Key Assessment

Multiple Choice Items:

Objective: Student will be able to define the elements and principle of art through
chapter readings.
Question 1: What is the element of art that is derived from reflected light?
a.
b.
c.
d.

Balance
Line
Texture
Color

Objective: Student will be able to recognize how the principles of art are used to
organize the elements of art by textbook examples.
Question: Which of the following is an example of unity?
a. The real or implied distance between, around, above, below and within objects.
b. The repeating of an element to make a work seem active or suggest vibration.
c. The arrangement of elements and principles of art to create a feeling of oneness or
completeness.
d. Making an art element or object in an artwork stand out.
Objective: Student will be able to analyze a work of art through a group critique to
determine which element or principle has been applied by the artist .
Question:
principles?

a.
b.
c.
d.

The following artwork is an example of which of the following elements and

Proportion and Emphasis

Balance and Space
Color and Line
Pattern and Unity

Essay Items:

Key Assessment
Objective: Student will be able to evaluate art through the art criticism
processes used by art critics and art historians.
Essay: (200-250 words)
1. Interpret the artwork below based on its form and content. How is space suggested?
Do you think the artist succeeded in capturing the excitement and energy of the
wedding?

Pieter Bruegel the Elder. The Wedding Dance 1566

2. Compare and contrast the art critic to an art historian. In what ways do they
approach art criticism? Explain the reasons for your conclusions.

3. Select one of the following artworks and apply the four steps of art criticism to write
an article for an art magazine.

Key Assessment

Moscow by Kandinsky
Stonehenge

Bicycle Wheel by Duchamp

Short Answer: (50 words)

4. Why is it important to refer to all three aesthetic views when examining a work of
art?

5. What determines an artists personal style? Give an example of personal style

based on the artist of your choice.

6. Explain in your own words the meaning of artistic value. Give an example of artistic
value based on your personal art experiences.

HOT Items:
Objective: Student will be able to evaluate a written passage to determine which of the
four steps of an art criticism it is associated with.
HOT Question:

Key Assessment
Read the following passage:
The darkness of the sky is a rich deep blue that seems to be endless. The yellow objects in
the sky are stars. The stars do not just glow; they explode with light. With its swirling
patterns, the sky seems to be awake. Looking closer, the earth itself seems to respond to
the movement of the sky, forming its own waves in the hills beneath it. The church steeple
in the center seems to try and reach the sky. The dark mass takes the form of a tree and
makes the church seem very small. Vincent van Gogh wanted to express the magnitude of
nature and the struggle of man in the painting Starry Night.
Which of the four parts of an art critique is this passage associated with?
a. Analysis
b. Description
c. Interpretation
d. Judgment
Objective: Student will be able to analyze art through the art criticism processes used by
art critics and art historians.
HOT Question:
In many cultures, artists have used portraiture, including self-portraiture, to explore
characteristics of identity. These characteristics often include social or cultural issues such
as race, gender, religion, class and politics. From the point of view of an art critic, using
specific visual evidence, analyze how the portrait below addresses at least one social or
cultural issue in relation to identity. (Limit response to 200 words)

Objective: Student will be able to evaluate a work of art based on their opinion of what is
art is.
HOT Question:
Take a look at this artwork and read the information below.

Key Assessment

To make In Advance of the Broken Arm, Marcel Duchamp selected a snow shovel,
hung it from the ceiling of his studio, and called it art. His readymadesmass-produced,
functional objects he designated as artchallenged many accepted rules and traditions,
namely that art should reflect an artists skills, or even be handcrafted by the artist.
Duchamp asserted that an artist could create simply by making choices. His readymades
also aimed at shifting viewers engagement with works of art from what Duchamp called
the retinal (pleasing to the eye) to the intellectual (in the service of the mind),
challenging the traditional notion that beauty is a defining characteristic of art.
Duchamp frequently assigned humorous titles to his readymades. In Advance of the
Broken Arm refers playfully to the function of a snow shovel: to remove snow from the
ground. It assumes that without the shovel to remove the snow, one might slip and fall
and even break an arm.
Respond to the following question in a two paragraph essay:
What is your opinion of this particular artwork by Marcel Duchamp? What makes
art, art? Is beauty a defining characteristic of an artwork? Does an artwork have
to be handcrafted by an artist to be considered art?