Over the course of the semester, you’ll be asked to read, watch, or listen to a variety of stories, movies, and music. In addition, twice weekly you should follow up that reading/watching/listening assignment by posting a short comment here on the course website.

Why? Your comments aren’t just about showing you’ve done the required reading, though that is part of their purpose. The fundamental goal of these short assignments is to get you to take a break from your busy schedule and think about the text you’ve just read or the painting you’ve just looked at. Writing isn’t only an act of communication; it’s also an act through which we learn. By taking ten minutes to write an analytic comment about a particular detail, you will come to understand the story or the painting on a deeper level—and what’s more you’ll lock in that understanding for later in the semester when you take the midterm and final exams.

Here’s an added complication: at the college level, most good essays begin by referencing prior research as a starting point for discussion. This is to say that scholars almost always write in response. In an effort to kickstart that habit, read through what others have already written before you post your HW and see whether you want to post in response. As a general guideline, roughly half your HW posts should be responses rather than original comments—that way you get practice in both modes of writing.

What You Will Be Graded On

Class weeks consist of a Lecture class and two section meetings: for example, Lecture 2, Class 2.1 and Class 2.2 together constitute a week of classes. For each such week of classes you are required to:

• Submit HW starting a new comment thread at least once.
• Submit HW responding to another student’s HW post at least once.

Guidelines for Starting a New Comment Thread

• Don’t just make a generalization. Ground your analysis by calling the reader’s attention to a particular detail in the artwork. You may have a general sense that “The Catcher in the Rye is about youthful alienation,” but unless you reference a particular incident you’re just mouthing what everyone says about that famous book. (What’s more, in the era of ChatGPT, you need to prove you’re not a robot.)
• Oddities are more interesting than expected outcomes. Many of the artworks we’re examining this semester are famous, so you likely have expectations about them. Look for a moment when the artwork surprises you and write about that. Going back to Catcher in the Rye, since everyone knows that Holden Caulfield is an alienated youth, it might be better to puzzle over the novel’s portrait of midcentury NYC: for example the bellboy/pimp who offers to set Caulfield up with a prostitute.
• The magic of art is in the details, not the plot. As we know from politics, spin matters, which is to say that the bare outline of events isn’t as important as the way the story is told: foreshadowing, symbolism, word choice. So quote the text! Or in the case of paintings, give a rich evocative description! Help your reader experience the artwork the way you experience it, and use that experience as evidence for your analysis.

Guidelines for Writing in Response

• Read the comment thread with care. Make sure you understand the thinking of the original post, as well as any responses from other students.
• Say something new. If you’re familiar with Improv theater, you might think of responding as an opportunity to practice “Yes, and …”—though “Yes, but what about …” is also a viable option. And in some cases you may simply want to disagree: “I see things differently …”
  • “Yes, and …” might involve presenting another instance of the same phenomenon noted in the original post, helping to flesh out a broader pattern within the artwork. Give that pattern a name if possible.
  • “Yes, but what about …” likely involves presenting a counter-example, complicating the understanding presented in the original post. If possible, give voice to a new understanding that embraces both the original point and the counter-example: “Though he imagines himself as an adult, Holden Caulfield is in many respects still a kid. He’s caught in an uncomfortable between-space.”
  • “I see things differently …” means disagreeing with the analysis of the evidence cited in the original post (if you’re drawing on a different scene or a different part of the picture, you’d do better to frame your point as “Yes, but what about …”). Start by paraphrasing the point you disagree with to show you understand what they were arguing, then going on to explain your logic. Grappling with the same or similar evidence, explain how you reach a different conclusion.