Last Tutorial Paper Submitted!

Can you believe it? It seems like only yesterday that I was writing about my embarrassment over submitting my first paper a week early! A lot has happened between then and now, and after much trial and tribulation (and a few crises of confidence), I can really feel the degree to which my writing has improved over these past ten weeks. I've learned how digest a huge amount of material in a relatively short period of time, how to really make an outline (or three!), how draft, how to revise, and how to polish. I've been truly proud of some of the work I've produced this term, and I'd like to think with good reason!

I ended up having to write two extra papers compared to everyone else in the program because of my mid-stream switch, but it was worth it to get to study such a fascinating subject in the end. I really never thought I'd enjoy really modern art, but I definitely got into it! In fact, I discovered a whole new set of artists and works that I'd never even begun to appreciate before, because I've never taken an art history course that has ventured much further than the 30s. Plus, now I can say that I written papers on 1980s American sculpture, which I think is almost as rarified as Sumerian! Well, maybe not quite...

Just for fun, here are the titles of all the papers I wrote for my tutorials this term (I love Oxford titles because they're very to the point - none of the twenty minutes wishy-washying around trying to find something poetic like I always have to do at Stanford!), along with a *somewhat* shortened summary of my thesis:

1. Who Were the Sumerians?

(Only God knows)

2. How, When, and Why was Writing Invented in Ancient Mesopotamia?

(Because they liked teh moneyz and wanted to keep track of them way back before the "0" and other such nonsense)

... (subject change!) ...

3. Cubism: A New Visual Language

(Picasso: Apolitical firebrand working in surprisingly traditional molds. Sure.)

4. Does Propagadism Preclude Realism?

(Yup.)

5. How did US Cold War Policy Guide the Definition of "American" Art in the Forties and Fifties?

(Double Length)

(All American art has its place in the fight against the commies!)

6. Is there a Dialogue in Pop Art?

(Double Length)

(You betcha!)

7. Is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial a Minimalist Sculpture?

(Shore is, sorry Richard Serra haters)

Needless to say, it's been a ton of work, but I've also had a great deal of fun. Bring on next quarter, where I'll be tackling two tutorials at once!