Краткие рекомендации по обучению английской письменной научной речи

А. П. Миньяр-Белоручева 
Е. В. Мягкова 

Краткие рекомендации 
по обучению английской 
письменной научной речи 

Учебное пособие 

для студентов, обучающихся 
по направлению подготовки 

«История искусств» 

Издание второе, дополненное 

Москва 
Берлин 
2020 

УДК 811.111(075) 
ББК 81.432.1-6я73 
М62 

Рецензенты: 
Гуревич Л. С. — доктор филологических наук, профессор; 
Зененко Н. В. — доктор филологических наук, профессор; 
Шапошников В. Н. — доктор филологических наук, профессор 

Миньяр-Белоручева, А. П., Мягкова, Е. В. 
М62  
Краткие рекомендации по обучению английской 
письменной 
научной 
речи 
: 
учебное 
пособие / 
А. П. Миньяр-Белоручева, Е. В. Мягкова. — Изд. 2-е, 
доп. — Москва ; Берлин : Директ-Медиа, 2020. — 173 с. 

ISBN 978-5-4499-1596-2 

Цель предлагаемого учебного пособия заключается в обучении 
студентов, обучающихся по направлению подготовки «История искусств», основам письменной научной речи. В настоящее время представляется необходимым научить будущих искусствоведов излагать 
искусствоведческий материал письменно. Для этого необходимо изучить существующие тексты по истории искусства и, взяв их за образец, проводить поэтапное обучение письменной научной речи. 

УДК 811.111(075) 
ББК 81.432.1-6я73 

ISBN 978-5-4499-1596-2
© Миньяр-Белоручева А. П., Мягкова Е. В., текст, 2020
© Издательство «Директ-Медиа», макет, оформление,

2020

Content 

Введение ................................................................................................................................... 5 

Part I. Preliminary steps for essay writing .................................................................. 6 

Unit 1. Writing about art ................................................................................................. 8 

Unit 2. Critical writing.................................................................................................... 12 

Unit 3. Art Criticism ........................................................................................................ 16 

Unit 4. Analytic writing ................................................................................................. 23 

Unit 5. Interpretation in art ......................................................................................... 29 

Unit 6. Visual narration ................................................................................................. 36 

Unit 7. Comparison in art ............................................................................................. 48 

Unit 8. Portrait painting ................................................................................................ 59 

Unit 9. Self-portrait ......................................................................................................... 69 

Unit 10. Landscape painting ........................................................................................ 75 

Unit 11. Still life................................................................................................................. 85 

Unit 12. Genre painting ................................................................................................. 90 

Unit 13. Organization of the essay ............................................................................ 96 

Unit 14. Writing an essay ............................................................................................. 99 

Part II....................................................................................................................................... 100 

Unit 1. Writing an essay ............................................................................................. 100 

Unit 2. Practice with titles ......................................................................................... 103 

Unit 3. Practice with key sentences ...................................................................... 106 

Unit 4. Practice with a supporting idea ............................................................... 114 

Unit 5. Practice for details ......................................................................................... 118 

Unit 6. Practice with organizing and writing paragraphs ........................... 124 

Unit 7. Writing essays ................................................................................................. 127 

Unit 8. Practice with introduction ......................................................................... 129 

Unit 9. Practice with development paragraphs. .............................................. 131 

Unit 10. Practice with conclusions ........................................................................ 133 

Unit 11. Practice with essay analyses .................................................................. 135 

Unit 12. Compiling an abstract ................................................................................ 137 

Unit 13. Writing a review of an exhibition ......................................................... 140 

Appendix I ............................................................................................................................. 149 

Appendix II ........................................................................................................................... 159 

Literature............................................................................................................................... 170 

Введение 

Овладение культурой письменной научной речи предполагает знание правил и законов, по которым она строится. Отбор языковых единиц и их функционирование в научной речи 
обусловлены способом изложения материала. Научный искусствоведческий дискурс направлен на анализ и описание произведения искусства. Научный искусствоведческий дискурс 
строится по закону убедительности рассуждения, когда одно 
утверждение вытекает из другого и готовит к восприятию последующего. 
Стилистическая специфика научной речи обусловлена 
неоднородностью материала. В реальной речевой действительности искусствоведческий дискурс представлен множеством форм, из которых выделяются более дробные виды и 
подвиды. Поскольку дробление на формы виды и подвиды 
происходит в пределах одного искусствоведческого дискурса, 
то, прежде всего, следует обратить внимание на структурнокомпозиционное оформление научного произведения, целостность построения которого определяется логикой научного 
мышления. Раскрытие темы имеет первостепенное значение 
для успеха научного произведения. 
В данной работе наряду с теоретическим изложением 
материала предлагаются упражнения, выполнение которых 
является ключом к успеху написания реального научного искусствоведческого эссе, рецензии и обзора работ художников, 
представленных на выставках. 

PART I 
PRELIMINARY STEPS FOR ESSAY WRITING 

Academic writing is an essential segment of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) in general and English for art history students in particular. However, it is not a simple matter. In their essay, 
art history students should be able to describe, interpret, explain 
and evaluate any artwork. The description should not be boring that 
is why art history students should not limit themselves with the 
enumerations of the objects they see in the painting. Art history 
students should be able to call attention of their readers to what is 
not evident, uphold their viewpoint, compare and contrast the subject matter, put forward arguments, make their statements convincing. Art history students should be taught to write essays as 
appropriately as only possible because essay writing is recognized as 
one of the key processes in acquiring English for art history students. 
Writing essays is not an easy task: any worthwhile piece of work demands time and thought. The job is twofold — seeing and writing — 
because these two activities are inseparable. If art history students 
don't see clearly, they will not be able to write anything interesting 
and definite in their essays about any artwork. Art history students 
should learn to write clearly, otherwise it will be difficult to understand their ideas. Writing about art should be informative and persuasive. Art history students should introduce artworks in their 
essays and persuade how valuable they are. Most academic writings 
about art are analytic. To write an academic essay there are certain 
rules to be followed. Essays on art should be properly organized and 
presented. Art History students can save a lot of time and effort by 
having a system of writing an essay. It is important to remember that 
talking or writing about art is one of the ways of its studying. 
To get ideas for the essays it is necessary to answer the questions such as: 
What is the title of the artwork? Does it help to illuminate the 
artwork? 
When, where, and why was the artwork made? 
By whom and for whom was the artwork made? 
Where was the artwork produced? What is the artworks’ size? 
A larger-than-life image will have an impact different from a miniature. 

What material was used to produce the artwork? Was it 
transparent watercolor vs. opaque oil paint, or oil paint thinly applied vs. oil paint so thickly applied that it gives the canvas a rough 
texture? 
What is the subject matter of the artwork? Where is it derived 
from? 
Who or what can be identified in the artwork? 
Was the color of the artwork realistic or symbolic? 
Is the composition of the artwork balanced or asymmetrical? 
What (if anything) is happening in the artwork? 
What did the artwork originally look like? Paper and silk tend 
to darken, paintings crack and become dark, sculptures — even of 
marble or bronze — change color over the centuries, buildings decay and are renovated. 
What was the cultural / political context of the artwork? 
What was the original function of the artwork? 
Was the purpose of the artwork to stimulate religious devotion? / to impress the viewer with the owner's power? / to enhance 
family pride? / to teach?/ to delight? / to express the artist's feelings? 
Does the artwork present a likeness, or express a feeling, or illustrate a mystery? 
Who could have seen the artwork and when? 
What did the artwork mean to the original beholders? 
What does the artwork mean to the contemporary viewers? 
Where was the artwork originally seen: in a church or a palace, or a bourgeois house? 
Where is the artwork located today: in a museum or a picture 
gallery, in a private house? 
How were the observers supposed to behave in front of such 
artworks and how did they actually behave? 
If the artwork is now part of an exhibition in a museum, how 
does the museum's presentation of the artwork affect the observers? 

Other basic questions concern the impressions: 
What is your first response to the artwork? Amusement? 
Awe? Annoyance? Shock? Boredom? 
What could have been the first response of the beholders to 
the artwork? 

One of the most important question is: 
Why do you have this response? 

UNIT 1. WRITING ABOUT ART 

1.1. What is art? 
Philosophers have argued about art for centuries. The questions: What is art? How important is art? Is art as important as life 
or love? Why is art so great? — were answered differently in every 
epoch of history. In ancient times and during the Middle Ages all 
kinds of trades and professions were known as arts. The liberal arts 
of the medieval curriculum included music but neither painting, 
sculpture, nor architecture, which were numbered among the mechanical arts, since they involved making objects by hand. 
Some scholars think art should be beautiful or lifelike; others 
think it is more important to capture a mood or feeling. One painting 
looks almost photographic. The other is much sketchier and painted 
with only a few colours, but very atmospheric. Some surprising things 
have found their way into galleries. Some people believe art should be 
about ideas. Others prefer to enjoy art for its own sake. The Impressionists had some heated debates over this very question. Some of 
them felt it was important to paint scenes of modern life; others were 
more interested in exploring the effect of light on things. 
In the early twentieth-century, it was agreed that all of human 
experience, beautiful and ugly, pleasurable and painful, even humorous and absurd, can be crystallized in a work of art, and preserved to be experienced by the viewers as long as that work lasts. 
It is the artist’s ability to embrace human experience of all sorts and 
transmit it to the beholders. At present the word 'art' can be used to 
describe anything from prehistoric cave paintings to a heap of junk 
in the corner of a gallery. It can even be used to refer to music and 
literature, but most often, it means visual art, or things, which are 
made to be looked at — especially paintings. 
Exercise 1.1 
Artists and experts often have different ideas concerning art that 
lead to some heated debates. There are lots of controversial opinions on 
the essence of art, but so far, no right or wrong answers have been given. 
Everyone has different tastes and opinions, so it is up to you to decide 
what art is. Put down your ideas to answer the question “What is art?” 

Exercise 1.1.1 
Remember that every essay should have a thesis, the argument, 
supported with persuasive details, a clear organization, and the ideas 

should be set forth effectively and the assignment is fulfilled. For details turn to Part II. 

1.2. What is art worth? 
Philosophers, artists, scholars and art critics often disagreed 
about the value of art. Before the 15th century, artworks were evaluated according to the cost of the materials used for their production. Thus, the sheets of gold leaf were utilized for the gilding and 
the precious ultramarine blue made from crushed lapis lazuli imported from the Middle East was used for the robes of individual 
figures. However, in time, the desire of patrons to see figures and 
setting more naturalistic caused the painters to substitute the golden background by the heavenly blue color that continued behind all 
the scenes. The abilities of the artists needed to paint figures and 
backgrounds in a convincingly naturalistic way. With the growing 
interest in stylistic and compositional innovations, artistic skills and 
ingenuity began to be increasingly valued. 
However, artistic originality is not easily accepted. Vincent 
van Gogh died in poverty, because no one wanted to buy his paintings — even his friends said they looked like the work of a lunatic. 
Now, they are among the most valuable artworks in the world. The 
French painter Manet disagreed with a critic so strongly, that he 
challenged him to a duel. 
Critic John Ruskin ended up in court in a dispute over James 
Whistler’s Nocturne in Black and Gold — the Falling Rocket, of 1875. 
This painting caused an uproar. Ruskin wrote, “It is so blurry; it is hard 
to see what is going on. In fact, it shows a firework display.” At that time, 
people were used to glossy, highly finished pictures, so this one seemed 
very sketchy by comparison. Ruskin thought Whistler's painting was far 
too slapdash. He could not believe the artist wanted 200 guineas for 
“flinging a pot of paint in the public's face”. Whistler responded that the 
painting's value did not depend on how long it took him to paint, but on 
his genius and years of study. He sued Ruskin for libel and won — although he was awarded only a farthing (a quarter of a penny) in damages. Therefore, it seems the judge really agreed with Ruskin. 
Today artists are free to paint everything they want and express their feelings by any means they like. This was not always so. 
Throughout most of history artists worked usually on commission. 
No matter how much they enjoyed their work, and how much of 
themselves they poured into it, they never thought of undertaking 

a major work without the support of a patron and the security of 
a contract. In most periods of history artists in any field had a clear 
and definable place in society — sometimes modest, sometimes 
very important — and their creations thus tended to reflect the desires of their patrons and the forces in their human environment. 

Exercise 1.2 
Set forth your ideas concerning the subject of a painting or, 
sculpture. Are artists free to create anything they want or should 
there be certain restrictions dictating artists what and how to paint 
or what to exhibit? 

1.3. Response to artworks 
There are many works of prehistoric art — like the animals 
on cave walls and ceilings — that cannot be interpreted accurately 
in the complete absence of reliable knowledge, but to our eyes, they 
remain beautiful and convincing. This may be because we can easily 
relate them to our own experience of animals. And there are others, 
such as the palace on the island of Crete or the colossal Easter Island 
sculptures, that are impressive to us even if foreign to every kind of 
experience we can possibly know. Simply find interesting forms, 
masses and lines. Yet how much more articulate and intelligent our 
response to works of art can be if we know their purpose in the individual or corporate experience of their makers. We can take a part 
of a building that strikes us as beautiful, study how it was originally 
devised to fit a specific practical use, and then watch it develop under changing pressures, sometimes to the point of total transformation. On the other hand, we can watch a type of religious image 
arise, change, become transfigured, or disappear, according to demands wholly outside the artist's control. Such knowledge can generate in us a deeper understanding and eventually an enriched 
appreciation of the works of art we study. If we learn to share the 
artist's experience, insofar as the historical records and the works of 
art make it accessible to us, then our own life experience can expand 
and grow. We may end up appreciating the beauty and meaning of a 
work of art we did not even like at first. 

Exercise 1.3 
Can viewers evaluate the artworks of the artists of the previous 
epochs without knowing anything of their purpose, standing at a different moment in history? Expand your ideas in your essay.