RESEARCH PAPER: Asian Art

GRADING: The final paper is a formal writing assignment. As a result, you are expected to 1) observe rules of grammar, 2) clearly state your thesis (i.e. central argument), and 3) support your thesis with relevant, pertinent examples. You should strive to explain the rationale—the “why’s” and “how’s”—behind your thinking. [note: Remember, a good thesis (central argument) is a debatable opinion; someone should be able to disagree with your point-of-view. If your thesis is too agreeable, you may have written a statement of fact instead of a thesis. If you are unsure about the differences between these two ideas, you can simply type thesis and “statement of fact” in one Internet search, and you should see a large number of results about how to distinguish between these items at a number of college and university web pages. Whenever possible, you should try to address any obvious views or opinions that run counter to your thesis. You want to show the reader that you have some expertise about the topic you are writing about, and such expertise can be revealed by the fact that you have thought through other positions that differ from your own.] ANSWER THE FOLLOWING ESSAY QUESTION: 1. Of the following themes listed below, rank them in order from the most to least prominent as featured in the Asian American art you have experienced this semester. (You must address all the themes in your essay.) Explain the rationale/criteria—the why’s and how’s—behind your ranking. THEMES: a) Searching for and/or constructing an identity (including an “Asian American identity”) b) Viewing the future with cautious optimism and hope c) Responding to racism (including addressing stereotypes) d) Adjusting to and/or feeling alienated in a new cultural environment (key term: cultural assimilation) [When citing specific examples of artwork to support your argument / thesis, you should draw on a good cross section of work from the entire semester – for example, cite a few examples from music, some from literature and visual art, others from humor and film. I think citing 15-17 examples of art would be good for this essay assignment.] APPENDIX: An example of “art examples” that can be cited for your paper (this is just an example to give you a workable idea of what an “art example” consists of for the purposes of this essay assignment—you do NOT have to analyze the same art work in the list below) 1 – an Angel Island poem 1 – Sudden Rush’s performance of “EA” 1 – the visual artwork of Kango Takemura (The View From Within video doesn’t really analyze one of his works in depth) 2 – two short creative writings by members of Khmer Girls in Action 1 – Chitra Divakaruni’s short story “Clothes” 1 – the visual art of Pacita Abad as featured in Fresh Talk / Daring Gazes 1 – a joke from comedian Steve Byrne’s “different kinds of Asians” routine 1 – Glenn Kaino’s installation Fishing with Morice as featured in Fresh Talk / Daring Gazes 2 – “to be announced” short films shown in the last 1-2 weeks of the semester 1 – “Crazy Asian Parent” video clip 1 - Gene Yang’s graphic novel American Born Chinese 1 – discussion of the relevance of kim bap for writer Samson Yi (see week 14) etc. (add them up to 15 to 17) I need this completed within 6 hours from bid being received! Please include I UNDERSTAND in your bid, so I know you've read this!