Your critical review of a recent article in the discipline of
design history will give you an opportunity to look at the kind of scholarly
research and interpretations available to individuals writing about a topic
that interests you in this discipline. There is a list of articles that have
been pre-approved. These writings come from recognized journals that specialize
on the history and criticism of design and material culture. They include
Journal of Design History, Winterthur Portfolio, and Design Issues, three
periodical that can be fully accessed through the Journal Library online
database. Your review must be four pages in length (around 1,000 words) with a
font size for the type of 10 to 12 characters per inch. I have placed the
questions for you to answer in your article review in three sections.
1.) Section 1 includes the following two
questions: a) What is the specific subject of the article? b) What is your
interest in the topic? Section 1 is worth 30% of your article review grade.
2.) Section 2 includes the following two
questions: a) What are the main points that the author is making in the
article? b) What kinds of documentation does the author use in the article?
Section 2 is worth 40% of your article review grade.
3.) Section 3 includes the following three
closely related questions: a) What is your overall assessment of the importance
of the article based on the author’s comments? What documentation does the
author give that indicates the importance of his or her research? Do you think
that the article is particularly effective (author’s use of arguments,
evidence, illustrations, writing style)? Section 3 is worth 30% of your article
review grade.
Your audience should be fellow class members and
others who are starting out to research a particular topic in design history.
Readers of your review will want to know the strengths and weaknesses of the
article as well as the importance of the article for those doing research on
this or related topics. Your article review grade will be based upon the
quality of your answers to the questions in the three sections of your review.