AH 408 Home Page | Lectures and Assignments | Course Description
ART HISTORY 408: ART IN ITALY, 1850-2007
8-15 PAGE RESEARCH PAPER ON AN ORIGINAL WORK OF ART
(ILLUSTRATION MUST BE INCLUDED WITH EACH VERSION)
Writing Center website
NOTE: To prepare and develop your papers you will need to make 1-5 crucial appointments:
- With me, bbuenger@wisc.edu or preferably during office hours, to clarify your paper topic and how to research it.
- With Drew Stevens, telephone only at 263-7377, for individual study of chosen works on paper in the Chazen Print Room.
- With Cassie Wilkins, 263-4368 and cwilkins@chazen.wisc.edu, to view Italian paintings in storage.
- With Linda Duychak, 263-2257/2258 and lduychak@library.wisc.edu and askart@wisc.edu, for research assistance.
- With the Chazen Museum Registrar – in this case you must fill out a form for your request at the Chazen reception desk – to request to see the museum file on the work on which you write if it is in the Chazen collection.
The assignment requires a close consideration of your chosen work in context. You will combine your perfected formal analysis (see separate directions here) with discussion based on research on the work's meaning, background, and place in a contemporary context. Good art historical research and writing should balance connoisseurship, or close analysis of and sensitivity to the form, style, and technique of works of art; exegesis, or attention to the work's many meanings; and social history, an attempt to explain how and why these works can be seen as products of a particular time and place. A central question to ask is why is a work contemporary, or of its time, and why is it a product only of that time? To that end, it is necessary to try to situate the work and artist in the various contexts (artistic, cultural, historical, personal) from which they emerged. You must be rigorous and disciplined in finding, evaluating, and citing the evidence (primary sources in the works and the artist's or other contemporaries' statements and in outside documentation; secondary sources in subsequent criticism and scholarship) that supports your arguments. Avoid easy historical generalization or overstatement.
Throughout the process you should consult with me, your colleagues, and the staff of the Writing Center for specific responses to your work and advice on research and writing.
The ordering and direction of your formal analysis will change slightly in your final paper as you incorporate the analysis into the larger argument of a research paper. The formal analysis should usually come early in the paper to give you and your reader an orientation to which you can continue to return and refer. Expand upon the perfected formal analysis with research on the work and the artist in context. At all stages, however, make the work of art your central point of focus: return to the work to test the validity of your hypothesis and insights to see if they stand up to and/or illuminate the work. Do you really see what you say you see in the work itself? Finally, research is no substitute for careful looking; papers that just rehash ideas found in books or articles are unacceptable.
How to research and write an art history research paper:
To Start Research: Start with the materials at hand or on-line
- Go to the Memorial Library website to References: Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, and Others, and call up "G" to find the Grove Dictionary of Art. Check under your artist or topic for a major article to see what is available, generally a basic introduction to the life, works, and bibliography of your artist or subject. Use the "Related Articles" tab at the top of each article page to see what other topics are pertinent and discussed in the dictionary; you can also use the index to that same end (the dictionary is also available in hard-bound form in the Kohler Reference Room).
- In the Kohler Library reference computer, use the following reference sources (hard-bound and on-line) to see if there is good periodical literature on your artist. Start with Art Abstracts/Art Index Retrospective, which are keyed principally to English-speaking journals. Then go to the Bibliography of the History of Art and ARTbibliographies Modern for entries that will also include journals in most other languages. Don't shy away from works in other languages, because many include articles or summaries in English, many will have useful illustrations and material even if you cannot read them immediately, and you should be able to find someone to help you read in other languages.
- Check MadCat to find the books we have on your artist, and check the several different locations in the Kohler and other libraries (including the Madison Public Library) to find those books. Check especially to see if we have useful complete or otherwise systematic, well-illustrated catalogues of your artist's works (catalogue raisonné, or oeuvre-catalogue, Verzeichnis); good recent monographs or exhibition catalogues; and/or catalogues of good museums or collections that would have good information on your individual work or works like it. Make sure you can find enough work in English to work on your subject. You will find help in monographs on the artist, monographs on larger contemporary trends and movements, and catalogues of many different sorts: catalogue raisonné or oeuvre-catalogue (a systematic listing and illustration of an artist's complete works or part of those works); museum and gallery exhibition catalogues (the most recent catalogues often have excellent and full bibliographies); and catalogues and articles on museums' permanent or private collections (if the work is in a major museum, chances are that a curator or major scholar might have written something on it).
N.B. IF THE BOOKS YOU WANT ARE CHECKED OUT, ASK THE LIBRARIAN TO RECALL THE BOOK; IF THE BOOK IS LOST, LOOK IN THE NEIGHBORING AREA OF THE SHELVES TO SEE IF IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN INCORRECTLY SHELVED, THEN ASK THE LIBRARIAN TO START A SEARCH FOR IT. IN ANY CASE: DON'T BE AFRAID TO CALL IN BOOKS; EVERYONE HAS THE RIGHT TO AT LEAST TWO WEEKS' USE OF A BOOK, BUT THEN THE BOOKS SHOULD MOVE ON TO OTHER USERS. I will identify students working on the same artist in this class so that you can share the books among you; you should not have to compete with others for the basic books that should be available to all of you. - Go to the Interlibrary Loan and WorldCat/CIC catalogues to find other literature on your artist that you can order via ILL, and order immediately so you may use it this semester.
- Scholars find and take their leads from earlier discussions of works, and by writing this paper you, too, join the scholarly debate. As soon as you start to find some good literature on your subject, note what previous scholars have chosen to discuss -- which themes or topics have been the focus of scholarly investigations -- and consider whether you might try one of those or go on to treat another aspect they have handled less fully. Brainstorm about your topic by reading a bit of the literature and discussing what you might do with a classmate or friend. Proceed from the ideas and observations that led you to this work (you liked it well enough to choose it, why? and why did it seem so interesting?). Then proceed from the clues, brilliant ideas, or erroneous conclusions in the articles and footnotes of others. If you want to write on a highly abstract work by a German expressionist, for instance, you should find much good discussion of that artist and of different kinds of expressionism in both the books held on reserve and in the more specialized literature. If you find lots of general discussion about expressionist abstraction, you should be able to forge ahead and make some characterizations of and conclusions about what is done in your own work.
- Remember that you have many leads to good literature and discussion in the course bibliography, the books held on reserve, and in the many different texts, notes, and references in your basic texts. These, and further discussion with me, should help you identify the best basic literature on individuals or movements.
- You will find much helpful orientation in the course bibliography and in the bibliographies and footnotes of some of the most recent literature. Major direction for your research and writing is found in: Sylvan Barnet, A Short Guide to Writing About Art; Wayne C. Booth, Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams, Craft of Research; and Henry M. Sayre, Writing About Art.
What are good questions to ask about your subject; which are worth researching and can be pursued in the course of the semester? Which themes, historical aspects, or stylistic features seem interesting and worthy of further investigation? What is your plan for research? What is your methodology? How will you discuss style, and what is its importance in relation to your other questions? How will you find a sufficient number of illustrations of the works of your artist and contemporaries in order to assess their stylistic practices and contexts? What evidence will you present and how will you document it?
Sylvan Barnet makes excellent distinctions between research and critical writing even as he notes their necessary overlap. Good writing of both types involves research and demands personal, critical input. You can proceed "from subject to thesis" only after a responsible investigation of the critical literature and musing about what is interesting about the topic and what still needs to be done. You have to narrow down your subject and pick a focus, but you will be able to do so only after you have done research, identified the works with which you want to work, and decided where you want to go with the subject.
Read carefully: be precise as you differentiate between what an author has said and what an artist has done.
Evaluation. What am I looking for? I want you to select and frame a topic that can be handled in a paper of 8-15 pages. Your research should bolster and encourage you to make some of your own discoveries and conclusions: this is not simply a report on what you have read, but a presentation of your own thesis based on your research and subsequent further analysis of the artist and works. I want clear, well-written papers that reflect your own findings, voice, and organization. The criteria judged include the following:
- How do you address the topic?
- Have you formulated a clear thesis?
- How well and how clearly do you present the thesis and lead into your paper in the introduction?
- How do you organize your argument?
- How clearly, sharply, and freshly do you analyze works and ideas?
- How far and successfully do you advance into the basic art historical concerns of connoisseurship, exegesis, and social history?
- Are you presenting your own findings, or merely re-hashing others' ideas?
- How well do you develop and follow through on your ideas?
- What evidence do you use to support your argument?
- How well do you present and cite that evidence?
- How well, clearly, and smoothly do you write?
- How do you order sentences? Paragraphs? Sections?
- Are your transitions between sections smooth and helpful?
- Is your work grammatical?
- Do you use correct quotation, foot- or endnote, and bibliographical forms?
- Have you proofread the paper and checked all spellings?
Papers must be typed double-spaced and numbered, 10-15 pages in length with a clearly-identified (title in English) reproduction attached to each version; include footnotes and a short bibliography of the chief sources consulted in consistent, proper bibliographical form. Barnet's
Short Guide to Writing about Art will help you at every stage of the project, and indicate proper forms for notes, bibliography, and all other parts of the paper. Barnet's volume contains good sample essays; I have also placed some good papers in the xerox notebook. For matters of style, consult Strunk & White's
Elements of Style (REF PE 1408 .S772 1979)
N.B. Plagiarism is the undocumented use of another person's ideas, organization, or research on a written assignment. This includes the submission of a paper written by someone else or adoption of any part of a text from another source without proper acknowledgement. Any cases of plagiarism will be prosecuted according to the University of Wisconsin-Madison Disciplinary Guidelines.
Starting Research on Art Historical Topics
Prepared by Linda Duychak, Kohler Art Research Librarian
askart@library.wisc.edu
Encyclopedias/biographical dictionaries:
(hint: look for bibliographies after the entries):
- The Grove Dictionary of Art (make sure to use index and related articles as well)
- The Encyclopedia of World Art (in the library reference section)
- Thieme-Becker; Vollmer; AKM; Benezit; Havlice; etc. (necessary for most topics)
Using MadCat or other library catalogues on-line to identify useful resources:
Make use of Library of Congress subject headings. Browse for likely subjects. Look at the "See Also" hints for additional LC headings (e.g. Vienna workshop).
Use the course bibliography as a guide to call up library records for particularly useful books and then find others that have been assigned the same LC heading(s).
You can always construct specific keyword searches to focus on your selected area of interest. Use synonyms for the concepts you are trying to isolate. Use AND, OR, NOT to combine concepts. If you retrieve many citations, display the full computer records to look for additional indicators of size/content. How many pages? Does it have a bibliography? Is it an exhibit catalogue associated with a major museum? Does it appear to be a catalogue raisonné or "complete works" of your artist?
Good on-line databases for periodicals include:
- Art Abstracts/Art Index Retrospective (widest range of
times/paces, 1929+)
- Bibliography of the History of Art (European & American art only): the predecessor to
BHA was in part the Repertoire d'Art, available for searching in paper volumes for the years 1910 until inception of on-line
BHA in 1974.
- ARTbibliographies Modern (contemporary art, history of photography since inception)
Search for your topic in these indexes to identify which articles or resources exist. Then search to determine whether you can locate these in Madison or through interlibrary-loan.
Other useful indexes:
- Design and Applied Arts Index
- Historical Abstracts (excludes American history)
- Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals
N.B. PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS AND AN ILLUSTRATION OF YOUR WORK WITH YOUR PAPER; THOSE WITHOUT ILLUSTRATIONS WILL BE RETURNED.
SOME PET PEEVES/RECOMMENDATIONS
agreement: proof agreement of nouns, pronouns, and verbs: to make a person someone he/she is not, not someone they are not
capitalization of terms: professional practice now argues against capitalization of names or adjectives of art movements or more general terms such as avant-garde, futurist, culture
catalogues, catalogue raisonnés: remember that systematic catalogues of artists' prints, paintings, and sculptures will help you place a work in context as you see the series to which a single work belongs and other works produced before or after it. We don't have catalogue raisonnés for all artists, but you should always check for those on your artist and for recent museum exhibition catalogues, which are often the most up-to-date sources. Also, look for catalogues of major collections and/or museums that might have strong holdings of your artist or in the area with which you are dealing.
chains of -ing constructions: avoid; they weaken your style ("leaning against the desk and writing, revealing her innermost thoughts, and capturing the deepest essence...."
comparisons: must compare -- if you say something is more x, you have to explain what more x means, or more x than what
dictionaries: infallible not only in spelling, but also in basic and usable definitions of many terms
expressionist/ic: we have many different kinds of expressionism in art and the modern era, so use the term carefully and explain what you mean with it
expressive, harmonious, lyrical, musical, poetic: lovely words that say nothing in themselves -- avoid
however: don't start sentences with however -- good to use after semi-colon
important/significant/interesting: these words always say little; be more specific about why a work/artist/theme has special status
industrialization/industrial area/working class district/blue collar worker: remember that all the works we are studying were produced in the age of industrialization and that identifying that in itself does not say much. Be disciplined and careful about relating your works to the specifics of their historical context; avoid grand generalizations.
influence: 1. all artists draw on, borrow, and/or steal from other sources, just as all of us are receptive to many different influences. Too many art historians are too easily content to recognize sources and stop there as if they had won the prize ("influence of Cézanne," as if that says all). Present your artist and her/his activity as active, and show how individual works and styles build on and incorporate other ideas and manners but are also products of that artist and time alone. Don't present your artist or work as merely a sum of influences; show how they stand and walk on their own legs. 2. Works of art are not just illustrations of social, cultural, and political influences, and you will fall far short of understanding your work if you attempt merely to show it as a reflection of its times and ignore its own complex and fascinating language and issues.
illustrations: an illustration of your work must accompany every version you submit to me, or I will return the paper unread
in this painting/work/piece: it’s clear that you are writing about a specific work, don’t keep repeating this phrase
like/such as: see style guide for correct usage -- like is routinely and repeatedly misused
Madison Public Library: has an excellent art section and many books we do and do not own
page & illustration numbering: all pages must be numbered, and all illustrations must be properly labeled with number, artist, title, and date. In the body of the paper, you must also give the full identification of an illustrated work when it first appears, and refer to its number.
punctuation, before and after parentheses, quotations: see grammar book or style guide
omit needless words, omit needless words, omit needless words
omit she said, he said: get to the pith of the argument
parallel constructions: keep consistently parallel: "the stars in the sky, the pebbles on the beach, and the needles in the trees"; "he needs a tape-recorder, a speedy car, and an airplane"
portrait: a portrait is a representation of a specific person, no matter how abstracted; the representation of a face of a generalized figure or type is not a portrait. E.g., Michelangelo's
David is not a portrait.
prepositions: prepositions are not to end sentences with.
primitive, childlike: Scholars have thoroughly revised and rejected earlier art historical accounts of much non-western art as primitive and you should use this word advisedly and critically. Don't use either term as a crutch to substitute for clearer definitions of what you mean.
quotations from other texts: use sparingly if at all and make sure they are brought into agreement with your own sentence structure and ideas
quotation marks: use properly for quotes. If a term is questionable or questionable used, explain why; repeated use of quotation marks is only irritating to the reader, who wonders what the writer means.
spelling: use spell check
split infinitives: don't.
that vs. which: see Strunk & White and go which-hunting; note relation to independent and subordinate clauses. ("This is the house that Jack built. This is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. This is the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. This is the cat that killed the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built.")
the fact that: avoid, use that instead (omit needless words)
there is, there are, it is: avoid, omit needless words
underline titles of journals, use proper punctuation
One rule of thumb: titles of paintings and drawings should be underlined or put in italics. Titles of single prints should be underlined; titles of prints from a portfolio or series should be put in quotation marks, the title of the portfolio or series underlined or put into italics (e.g. "The Ideologues" from Max Beckmann's
Hell.)
unique: 1. an almost useless word due to its abuse and overuse in flowery art historical writing. We are all unique, all artists are unique, all works are unique: that being said, do we know anything by the use of unique, and isn't there something more specific to say? 2. unique is like pregnant: either you are or you aren't. No such thing as "exceptionally unique," "very unique," "rather unique," "most unique."
very: omit, adds nothing
whether: use whether, not as to whether
while/whereas/although: see style guide to determine correct usage. While should be used only as a conjunction that indicates duration.
Evaluation. What am I looking for? I want you to select and frame a topic that can be handled in a paper of 8-15 pages. Your research should bolster and encourage you to make some of your own discoveries and conclusions: this is not simply a report on what you have read, but a presentation of your own thesis based on your research and subsequent further analysis of the artist and works. I want clear, well-written papers that reflect your own findings, voice, and organization. The criteria judged include the following:
- How do you address the topic?
- Have you formulated a clear thesis?
- How well and how clearly do you present the thesis and lead into your paper in the introduction?
- How do you organize your argument?
- How clearly, sharply, and freshly do you analyze works and ideas?
- How far and successfully do you advance into the basic art historical concerns of connoisseurship, exegesis, and social history?
- Are you presenting your own findings, or merely re-hashing others' ideas?
- How well do you develop and follow through on your ideas?
- What evidence do you use to support your argument?
- How well do you present and cite that evidence?
- How well, clearly, and smoothly do you write?
- How do you order sentences? Paragraphs? Sections?
- Are your transitions between sections smooth and helpful?
- Is your work grammatical?
- Do you use correct quotation, foot- or endnote, and bibliographical forms?
- Have you proofread the paper and checked all spellings?
Papers must be typed double-spaced and numbered, 10-15 pages in length with a clearly-identified (title in English) reproduction attached to each version; include footnotes and a short bibliography of the chief sources consulted in consistent, proper bibliographical form. Barnet's Short Guide to Writing about Art will help you at every stage of the project, and indicate proper forms for notes, bibliography, and all other parts of the paper. Barnet's volume contains good sample essays; I have also placed some good papers in the xerox notebook. For matters of style, consult Strunk & White's Elements of Style (REF PE 1408 .S772 1979)
N.B. Plagiarism is the undocumented use of another person's ideas, organization, or research on a written assignment. This includes the submission of a paper written by someone else or adoption of any part of a text from another source without proper acknowledgement. Any cases of plagiarism will be prosecuted according to the University of Wisconsin-Madison Disciplinary Guidelines.
Starting Research on Art Historical Topics
Prepared by Linda Duychak, Kohler Art Research Librarian
askart@library.wisc.edu
Encyclopedias/biographical dictionaries:
(hint: look for bibliographies after the entries):
- The Grove Dictionary of Art (make sure to use index and related articles as well)
- The Encyclopedia of World Art (in the library reference section)
- Thieme-Becker; Vollmer; AKM; Benezit; Havlice; etc. (necessary for most topics)
Using MadCat or other library catalogues on-line to identify useful resources:
Make use of Library of Congress subject headings. Browse for likely subjects. Look at the "See Also" hints for additional LC headings (e.g. Vienna workshop).
Use the course bibliography as a guide to call up library records for particularly useful books and then find others that have been assigned the same LC heading(s).
You can always construct specific keyword searches to focus on your selected area of interest. Use synonyms for the concepts you are trying to isolate. Use AND, OR, NOT to combine concepts. If you retrieve many citations, display the full computer records to look for additional indicators of size/content. How many pages? Does it have a bibliography? Is it an exhibit catalogue associated with a major museum? Does it appear to be a catalogue raisonné or "complete works" of your artist?
Good on-line databases for periodicals include:
- Art Abstracts/Art Index Retrospective (widest range of
times/paces, 1929+)
- Bibliography of the History of Art (European & American art only): the predecessor to
BHA was in part the Repertoire d'Art, available for searching in paper volumes for the years 1910 until inception of on-line
BHA in 1974.
- ARTbibliographies Modern (contemporary art, history of photography since inception)
Search for your topic in these indexes to identify which articles or resources exist. Then search to determine whether you can locate these in Madison or through interlibrary-loan.
Other useful indexes:
- Design and Applied Arts Index
- Historical Abstracts (excludes American history)
- Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals
N.B. PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS AND AN ILLUSTRATION OF YOUR WORK WITH YOUR PAPER; THOSE WITHOUT ILLUSTRATIONS WILL BE RETURNED.
SOME PET PEEVES/RECOMMENDATIONS
agreement: proof agreement of nouns, pronouns, and verbs: to make a person someone he/she is not, not someone they are not
capitalization of terms: professional practice now argues against capitalization of names or adjectives of art movements or more general terms such as avant-garde, futurist, culture
catalogues, catalogue raisonnés: remember that systematic catalogues of artists' prints, paintings, and sculptures will help you place a work in context as you see the series to which a single work belongs and other works produced before or after it. We don't have catalogue raisonnés for all artists, but you should always check for those on your artist and for recent museum exhibition catalogues, which are often the most up-to-date sources. Also, look for catalogues of major collections and/or museums that might have strong holdings of your artist or in the area with which you are dealing.
chains of -ing constructions: avoid; they weaken your style ("leaning against the desk and writing, revealing her innermost thoughts, and capturing the deepest essence...."
comparisons: must compare -- if you say something is more x, you have to explain what more x means, or more x than what
dictionaries: infallible not only in spelling, but also in basic and usable definitions of many terms
expressionist/ic: we have many different kinds of expressionism in art and the modern era, so use the term carefully and explain what you mean with it
expressive, harmonious, lyrical, musical, poetic: lovely words that say nothing in themselves -- avoid
however: don't start sentences with however -- good to use after semi-colon
important/significant/interesting: these words always say little; be more specific about why a work/artist/theme has special status
industrialization/industrial area/working class district/blue collar worker: remember that all the works we are studying were produced in the age of industrialization and that identifying that in itself does not say much. Be disciplined and careful about relating your works to the specifics of their historical context; avoid grand generalizations.
influence: 1. all artists draw on, borrow, and/or steal from other sources, just as all of us are receptive to many different influences. Too many art historians are too easily content to recognize sources and stop there as if they had won the prize ("influence of Cézanne," as if that says all). Present your artist and her/his activity as active, and show how individual works and styles build on and incorporate other ideas and manners but are also products of that artist and time alone. Don't present your artist or work as merely a sum of influences; show how they stand and walk on their own legs. 2. Works of art are not just illustrations of social, cultural, and political influences, and you will fall far short of understanding your work if you attempt merely to show it as a reflection of its times and ignore its own complex and fascinating language and issues.
illustrations: an illustration of your work must accompany every version you submit to me, or I will return the paper unread
in this painting/work/piece: it’s clear that you are writing about a specific work, don’t keep repeating this phrase
like/such as: see style guide for correct usage -- like is routinely and repeatedly misused
Madison Public Library: has an excellent art section and many books we do and do not own
page & illustration numbering: all pages must be numbered, and all illustrations must be properly labeled with number, artist, title, and date. In the body of the paper, you must also give the full identification of an illustrated work when it first appears, and refer to its number.
punctuation, before and after parentheses, quotations: see grammar book or style guide
omit needless words, omit needless words, omit needless words
omit she said, he said: get to the pith of the argument
parallel constructions: keep consistently parallel: "the stars in the sky, the pebbles on the beach, and the needles in the trees"; "he needs a tape-recorder, a speedy car, and an airplane"
portrait: a portrait is a representation of a specific person, no matter how abstracted; the representation of a face of a generalized figure or type is not a portrait. E.g., Michelangelo's
David is not a portrait.
prepositions: prepositions are not to end sentences with.
primitive, childlike: Scholars have thoroughly revised and rejected earlier art historical accounts of much non-western art as primitive and you should use this word advisedly and critically. Don't use either term as a crutch to substitute for clearer definitions of what you mean.
quotations from other texts: use sparingly if at all and make sure they are brought into agreement with your own sentence structure and ideas
quotation marks: use properly for quotes. If a term is questionable or questionable used, explain why; repeated use of quotation marks is only irritating to the reader, who wonders what the writer means.
spelling: use spell check
split infinitives: don't.
that vs. which: see Strunk & White and go which-hunting; note relation to independent and subordinate clauses. ("This is the house that Jack built. This is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. This is the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. This is the cat that killed the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built.")
the fact that: avoid, use that instead (omit needless words)
there is, there are, it is: avoid, omit needless words
underline titles of journals, use proper punctuation
One rule of thumb: titles of paintings and drawings should be underlined or put in italics. Titles of single prints should be underlined; titles of prints from a portfolio or series should be put in quotation marks, the title of the portfolio or series underlined or put into italics (e.g. "The Ideologues" from Max Beckmann's
Hell.)
unique: 1. an almost useless word due to its abuse and overuse in flowery art historical writing. We are all unique, all artists are unique, all works are unique: that being said, do we know anything by the use of unique, and isn't there something more specific to say? 2. unique is like pregnant: either you are or you aren't. No such thing as "exceptionally unique," "very unique," "rather unique," "most unique."
very: omit, adds nothing
whether: use whether, not as to whether
while/whereas/although: see style guide to determine correct usage. While should be used only as a conjunction that indicates duration.
- Design and Applied Arts Index
- Historical Abstracts (excludes American history)
- Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals