Research Guides: Art 210: Art History I: Home

Welcome to the Art 210 Guide!

Please use the information below to find images, scholarly sources, and information on how to properly cite your sources.

Find Images

National Gallery of Art Advanced Search NGA Images is a repository of digital images of the collections of the National Gallery of Art. On this website you can search, browse, share, and download images.
The MET: Open Source Images

Tip for finding images from a specific culture: On the MET website you can limit your search based on a geographic location. This will ensure all your images come from that country.

Find Scholarly Resources

JSTOR This link opens in a new window JSTOR is a multi-disciplinary database providing archival access to scholarly journals in the arts, language and literature, history, sciences, and social sciences. Typically, the most recent three to five years of a journal are not available through JSTOR.
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Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new window Academic Search Premier is a general coverage database providing full-text access to thousands of scholarly journals across a wide range of disciplines, including history, social science, library science, computer science, language and literature, art, education, and life sciences.
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Find Reference Information

Credo Reference This link opens in a new window A one-stop reference source featuring information from encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases, and more. Includes images, video, audio pronunciation of terms, maps, data tables, quotations, citation assistance. Subjects include art, biography, quotations, technology, medicine, and more.
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Video Tutorials

Citing Sources in MLA

Print Book	Last name, First name, Middle initial. Title of book. Publisher, Publication year. Roberts, Dorothy. Killing the black body. Vintage Books, 2017.
Chapter in an edited book	Last name, First name, Middle initial. "Title of chapter." Title of Book, edition, edited by Editor's name(s), Publisher, Year, Pages. Kessel, John. "Sharing the passion." The volleyball coaching bible, volume 2, edited by Cecile Reynaud, Human Kinetics, 2015, 3-14.
Journal Article	Last name, First name, Middle initial. "Title of Article." Name of Journal, vol. number, issue number, year, pages. Name of database, DOI or URL. Date of Access (Optional) Campbell, Lisa, et al. "It takes a community." Journal of Library Administration,* volume 55, issue 2015, 577-586. LISTA, 10.1080/01930826.2015.1076313. November 12, 2018. *el al. is used when there are three or more authors for the article.
Artwork	Artist’s last name, first name. Title of artwork. Year. Name of institution/private collection housing artwork. Title of database or website. Publisher/sponsor of database or website. Medium consulted. Date of access. Church, Frederic Edwin. Niagara. 1957. National Gallery of Art. NGA Images. Web. December 14, 2018.
Website	Last name, First name, Middle initial [or name of organization]. "Title of Webpage." Name of website, Publisher if different from name of website, Date published or updated, URL. Accessed day month year. Allen Memorial Library. "Reference services at Allen Memorial Library." Allen Memorial Library, Valley City State University, 2018, https://library.vcsu.edu/reference-services. Accessed 14 December 2018.

Website Citation

Citing Websites?

Use the following citation template when citing websites:

Last name, First name, Middle initial [or name of organization]. "Title of Webpage." Name of website, Publisher if different from name of website, Date published or updated, URL. Accessed day month year.

Allen Memorial Library. "Reference services at Allen Memorial Library." Allen Memorial Library, Valley City State University, 2018, https://library.vcsu.edu/reference-services. Accessed 14 December 2018.

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Structuring Compare and Contrast Essays

Brainstorming

The purpose of a comparison or contrast essay is the show how two different topics are either different or similar.

When brainstorming your ideas for a compare/contrast paper, it is useful to begin with a venn diagram to gather your thoughts (pictured below). The venn diagram helps you determine the key points of difference or similarity to focus on in your paper. In a compare and contrast essay you are going to want at least three key factors that you are going to focus on in your essay structure.

For instance : if you are writing a contrast essay on Canada and the United States your three points might be: government structure, culture, and the economy. Similarly if you were writing a comparison essay on New York City and Los Angeles your main points might be: economy, population, and entertainment.

Essay Structure

Thesis statements for comparison and contrast essays are typically structured to show what you will be talking about in your paper.

For instance, a thesis statement for a contrast essay might look like "Canada and the United States may appear similar due to geographic location, but they actually differ greatly through government structure, culture, and economy."

Similarly, a comparison thesis statement might look like: "While New York City and Los Angeles are on opposite sides of the country, they are similar in their economy, population, and entertainment industries."

Organizing a compare and contrast essay can be done by using the point-by-point structure.

Comparison Essay	Contrast Essay
Introduction Paragraph Includes your main points and your thesis statement	Introduction Paragraph Includes your main points and your thesis statement
Body Paragraph 1 Introduce your first point and discuss how the two topics are similar on that point.	Body Paragraph 1 Introduce your first point and discuss how the two topics differ on that point.
Body Paragraph 2 Introduce your second point and discuss how the two topics are similar on that point.	Body Paragraph 2 Introduce your second point and discuss how the two topics differ on that point.
Body Paragraph 3 Introduce your third point and discuss how the two topics differ on that point.	Body Paragraph 3 Introduce your third point and discuss how the two topics differ on that point.
Conclusion Paragraph Conclude essay by rewording the thesis statement and connecting back to all three body paragraphs	Conclusion Paragraph Conclude essay by rewording the thesis statement and connecting back to all three body paragraphs