ART 101 Guide 1

GUIDE # 1                                                                                     Unit 1

Your Name: Date: Time you begin this guide:

                                           PREHISTORIC ART

“Who we are? Where do we come from? Where are we going?

These are three of the most universal questions. 

They are about time - past, present, and future - as well as about the nature of the human condition. 

The more we know about our past, the better we understand our present. 

We will begin by going back in time to early periods of the human race…”

- Laurie Schneider Adams

PREFACEBefore you open your book,let us talk about the way we will be working together – about my method of teaching and your way of learning.

I have created for you the Reading Guides of a special type. Through them, I will be leading you along the Text. I will be with you at each step of your reading assignment. By asking the questions, I will direct your attention to the key issues.  I will elaborate on certain notions that are not well explained in the book. I will be also giving you more information and telling some interesting facts.

In this class, you will be studying not only Art but also History, Geography, and even some  Foreign Languages. In addition – and this is very important- you will have a chance to improve your studying skills. As soon as you begin working on the first guide, you will see how my guides work and in what way they are different from regular guides.   Please bear with me in the first two weeks and then it will be an easy sail. Promise!

How to Work on Guides

- Put your Book next to Computer and have Guide 1 open on your screen.

- Read my first question and directions (in the guide) and begin reading the text.

- As soon as you come across the ‘answer’ (pertinent Info in the text), type your brief   summed-up answer next to my question (next to asterisk - *…)  

      -  Move on to my next Question (in Guide) – resume reading and typing your answers.

     -  Most often, you will know when you come across the answer (I have my way to let you know         and make it easier for you to see the key information).

More recommendations:

ü      Make your imagination work and feel like we are reading your book together, while discussing it through my questions and your answers. Since it is a conversation, I want you to feel free and informal in talking.

ü      Your answers can be simple and short.   

ü      Do not worry if you cannot find the exact answer in the text.  It could mean that current edition omitted this part (and I missed to take it out of the guide). Most likely those are not critical issues and will not be asked on the tests.

ü      Please keep in mind that the main purpose of these guides is helping you in studying (and not for me to check and grade them).

ü      I will be grading the guides (or reading notes) mostly on their completion, although I will be looking how they are done. Regardless how neatly or how long the answers are, I will give you the max amount of points, provided I see that you have worked diligently through the text and answered most of the questions.

ü      Feel free to do the guides in the way that better suits your learning style.  The format is free and of your choice. Thus, they can be short or long, depending on how much information you would like to retain. Your goal is to create a good logical outline that would assist you in reading, understanding, absorbing the material, summing it up and, thus, in preparing for the tests.

ü      Finally, you have an option to make your own reading notes instead of the guides. You are welcome to use my questions as the guiding lines or just focus on the major issues as you see them.

So, to sum up in what way the guides make your reading effective

1.They show you what the main issues are

2.They allow you to practice in taking study notes (which is the most effective studying technique!)

3.They help you to keep your attention focused through reading

4.They provide you with a framework (built of my questions) for your own outline that will be very helpful in preparation for the tests.In the outcome paper, you will have all the major information in a very condensed form. Good news - there will be nothing on the TESTS that is not in the GUIDES since they cover all the key issues, facts, and terms.

Tech Tips

·         Create folder “ART-101”  for the guides and other papers.  

·         Save each Guide under its name (the one it has now)

(No need to put your name or date in the file’s title; I can see this info in Bb)

Do not ZIP files

·         Always save guides at least twice – first time when you open it and then at the end. Although your computer is supposed to save your work every few minutes, it would not hurt to click once in a while on “Save” (or “Ctrl +S”) –and certainly od it at the end, before closing the document. Go ahead and save this guide right now.

                                                              *  *  * 

Here is an example of how my dialogue method works in the guides.

I am going to asks two questions and answer them myself. The questions below also address two important notions (not sufficiently elaborated on in your text). 

Prehistory Question: To what historical period does this term prehistoryrefer?

Answer:  * Prehistory refers to the time before writing systems were developed.

                 (Remember, the History started with invention of writing!)

Stone Age   Why the earliest period in the history of human race is called Stone Age?

* The archaeologists called it so because, during this time, people used                stone tools – e.g., stone arrows’ tips and knifes.

As you see, the answers can be short. You can use some textbook’s wording but sum up info in short sentences and down to point. Try to keep one sentence - one line (when possible). Bulleted statements are also recommended – very helpful for reviewing purposes.  Let us get down to work now.    

THE ART OF THE ANCIENTS     (Open Chapter 2and read Preface)

Describe in brief the way of life in the Stone Age. What are the archeological findings from that era? What type of art did the ancient humans produce? What was the probable reason for creating art works?(Type a few lines; one statement – one line)

*______________

*______________

*______________

PREHISTORIC ART     Three phases of Prehistoric Art (corresponding to three periods of Stone Age)

* Paleolithic  (namely, its last period – Upper Paleolithic)

* …

* …

Together these three periods span the last 15,000 years of the B.C. era (about, to keep it simple)    Note: Today the scholars date back the birth of the art even to the earlier age, before the 15,000 B.C. You should also keep in mind that the dating is extremely approximate when we study ancient history and prehistoric times in particular.

LESSON IN GREEK In this class, you are going to learn some foreign languages - some Greek, Latin and French words that entered our language, mostly as terms.  Here is your first lesson in Greek - the classical language that used to be in school is still taught today at the prestigious schools and commonly used by the scholars, along with Latin.

To better understand these terms – Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic, you should refresh a few Greek words in your memory. Paleo = ancient or old

Meso = middle

Neo   = new

Lithic = stone (made of stone)

Now please translate the following terms from English to Greek.

Below you see the common names for the three periods of the Stone Age. Give their scientific names by writing each Greek word under its English meaning.

   Old

Stone

Age

Middle

Stone

Age

New

Stone

Age

Period

Period

Period

Paleolithic Art

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“Paleolithic art is the art of the last Ice Age...”             

  Read the first paragraph and address the following questions (below). Place a cursor next to the asterisk (*) and type your answer. You can delete this text now.

* …

What was the climate during the Old Stone Age in Europe and Northern America?

* …

Where did the people live?

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Mesolithic Art                    

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Neolithic Art          (8,000 – 2,000B.C.)

Describe the changes in the people’s life style during the New Stone Age. 

*…

*…

First Architecture About 4,000 B.C., the most impressive creations of the Neolithic were erected - the huge monuments made out of large stones. 

Paragraph 11

Let us wrap up the section on Prehistoric art with this important information.

“The Neolithic period began about 8,000 B.C. and spread throughout the world’s major river valleys between 6,000- 2,000 B.C.:

the Nile valley in Egypt   the Tigris and Euphrates valley in Mesopotamia (modern Middle East)the Indus valley in Indiathe Yellow River valley in China  

                       =====================================================

The first guide is done. Together we have created a concise outline of all the major issues. If you know this minimum, there won’t be any surprises on the exams. Another benefit – you have just had a good training session in close reading and note-making. Both are the most needed skills in any studying.

A few more advices, if I could.

·         Make sure the guide is saved (in the new Art 101 folder)

·         Feel free to work with the text in any way you want – highlight what you consider important or just interesting and worthy to remember. Make sure to delete all my directions (in brown font) on how to work on guides, etc.).  Remember, your goal is to keep your Guides as brief and well-structured as possible.

·         Printing of the guides is not required. Yet, if you decide to print the guides, you might want to delete the pictures and certainly all my directions and probably questions too (to save on paper and ink). Do not forget to staple the printed pages.

If you are not too tired I would recommend you to take the first QUIZ now. Review the guide and take the quiz to see how much you have learned in this first section.  Quiz dwells on the key issues and will help you to prepare for the exam at the next level of summarization.

I do commend you for your diligence and patience about all the directions and lessons in study techniques. Soon, you will not need them and working on the guides will become easy and natural.