Dear Ms. Zwanger,

Well, correct spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and sentence structure
would be indispensable. Once "technique" is out of the way you can begin to
discuss "content." Perhaps that's just my "perspective," but I believe a good
command of the verbal "palette" is prerequisite to creating a decent
"composition." How else to explore with any precision the "aesthetic response"
to a work of art and the "context" in which it the work was created?

Incidentally, are you teaching a course at NYU?

Jason Edward Kaufman


Meryl Suzanne Beatri Zwanger wrote:

> hi all-
>
> i am putting together a proposal for a class on writing about art, and was
> wondering if anyone (particularly working in education) has dealt with
> this.  i am working on figuring out the kinds of things that are valued in
> writing about art.  i don't mean really rhetoric or clarity, but more like
> how to deal with the meaning of a single image or object, or how to deal
> with an artist's oeuvre.  any ideas would be greatly appreciated, both on
> the kinds of concepts, et al, you try to teach, and the kind of exxercises
> you base that instruction in.
>
> any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  thanks, meryl
> zwanger