HUMN 100 – Fall 2025
Midterm Exam (20%)
Some guiding instructions:
• This assignment is comprised of two short essay responses
• Please take some time at the beginning of each question to sketch out a possible response and to organize your argument (before you write the essays).
• Think about how to best articulate the relationship between the images: ask yourself, what can you say about it? At which points do the images connect, thematically, or formally (visually)?
• Students are encouraged to spend around 40 minutes answering each question (this does not include the pre-writing sketching). And so, there is ample time provided (48 hours). This universal design is intended to accommodate everyone.
• ***Because this is an open book and take-home exam, use of generated AI is NOT permitted. The purpose of this assignment is to demonstrate your understanding of class lectures and to synthesize responses based on your notes. Please sign and submit the AI Agreement sheet (see below) with your exam. Graders will not be able to provide you with a mark if not.
• Use of outside sources is also NOT permitted. You must consult your notes and you are expected to cite lectures (and seminar notes where applicable), i.e. Bissonauth, week 2.***
• Be sure to pay attention to word length for each question.
• The midterm opens on Tuesday, October 21st at 4pm and closes on Thursday October 23rd at 4pm for everyone. Please submit via Moodle (Lecture site).
• Please submit a Word document via the Moodle submission portal only.
• Your exam will be marked by graders. They will use the rubric available to you below (this is how the exams will be assessed)
GENERATED AI AGREEMENT
We agree that learning to express our thoughts in writing is an important learning outcome for HUMN 100/101 and that the development of critical thinking is crucial in whatever areas of university we pursue.
o I agree not to use any Generated AI application in the completion of this open book, take-home midterm.
o I understand that use of Generated AI applications in this context constitutes plagiarism and is a violation of the student code of conduct at Emily Carr University.
o I want my work to be evaluated based on how it reflects my own comprehension and my own ideas about each prompt.
Question 1
Please select TWO images from the list provided below and identify them (include the following only and use this format: Artist Name. Title, date).
Provide a visual description of each work of art. Include details about medium, subject matter (what do you see), composition (how is the subject arranged), other formal elements that stand out to you (such as line, color, shade, space, mood), and meaning (what is the work about and what is its significance). Please connect meaning to the visual elements you describe. Dedicate a paragraph to each (approx. 100 words each).
Then, craft a response in the form. of an essay (500-600 words) that compares and contrasts the two images. Your essay should have an argument that claims that the two works of art are connected in some way (i.e. by theme, the socio-political, etc). Ask yourself, what does this pairing you have selected show? How do their meanings overlap? Importantly, you must evidence your take on things by drawing on material from class.
Compare and contrast in terms of:
· Historical and/or socio-political context
· Visual form.
· Thematic approaches
· Medium
Finally, what do you think of this pairing. In other words, what is your critical perspective on this comparison (is it strong or weak, and why? Do you like the works of art you selected, why/why not?).
Question 2
Please select TWO images from the list provided below and identify them (include the following only and use this format: Artist Name. Title, date). *Make 2 different selections from QUESTION #1.
Provide a visual description of each work of art. Include details about medium, subject matter (what do you see), composition (how is the subject arranged), other formal elements that stand out to you (such as line, color, shade, space, mood), and meaning (what is the work about and what is its significance). Please connect meaning to the visual elements you describe. Dedicate a paragraph to each (approx. 100 words each).
Then, craft a response in the form. of an essay (500-600 words) that compares and contrasts the two images. Your essay should have an argument that claims that the two works of art are connected in some way (i.e. by theme, the socio-political, etc). Ask yourself, what does this pairing you have selected show? How do their meanings overlap? Importantly, you must evidence your take on things by drawing on material from class.
Compare and contrast in terms of:
· Historical and/or socio-political context
· Visual form.
· Thematic approaches
· Medium
Finally, what do you think of this pairing. In other words, what is your critical perspective on this comparison (is it strong or weak, and why? Do you like the works of art you selected, why/why not)?