Art History
The APs are over! I'd feel a lot better if I didn't just find out that I totally screwed one question for Art History today. Fortunately, the multiple choice was really good, and the 115 questions in 60 minutes turned out fine despite previous hesitations.
The 9 free response questions were the crappy ones. The first 30 minute essay was bad; the question was about how two different cultures depicted nature in art, and one of the cultures had to be non-European. I could not remember the title of the Chinese painting that I had in mind to use for my non-European part so I chose an Egyptian relief that was a terrible example for the prompt. I also used Thomas Cole's The Oxbow, which I knew perfectly well, but I probably lost a bunch of points on the other half of the question.
The next couple were so much better (they did include a slide of the Greek Kritios Boy, which was a nude statue btw =P). Then, I had a memory block and couldn't identify the architect (Louis Sullivan) for a steel store building... bah. There was also the mosaic Christ as a Good Shepherd, a surrealist cup lined with fur, Giotto's Madonna and Child Enthroned, and a quote describing Realism, which out of those was the only one that I really didn't like. What disappointed me a bunch was almost the total lack of Renaissance, Impressionism & Post-Impressionism, and post-1950s material on the entire test. There was absolutely no mention of artists such as Monet or Van Gogh.
The question that made me bang my head on the wall several minutes ago involved a slide that made everyone in the testing room laugh incredulously because nobody had ever seen it before. It showed a woman playing a guitar, and the question asked that we attribute the painting to an artist and defend our claim. So I sat and stared at the painting for a few seconds, and then decided to accredit it to Vermeer. I wrote a whole paragraph on Vermeer's characteristics, and then I doubted my response and erased the whole thing. Then, I started over and said that the painting was by Caravaggio and wrote about the hidden light source and tenebrism. A little while ago, I looked for the painting on the Net, and guess what? It was by Vermeer! WTF?! Ahhh, I totally hate myself right now.
At least the last 30 mminute essay was fabulous. It was about symbolism and allegory in art, and I wrote about Botticelli's Birth of Venus, a lovely painting, and Rubens's Allegory of the Outbreak of War, one of my favorite paintings (if not the favorite painting) by my favorite artist.
Art History is the only AP that I won't get any credit for no matter how well I do on it. However, it's probably the one on which I want a 5 the most because I absolutely love it.
So finally, that's the end of the APs FOREVER. It seems a bit anti-climatic in a way because we've spent the entire year preparing for this week, and now it's all over. I'm happy and sad at the same time.
Here's something that definitely makes me happy: 8 days until prom! =D
The 9 free response questions were the crappy ones. The first 30 minute essay was bad; the question was about how two different cultures depicted nature in art, and one of the cultures had to be non-European. I could not remember the title of the Chinese painting that I had in mind to use for my non-European part so I chose an Egyptian relief that was a terrible example for the prompt. I also used Thomas Cole's The Oxbow, which I knew perfectly well, but I probably lost a bunch of points on the other half of the question.
The next couple were so much better (they did include a slide of the Greek Kritios Boy, which was a nude statue btw =P). Then, I had a memory block and couldn't identify the architect (Louis Sullivan) for a steel store building... bah. There was also the mosaic Christ as a Good Shepherd, a surrealist cup lined with fur, Giotto's Madonna and Child Enthroned, and a quote describing Realism, which out of those was the only one that I really didn't like. What disappointed me a bunch was almost the total lack of Renaissance, Impressionism & Post-Impressionism, and post-1950s material on the entire test. There was absolutely no mention of artists such as Monet or Van Gogh.
The question that made me bang my head on the wall several minutes ago involved a slide that made everyone in the testing room laugh incredulously because nobody had ever seen it before. It showed a woman playing a guitar, and the question asked that we attribute the painting to an artist and defend our claim. So I sat and stared at the painting for a few seconds, and then decided to accredit it to Vermeer. I wrote a whole paragraph on Vermeer's characteristics, and then I doubted my response and erased the whole thing. Then, I started over and said that the painting was by Caravaggio and wrote about the hidden light source and tenebrism. A little while ago, I looked for the painting on the Net, and guess what? It was by Vermeer! WTF?! Ahhh, I totally hate myself right now.
At least the last 30 mminute essay was fabulous. It was about symbolism and allegory in art, and I wrote about Botticelli's Birth of Venus, a lovely painting, and Rubens's Allegory of the Outbreak of War, one of my favorite paintings (if not the favorite painting) by my favorite artist.
Art History is the only AP that I won't get any credit for no matter how well I do on it. However, it's probably the one on which I want a 5 the most because I absolutely love it.
So finally, that's the end of the APs FOREVER. It seems a bit anti-climatic in a way because we've spent the entire year preparing for this week, and now it's all over. I'm happy and sad at the same time.
Here's something that definitely makes me happy: 8 days until prom! =D