English 101Fall 2016Prof. Lazaroff

Necessary Viewing/Listening

In this first essay, you will select one photograph, one song, or one painting that truly matters to you and explore why this selection is so vital.

Below are some points to consider when crafting the paper:

Offer background on the artist (but remember that the writing needs to be in your own words – this is not a research project). Give context about your chosen image or song (at what point in her career was this work created? How does this fit in with the rest of the artist’s work?)

Explore your initial reaction to the photograph, song, or painting. How has that grown?

Give necessary details so your reader can fully understand your work without personally experiencing it. If writing about a song, provide specific lyrics that can add to your discussion. If writing about an image, discuss the use of color and light. What details in the work do you pay most attention to?

If writing about an image, the image itself should be represented in your paper.

The point of the essay is to explore, in detail, a photograph, song, or painting that you find vital. By the end of your paper you should have convinced your reader that your subject is truly necessary viewing or listening.

In your conclusion you can mention other photographs, songs, or paintings by the artist that also resonate with you.

The paper needs to be a minimum of five fully-developed paragraphs (750 words).

Important Date: Rough draft due to class ______________________.

Important Date: Final draft due ________________________.