museum analysis essay

Note: in this class, your draft is a complete essay. It must meet all of the requirements of the final essay: an argumentative thesis, thoughtful engagement with outside sources (with appropriate in-text citations and references page), and complete, thoughtful analysis. The more developed your draft is, the more valuable feedback your classmates and I will be able to provide towards significant revision. Note, however, that your draft only needs to be 7 pages. For the draft, a conclusion section is also optional.

Prompt

For this assignment, you will continue the research you started in your annotated bibliography. You will write an 8-10 page argumentative essay in which you directly cite at least 6 scholarly sources, as well as at least 6 non-scholarly sources. All 6 sources from your Annotated Bibliography may be used toward this total, but you are not required to use them. You will certainly use sources to provide Background about your topic, but the focus of your citations should be to present and respond to the Arguments of other authors, as well as to present Exhibits, or evidence about your museums, to analyze.

Comparing and contrasting the museums should not be the only aim of your essay, however. Comparison and contrast should be made toward a larger purpose: to develop an argumentative thesis. In other words, you should use any compare/contrast as a tool that helps you to make a claim (an original insight) about your museums or museum studies more generally.

Thus, it is very important to remember that the purpose of this essay is not to provide an overview or summary of your two museums. Your purpose is actually to present your own original insights and answers to your Research Question. Therefore, your essay’s body paragraphs should focus on main ideas and arguments rather than simply descriptions or observations. Always strive to use your compare/contrast as evidence to support your argument. Always carefully choose which aspects of your museums you would like to compare and contrast, since writing about too many aspects will lead to an unfocused and overly descriptive essay.

Additional Requirements

In addition to fulfilling all of the components above, here are some additional requirements to pay close attention to:

• The essay itself is 8 full pages

• The essay directly cites 6 scholarly sources, and these sources are forwarded throughout the essay (including paraphrases and direct quotes) for a variety of reasons, such as to clarify/extend key concepts and agree/contend with arguments.

• The essay directly cites 6 non-scholarly sources as Exhibits, or evidence about the museums. This evidence is thoughtfully analyzed/interpreted and used to support the thesis

• The thesis statement is clear, specific, compelling, and makes an argumentative claim

• The essay engages with the scholarly conversation by frequently and thoughtfully forwarding scholarly sources

• The essay has a CARS introduction

• The essay’s organization is argumentative, focusing on arguments and claims rather than summary or description. In general, body paragraphs focus on main ideas and claims

• When the student cites sources as Argument sources, the student always responds thoughtfully and carefully to the arguments of other authors by either agreeing or disagreeing with the arguments

• APA references page only includes sources that are cited directly in the essay

• Included with draft: Writer’s memo*

• Included with final: Self-reflection**

*Writer’s Memo for First Draft (0.5-1 page)

The writer’s memo is a short letter to your readers. The purpose of this memo is to reflect on what you believe are the strengths and weaknesses of your draft. In your memo:

• Identify 2 content areas of your essay that you would like to improve (e.g. your thesis, the structure of a particular body paragraph, or an argument you are trying to make). What do you find particularly difficult about these areas? What do you believe you can do to improve these areas, and what advice would you like from your readers about these areas?

• Identify 2 content areas of your essay that you believe are the most successful. What do you believe is particularly successful about these aspects? Are there ways in which you would still like to improve on these areas? If so, how?

and here is my topic and outline, its still need 6 source