old cheese maker. I was born and raised in France, but now I live in Wisconsin, giving private wine and cheese parties for wealthy people. I am looking to invest in art for the room where I meet with clients to set up these parties.
I am commissioning you to invest $70,000 in art from the time period 1900-1920 to add to my personal collection. It is up to you to find art that will hold its value, that is certified, and that you think I will like. Remember, I am getting 20 other offers to invest my $70,000, so you have to be convincing that what you have found is what I should spend my money on.
Please explain why you have picked what you have – include pictures if possible. You do not have to pick one item worth $69,800 – you can pick several smaller items if you think they are a good deal. You must include links to the works of art to go with your descriptions, prices and justification for why I would want this work of art.

PLEASE DO NOT BID ON ANYTHING! Remember, too, that I’ll be grading this assignment based on thoroughness and thoughtfulness. Just a few sentences will not suffice here. You’re investing a lot of money, so you need to include a lot of reasoning.
You have $70,000 fictitious dollars to spend.

You are required to investigate art on a REAL art auction site. Ebay is NOT an art auction house – but their Sotheby’s link is. Don’t forget smaller ones – Art Deco or Modernism sites, for instance. A good jumping off point, courtesy of Jeff E in the Spring 06 class: findartinfo.com
The art that you invest in must be from the time period covered in this module; roughly 1900 to 1920. Please make sure that the art you choose for the assignment comes from the correct time period.
You are investing for a French cheese maker in his 40’s and you have to tell me why you are picking the things that you are. Spend some time finding things that a wealthy French cheese maker would like to display in order to impress his clients. Don’t grab the first three things that total $70,000.
Hint: The art work that you invest in does NOT have to be a painting or a sculpture. There is more to the ‘art’ world than paintings and sculptures. Maybe you want to invest in a fabulous wine display rack for your client that was hand carved in the Art Deco style. Maybe you have found an incredible and complete wine glass set that was hand-blown in Venice in 1920. It is up to you to find things for our client that he will like, that will fit his job and life style, and date to the correct time period. I would actually prefer it if you would look around a bit and not limit yourself to paintings.

Here are a couple of excellent examples of what I’m looking for.

Sample assignment #1 https://bbaddins.schoolcraft.edu/addins/ART116/dawn.htm

Sample assignment #2 https://bbaddins.schoolcraft.edu/addins/ART116/kenneth.htm