Building on your outlining skills, you will outline an analysis of a medieval manuscript illustration
and utilize the source text from the Bible to support it. You will need to select passages from the
Bible to summarize, paraphrase, or quote, depending on the needs of your argument.
Instructions
Images are often created as a part of a larger work. This is true of illustrated pages in medieval
manuscripts, which correspond to the text of the Bible. Like any visual narrative, these illustrations
are an interpretation of a story, but unlike Greek myths, these images are dependent on clearly
defined source material that must be interpreted by the artist and viewer. Due to the limitations of
the medium, the illustrator must make choices regarding how to tell the story, what parts of the
story to tell, and what parts of the story to omit. Those choices often serve the artist’s, patron’s, or
broader culture’s ideological motives and priorities.
In this assignment, you will begin to structure an analysis of the selected manuscript illustration,
utilizing the text of the Bible to interpret the artist’s choices. To accomplish this, you will fill out the
attached worksheet, gather analytical observations about the image, and choose supporting
passages from the text to summarize, paraphrase, or quote. From this process, you will also
formulate a thesis statement based on your observation and analysis. For all steps of the
assignment, you will use the annotation tool.
Step 1: Observe and Annotate
Before you formulate an argument, it is important to read the passage and examine the image for
points of similarity and difference. For this step, I want you to find three to five passages you see
present in the image, highlight the passage in the text, and indicate on the image where you see
each of the passages.
Step 2: Formulate a Thesis Statement
Using the observations you have gathered in Step 1, formulate a thesis statement for your paper,
filling in the appropriate area of your worksheet. Remember: A thesis statement is an argumentative
statement that will be used to structure an essay. A strong thesis statement should be clear and
specific, and make an argument based on your analysis.
A strong thesis should also have “stakes.” This means that the statement should help you write a
comparison that reveals something important about the meaning of the works and myths. For more
guidance on how to formulate a successful thesis statement, review the tutorial from Step #1 of the
Mythological Comparison (in Unit 2).
Step 3: Structure Your Argument
Once you have a strong thesis statement, fill out your worksheet. This is also in the annotation
tool.
Fill the left column with the relevant observations about the image. If you have used your
worksheet to take notes, be sure to rearrange your observations according to how you might best
make your argument and erase any observations that do not contribute to that goal.
Fill the right column with relevant references from the Bible, choosing to summarize, paraphrase,
or quote from the text. Each approach has its own purpose within a paper. Choosing which one to
utilize will depend on the point you are trying to make. In general, summarizing and paraphrasing
are used to convey broad ideas, while quoting should only be used if the actual text of the source is
relevant or supportive of the discussion. When in doubt, it’s probably best to summarize or
paraphrase.