FAH314 Research paper guidelines
• Ca. 1,200-1,600 words (ca. 5 pages), 1.5 spaced
• You can write on any of the lecture topics or material discussed in the lectures or in the
pertinent secondary literature, e.g. one or several relevant works of art, a relevant
scholarly topic, question, problem, or controversy. The bibliography included in the
syllabus is an excellent starting point (More literature is found in the bibliographies of the
books and articles cited there. The Uoft libraries website is also a great tool for generating
bibliography, and it includes links to works that are available online)
Make sure to formulate a concise thesis or research question you wish to address. Your paper
should show evidence of critical thought and should, according to departmental guidelines,
“construct a complex argument based on primary, secondary, and theoretical sources”. Your
essay is meant to showcase your ability to conduct meaningful research and to evaluate your
critical reading, writing and thinking skills.
• Submission deadline, April 6, 2025, 11:59 pm
• Submission through Quercus
• Ideally, your paper should be based on no fewer than THREE (3) works
of secondary (scholarly) literature, listed in your bibliography. You can,
of course, use the titles listed on the syllabus, but also other works.
• “Scaffolding”: You can use the books/articles you evaluated in your
critical summary assignment and you are also allowed to incorporate
parts of your previous assignment (critical summary) into your research
paper (please clearly mark – with quotation marks and a footnote - the
passages re-purposed from the previous assignment, since they might
turn up as ‘false positives’ on Quercus).
• If at all possible, please include pictures of the most important works
of art you are discussing. The pictures are not part of the page count.
• Organization/Structure
• There are different ways of structuring an essay and constructing a successful argument. It is always a good idea to have (1) a clear and concise
introduction that states the questions/issues/problems/controversies/works of art you intend to address in your essay, as well as your methodology and
goals of your essay (2) a main part that offers a critical discussion and interpretation of the relevant works of art, as well as of the pertinent scholarly
literature; (3) a conclusion that summarizes your findings and puts them in perspective (for example, if you find the conclusions drawn by scholars
convincing; how the material you have discussed can help to illuminate a certain question or problem, etc.). If you find that the evidence you have
discussed is ultimately unconclusive, this is of course perfectly acceptable.
• It is important to maintain a logical progression in the arguments you are making; the pieces of evidence you are presenting should be integrated into a
larger narrative or argument, and the different parts of your essay should fit together neatly.
• The essays will be marked for:
• Structure, organization, direction
• Critical reading/writing/thinking skills
• Quality and depth of argument (including logical progression)
• Use of evidence (well founded argument vs. sweeping, unsubstantiated statement). Is your argument sufficiently supported by evidence?
• Use of scholarly literature and research (selection of secondary literature, processing of sources)
• Precision and accuracy of analysis, clarity of argument
• Expression and diction (use of correct, idiomatic language, in properly constructed sentences)
• Bibliography, sources
• Use of the visual material – Ca. 50% of your essay must be concerned with visual material as an integral part of your argument. You should not present
an argument that is solely based on literary sources and only uses the images/works of art as illustration. This is, after all, an art history course that
requires you to employ methods of visual analysis.
• Reading the articles and books listed on your syllabus (including the textbook) will give you a good idea of the different ways in which one can approach
a topic. Reading good scholarly literature will make you a better writer yourself.
RECOMMENDED CITATION STYLES
• MLA Modern Language Association
(http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/) and the
• Chicago Manual of Style (you can access the guidelines of use for the
Chicago Manual of style as an on-line resource through the University
of Toronto Libraries website).
DON’Ts
• Plagiarizing (https://advice.writing.utoronto.ca/using-sources/how-
not-to-plagiarize/)
• Handing in an essay without bibliography and citations (even if
submitted to turnitin.com)
• Using AI tools
What to avoid
• A thesis or a topic that is too broad (e.g. ‘erotic imagery in Greco-Roman antiquity’); better:
‘homoerotic courtship scenes in black figure vase painting’, ‘the question of female homoeroticism in
Greek vase painting’; ‘the iconography and meaning of Priapus’, ’the erotic frescoes from the
apodyterium of the Suburban baths in Pompeii’, ‘Roman erotic frescoes and the construction of
sexuality in Ancient Rome’, ‘the psychological function of Satyr imagery in Attic black figure vase
painting’, ‘the iconography of marriage on Attic vase painting from the 6th to 5th cent.’, ‘Symplegmata in
Hellenistic art’, ‘The Louvre Hermaphroditus and the construction of sexuality in the Hellenistic period’,
etc.
Sweeping, unsubstantiated statements (e.g. ‘ancient art is characterized by eroticism’)
• Using only Wikipedia or dubious websites as your secondary sources. Websites associated with
museums, universities, research institutions, libraries, archives etc. are more reliable than others.
• Relying solely on podcasts and documentaries for your ideas (on Youtube, etc.)
• Handing in a paper that has not been proof-read. Please take the time to carefully proofread your
argument.
• Using only older literature. There is nothing wrong with works that are 60 years old or older, but in
addition you should try to find some more recent titles through bibliographic research. Most of the
relevant literature dealing with eroticism, gender and sexuality in Ancient Art was published after ca.
1970, with some exceptions.

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