1)Discuss the changes we begin to see in women in the modern period using specific examples from art and literature to illustrate your argument. Your response should include at least one example from literature (Chopins The Awakening, Ibsens A Dolls House, poetry by Emily Dickinson, etc.) as well as one example from visual arts. Be sure to explain your selections and how they support our understanding of this topic. Your discussion should also cover a broad time period and include
important developments included in the second half of the course.
2)In Unit II, we begin spending a fair amount of time considering what it means to be modern. Draft an essay response in which you discuss at least some of the following aspects of modernity: technology and industrial progress, capitalism, freedom of expression, voting rights, the rise of urban culture, and the artist as avant-garde. Then, using specific examples from course material, demonstrate how art is used to illustrate this new modern period. Be sure to explain each example in detail. How is postmodernism different? Whats an example of postmodernism? Explain.
3)Discuss the impact that The Great War (WWI) had on the human psyche using a comparison of Kirchners two self-portraits: 34.12 Self-Portrait with Model and 35.1 Self-Portrait as a Soldier. How does the change that the artist presents reflect the mood of humans in general following this war? Be sure to provide a detailed analysis of each work.
4)Define existentialism, and give two reasons for its appeal to post-World War II people. How do we see this new mind-set reflected in visual arts, particularly in Abstract Expressionism? Why would this style have been supported financially by the U.S. CIA?
5)Identify and explain three ways the Great Depression recovery Work Projects Administration (WPA) aided the arts, listing and explaining specific examples of each. Be sure to research a bit about WPA and New Deal Programs to provide a historical context.
6)An overarching theme of the 1960s and the 1970s is the exploration and redefining of roles in American society. From African Americans to the youth culture to women to men, identity and discuss three traditional roles that were challenged and perhaps changed. How were these identities and roles depicting in the arts? Discuss at least two specific examples.
7)Describe Pop Art and Dada and tell how these can be viewed as artistic styles that are in reaction to societal events. What are they critiquing in society? Use detailed explanations of works of art to support your response.
8)Show and explain at least two ways in which Freuds psychoanalysis influences the surrealist style. Be sure to explain Freuds theories in details and show its influences through a detailed discussion of at least two specific works of art.