Good Essay About Use Of Primary Sources In Humanities Research

Chinese Painting

In critiquing the essay on “Chinese Painting,” there were a number of discrepancies in the use of the MLA formatting style. The author of the paper lacked the name of the professor and the name of the writer of the particular piece. The header has the page number, but also lacks the surname of the author. Still, the author made good use of in-text citation that reflects the MLA formatting. In addition, there is no clear topic or title for the essay. The primary source in the piece would have to be the paintings that speak to the Chinese era and I believe that the author wanted to use these for emphasis. Nonetheless, there is a lack of clear reference to the pictures as the author does not do justice to the use of the pictures. While these are good pictures, it was hard to determine the clear relevance of the pictures in the essay or the important role they played in the period. The “Works Cited” page reflects good sources that are appropriate for humanities researches.
The thesis should be the last sentence in the first paragraph, but the author does not have a clear sentence in position to show that this is the thesis. The present thesis in the article does not show what the writer intends to speak about in the essay. “The key reasons for this strict adherence to style were academic, political, and religious in nature.” This statement appears to be the intended thesis but there are other statements in the introductory paragraph that could be combined and used as the thesis. In fact, the author paved the way for a solid thesis statement but left the reader hanging as there were no connections of the central ideas into one clear sentence.

Ran

In regards to the correct use of MLA citation on the title page, the paper lacks the name of the author, the name of the professor, the page numbers and the surname of the author at the top beside the page number. However, there is a topic for the paper but it is not clear and does not suggest what the author intends to analyze in the essay. The primary sources in the essay are the use of reference to the movie and the text by Shakespeare. This is clear as the reader sees that the author attempts to use these sources to reflect the thesis: “Kurosawa bridges a four-century gap between the time Shakespeare wrote and the time he released his movie and relates it to the cyclical nature of history.” The thesis is the final sentence in the first paragraph and the author is clear on the main idea that will surface in the essay. One can easily identify the thesis statement as it is clear and concise and gives a brief summary of the main idea that the author wishes to bring out in the work. For the most part, the in-text citations are appropriate and are cited in the correct MLA format.
The entire paper reflects the thesis statement and gives supporting details from both the movie adaptation and the play. The primary sources are used effectively as the pictures and the quotations from the book are clearly cited and referenced and are relevant to the thesis statement throughout the essay. The primary sources are the focal points in the essay as the author makes clear references to the scenes and connects these scenes to the main ideas in the essay. The paper uses images from the scenes in the movie and these are referenced correctly and used appropriately. They are connected to the thesis as they reflect the important scenes in the movie that make it similar to the events in play. The selection of articles in the reference page is very good and they are appropriate to the humanities course save for the reference to the encyclopedia. The author could have substituted that reference for a more scholarly reference or a reference that reflects the view of a critic on the particular topic. Nonetheless, the essay on “Ran” give a sound comparison between Shakespeare’s “King Lear” and the movie “Ran.”
5.) Review the MLA formatting of the first page (how does the header look? Is there a title? Does the information on the left hand side match what you're supposed to have). Is there something missing? Be specific. Now look at the MLA in-text citations? Is there something missing or is it correct? Be specific.6.) Does the paper use figures/images? If so how are they labeled? Are they cited? Are they referenced in-text and if so how are they referenced and what is their connection to the thesis?