When you observe a piece of art, your response is influenced by who you are as a human being: your life experience, your temperament, your preferences, your worldview, your feelings, values, and beliefs even your mood that particular day. All of these factors can all influence how you respond to an artwork.
Because of this, a work of art can have very different, but equally valid, meanings for different people.
This essay will give you an opportunity to observe, consider, and interpret what an artwork means for you.
You do not need to know anything about art. You are considering it as a thoughtful observer, and sharing your views with your reader.
NOTE: I do not care nor do I want to hear what a chatbot has to say about it. I am not interested in an art history analysis. I want to understand how you, as a human being, interpret it from your own point of view. ETA: Because of this, you absolutely can and will use the first person “I” instead of the more distanced third person typical of some academic writing.
The artwork well use for this essay is the untitled work, often called Your Body Is a Battleground (1989) by American artist Barbara Kruger.
Barbara Kruger – Your Body Is a Battleground
Your audience
Your reader will be someone interested in art that is open to interpretation. (They may or may not be familiar with this particular piece.) They are curious to hear what this artwork means for you and why; i.e. what has led you to your personal understanding of it.
Process: how to prepare:
1. Guided brainstorm:
This brainstorm will exercise your critical thinking by making inferences based on observation.
Consider whether you will approach this brainstorm using deductive reasoning (having a broad first impression then looking at details that support it) OR inductive reasoning (examining the details first to form a more holistic impression.
Look at the above image (on a laptop or other computer, not your phone) and write down the following by hand (handwritten brainstorming is strongly preferred):
What stands out to you? What basic elements comprise the design? What seems significant about them? When you look closer, or for a longer time, what new details do you notice? What connections can you make, either among the elements or with your ideas and inferences? What do these elements remind you of? How do you relate to them personally?
Gather your thoughts in your brainstorm (free write, list, journaling clustering, etc., whatever works for your purpose) and set them aside. Come back later with a fresh mind and review. Collectively, what do your notes point to as a core idea? In other words, what is a central point you want to make about how you interpret and relate to this piece? That idea will lead to your draft thesis.
NOTE: You have several options in terms of the lens through which you interpret this image. Your inferences can be personal (i.e. about your own direct life experience), or your take on this might be political, or social, or psychological, etc. It’s up to you which interpretation you find most compelling, but ultimately focus on one in particular for your essay.
You will post your brainstorm as your Essay 1 Prep 1: Brainstorm assignment.
2. Draft thesis:
Your thesis draft will be a sentence that expresses the main point you want the reader to understand about what this artwork means for you. See the module lesson on thesis statements here: Intro to Thesis Statements
3. Outline:
Based on your thesis, think about the key points you want to make to expand on your main idea. Look again at your initial brainstorm from when you were closely observing the artwork. (You can do a follow-up brainstorm too.)
In your outline, each supporting claim / topic sentence (one per body paragraph) will express a thought you have about the specific visual or word-based elements you noticed and how they led to your interpretation of this piece and how you relate to it.
In one paragraph youll also compare what you believe may have been the artists original intent versus how youre interpreting it. (See next section.)
NOTE: You will post your draft thesis & outline as your Essay 1 Prep 2: Thesis & Outline assignment.
4. Consider the original context:
After youve come to your own conclusions / interpretations of the artwork and drafted your main thesis and outline, read more about the artist and context for this piece here: The Broad Museum: Barbara Kruger: Untitled (Your body is a battleground)
Consider what the artist may have intended by making this artwork. (Its fine if its different from your take!) In one paragraph of your essay, youll compare your interpretation vs. what the artist may have intended.
However, WAIT to look up the original context until after youve formed your own interpretation. You need your own unfiltered impressions first for your essay to be authentically you.
No other research is necessary for this essay.
5. Draft essay:
Using your outline as a map, draft an introduction, body paragraphs, and a brief conclusion. See the lessons in this module for guidelines on these basic essay elements.
As you draft, here are three questions to ask yourself (and clarify):
What does my reader need to know or understand at this point?
What am I trying to say?
Why does it matter? (i.e. what are the implications?)
6. Review, revise & format:
Review your draft and revise as needed to ensure: your intro sets up your topic for your reader; your thesis and supporting claims are clear and consistent; and each body paragraph develops its focused point in a thoughtful way with supporting details and elaboration. (Again, see the module lesson content for tips.)
Format your paper in MLA format, do a final proofread, then submit. Your Works Cited will consist of the artist and artwork information; see our textbook A Writer’s Reference, section MLA 4-b, #51 (which includes an example of how to format and what to include).
Resources
For more guidance on your essay, in our textbook A Writer’s Reference review:
C1: Planning
C2: Drafting (especially the section on argumentation thesis statements)
C3: Writing paragraphs
C4: Reviewing, revising, editing
For full specifications (page length, etc.) and to submit the assignment, click here: Essay 1: Interpretive argument
AI Policy
This essay is based on your own perceptions, experiences, and opinions. Only you can write this. AI cannot do it for you, at least not convincingly, and your grade will reflect any attempt at taking a shortcut. Do your own work independent of AI from the brainstorm through producing and revising the paper. Your essay should be based entirely on your own insights and the voice should be exclusively your own.
Click NEXT to continue in the module.