This is the beginning of a series of blog posts that will explore the development of my Year 1 Contextual Studies essay. This includes idea generation, source discussion, time management, etc.
The brief for the essay is as follows:
You are asked to write a 1500 word illustrated essay following NTU Harvard Reference Guidelines.
Submit in a PDF format as the following surname.firstname.essay1.pdf e.g bainbridge.sharon.essay1.pdf
'Going Against the Grain'
- How artists, designers and performers are often at a pivotal point of society changing
Create a question based on this concept, 1850's - Present day, researched via primary and secondary sources
Formative assessment points
Week 20: 5-minute presentation of the research idea.
Early in Term 2: Submit essay draft and essay plan
Week 35: Submit completed essay
I began my initial idea generation through exploring the topic of 1850's women in art, covering prostitution and sex workers through the eyes of figureheads such as Edouard Manet. I was then advised to move my research trajectory into a more 20th century lens in order to include film. From this advice, I developed the three following ideas:
Flappers and radical 1920's women in contemporary film, art and culture
The demonisation and trope-creation surrounding autism and disability in 20th century film
The impact of the Hays code on underground Queer cinema in the 1960's; Warhol, Divine, etc...
I loaned out multiple books related to these topics:
- Frankenstein / [direction by James Whale, screenplay by Garrett Fort, Francis Edwards Farogh, based on the novel by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley] ; edited by Richard J. Anobile- Ernst Ludwig Kirchner : 1880-1938 Grisebach, Lucius.; Kirchner, Ernst Ludwig, 1880-1938 Koln London : Taschen; 1996
- Seeing through the seventies : essays on feminism and art / Laura Cottingham
- The Weimar years : a culture cut short / John Willett
- Gender, culture, and the arts : women, the arts, and society / edited by Ronald Dotterer and Susan Bowers
- Warhol's queens / edited by Henriette Dedichen ; with essays by Hubertus Butin [and four others].
I also emailed Huw Feather regarding my trouble in narrowing down my choices. He recommended I study 2. and 3. in further detail for 2nd and 3rd year, but agreed with me that the 1920's Flapper and Radical Women topic was a contender for the Year 1 essay. Therefore, I secured my mind around this concept.
In the following posts, I will begin to develop my essay through sources, mind-maps etc..
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