Reference no: EM133251374
Assignment:
Describe Edward Hopper's "Nighthawks" 20th century American art and provide a close reading ("explication") of how the work either reflects, comments on, rebels against, or satirizes the contemporary 20th American society it was created in.
To "explicate" means, according to the Latin root, to "unfold." Explications interpret a work intensely and thoroughly, analyzing its details to show how it produces meaning and messages, whether explicit or implied. Explications achieve this by discussing the meaning of the words/lyrics, explaining the significance of color or imagery, analyzing the choices of a work's characters, the significance of specific shots, scenes, or dialogue in a film, etc.-
-trying to show, in essence, how the entire piece works to produce meaning and express a theme or message to its audience.
Include the following
• How the art work accepts or rejects certain American societal norms or cultural standards
• How a work of art reacts to or reflects tensions in race, gender, or class in America
• How the art work reflects or comments on the realities, joys, or suffering of its audience or time period
• How an art work shows the evolution from earlier forms or through advances in technology or changes in society (demonstrated through the analysis of an individual work of art from a specific genre).