HUM 200 Project Part One: Exploration Document Guidelines and Rubric

Overview We all share common experiences that can be generally classified within the major themes of art. Examples of these themes include love, mortality, identity, truth, and beauty. The representation of these themes through various media reveals central beliefs shared by a common people. The comparison of objects from the humanities with similar themes helps to uncover not only the uniqueness of each respective cultural artifact, but also a shared human consciousness that transcends time and place.

Your project for this course has two parts. In Project Part One, you will complete an exploration document examining two cultural artifacts that you select, identifying a theme common to both of them and developing a thesis statement related to the theme and artifacts. You will also identify an audience who would be interested in your artifacts, theme, and thesis statement. In Project Part Two, you will develop a presentation for your audience. In your presentation, you will discuss the impact of the cultural artifacts, theme, and thesis statement on both individuals and society, supporting your claims with evidence. You will also explain how study of the humanities has impacted you both personally and professionally.

In Project Part One, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course outcomes:

 Illustrate the impact of the humanities on personal and professional experiences  Select appropriate and relevant resources in the humanities in investigating expressions of human creativity  Communicate effectively to specific audiences in examining fundamental aspects of human culture  Apply essential principles of the humanities in exploring major themes of human culture and creativity

Prompt Choose two cultural artifacts to analyze. These artifacts may take the form of any artistic medium, such as literature, poetry, music, film, dance, painting, and sculpture, and so on. Then, identify a common theme and compare your examples to one another as expressions of the same theme in different cultural artifacts. Chapters 3 through 6 in the Soomo webtext will walk you through this process.

Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:

I. Describe the cultural artifacts that you chose. Consider questions such as these in your response: What is the name or title of the artifact? Who is the author or artist? What is the date or time period when the artifact was created? What is the cultural location or physical setting of the artifact? In addition, you could consider including a photograph or image of each cultural artifact, if they are visual artifacts.

II.

Identify at least one common theme that will serve as the framework of your exploration document. How is the theme expressed in your artifacts?

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III. Explain how the theme you identified is related to your personal experience. For instance, you could discuss how the expression of the theme in your cultural artifacts is connected to you personally.

IV. Discuss a profession that could be impacted by the theme you identified. In other words, how is the theme you identified related to professional experiences? How could a working knowledge of the humanities be useful in this field?

V. Describe at least three humanities resources that you could use to investigate your theme and artifacts. Your sources must be relevant to your theme and of an appropriate academic nature. In your description, consider questions such as the following: What are the similarities and differences in the content of your sources? What makes them appropriate and relevant for investigating your issue? What was your thought process when you were searching for sources? How did you make choices? Did you encounter any obstacles and, if so, how did you overcome them? If you did not, why do you think it was so easy to find what you needed?

VI. Use the humanities resources that you selected to research your theme and cultural artifacts, making sure that you cite your sources. Based on your research, do the following:

A. Discuss the relationship between each cultural artifact and its historical context. In other words, what were the circumstances under which each artifact was created?

B. Explain the similarities and differences that you observe in the cultural artifacts you selected, in relation to the theme. For instance, do the artifacts contain any symbolism? If so, how are the symbols both similar and different? What do the symbols tell you about each artifact?

C. Discuss the medium—such as literature, music, or sculpture—through which your cultural artifacts were created. For instance, how did the creator or creators of each artifact use the medium to convey something about the meaning of the artifact?

VII. Based on your research, develop a thesis statement that conveys the claim you plan to make about your theme and artifacts. Your thesis statement

should be clear, specific, and arguable. VIII. Based on your research, identify an audience that would be interested in your theme and thesis statement. For example, who would benefit most from

hearing your message?

IX. Describe how and why you can tailor your message to your audience, providing specific examples based on your research. For example, will your audience understand the terminology and principles used by humanities scholars, or will you need to explain these? How will you communicate effectively with your audience?

X. Provide a reference list that includes all of the humanities resources you used to research your artifacts, theme, and thesis statement. Ensure that your list is formatted according to current APA guidelines (or another format with instructor permission).

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Project Part One Rubric

Guidelines for Submission: You will upload the polished version of the Word document you downloaded from Soomo to the submission link for instructor grading and feedback. Please see the feedback provided by your instructor in your SNHU course. Your exploration document should adhere to the following formatting requirements: 3 to 5 pages in length, double-spaced, using 12-point Times New Roman font and one-inch margins. You should use current APA style guidelines (or another format approved by your instructor) for your citations and reference list.

Critical Elements Exemplary Proficient Needs Improvement Not Evident Value

Cultural Artifacts Meets “Proficient” criteria and description is exceptionally clear and contextualized (100%)

Describes selected cultural artifacts (85%)

Describes selected cultural artifacts but with gaps in detail or clarity (55%)

Does not describe selected cultural artifacts (0%)

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Common Theme Meets “Proficient” criteria and identified theme is especially well-aligned with artifacts (100%)

Identifies at least one common theme to serve as framework of exploration document and explains how theme is expressed in artifacts (85%)

Identifies at least one common theme to serve as framework of exploration document and explains how theme is expressed in artifacts but with gaps in clarity or detail (55%)

Does not identify at least one common theme to serve as framework of exploration document and does not explain how theme is expressed in artifacts (0%)

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Personal Experience Meets “Proficient” criteria and explanation demonstrates keen insight into impact of humanities on personal experiences (100%)

Explains ho w identified theme is related to personal experience (85%)

Explains ho w identified theme is related to personal experience but with gaps in clarity or detail (55%)

Does not explain how identified theme is related to personal experience (0%)

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Profession Meets “Proficient” criteria and explanation demonstrates keen insight into impact of humanities on professional experiences (100%)

Discusses a profession that could be impacted by identified theme (85%)

Discusses a profession that could be impacted by identified theme but with gaps in clarity or detail (55%)

Does not discuss a profession that could be impacted by identified theme (0%)

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Humanities Resources Meets “Proficient” criteria and description of resources demonstrates strong understanding of information needed to investigate expressions o f human creativity (100%)

Describes at least three relevant and appropriate humanities resources that could be used to investigate theme and artifacts (85%)

Describes at least three humanities resources that could be used to investigate theme and artifacts but with gaps in appropriateness, relevance, or detail (55%)

Does not describe humanities resources that could be used to investigate theme and artifacts (0%)

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Critical Elements Exemplary Proficient Needs Improvement Not Evident Value

Research: Historical Context

Meets “Proficient” criteria and response demonstrates insight into essential humanities principles (100%)

Discusses relationship between each cultural artifact and its historical context, citing sources (85%)

Discusses relationship between each cultural artifact and its historical context but with gaps in detail, clarity, or citation (55%)

Does not discuss relationship between each cultural artifact and its historical context (0%)

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Research: Similarities and Differences

Meets “Proficient” criteria and response demonstrates insight into essential humanities principles (100%)

Explains similarities and differences observed in cultural artifacts in relation to theme, citing sources (85%)

Explains similarities and differences observed in cultural artifacts but not in relation to theme or with gaps in detail, clarity, or citation (55%)

Does not explain similarities and differences observed in cultural artifacts (0%)

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Research: Medium Meets “Proficient” criteria and response demonstrates insight into essential humanities principles (100%)

Discusses the medium through which the cultural artifacts were created, citing sources (85%)

Discusses the medium through which cultural artifacts were created but with gaps in detail, clarity, or citation (55%)

Does not discuss the medium through which the cultural artifacts were created (0%)

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Thesis Statement Meets “Proficient” criteria and claim demonstrates insight into connection between theme and artifacts (100%)

Develops c lear, specific, and arguable thesis statement that conveys claim about theme and artifacts, based on research (85%)

Develops thes is statement that conveys claim about theme and artifacts but thesis statement is not based on research, lacks clarity or specificity, or is not arguable (55%)

Does not develop thesis statement that conveys claim about theme and artifacts (0%)

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Audience Meets “Proficient” criteria and identification of audience demonstrates insight into theme and thesis statement (100%)

Identifies an audience that would be interested in theme and thesis statement, based on research (85%)

Identifies an audience but audience is not appropriate for theme and thesis statement or is not based on research (55%)

Does not identify an audience (0%)

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Message Meets “Proficient” criteria and response demonstrates sophisticated understanding of how to effectively communicate with specific audience (100%)

Describes how and why message can be tailored to audience, providing specific examples based on research (85%)

Describes how and why message can be tailored to audience but with gaps in examples or research support (55%)

Does not describe how and why message can be tailored to audience (0%)

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Critical Elements Exemplary Proficient Needs Improvement Not Evident Value

Reference List Provides reference list that includes all humanities resources used to research artifacts, theme, and thesis statement, ensuring that list is formatted according to current APA guidelines (100%)

Provides reference list that includes all humanities resources used to research artifacts, theme, and thesis statement, but list has gaps i n adherence to current APA formatting guidelines (55%)

Does not provide reference list that includes all humanities resources used to research artifacts, theme, and thesis statement (0%)

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Articulation of Response

Submission is free of errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, and organization and is presented in a professional and easy-to- read format (100%)

Submission has no major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization (85%)

Submission has major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that negatively impact readability and articulation of main ideas (55%)

Submission has critical errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that prevent understanding of ideas (0%)

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Total 100%

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