Hist 1213 CRN 23308 Modern Western Civilization FALL 2021 First Essay Assignment
Each successful paper (deserving a C or a higher grade) should meet the following criteria:
• It should answer ONE of the following questions. Possible answers could be a lot of change, little change, or no change at all.
1. Did the life of lower classes improve or deteriorate with nineteenth-century industrialization and nation-building? (Use primary sources from chapters 19, 20, and 21). OR
2. How did European imperialism and colonialism change between 1600 and 1871 (Ch. 14 and 22 sources)?
• It should be a 2 – 3 pages long paper (at least TWO full pages but no more than THREE pages) based only on the primary source readings and images (not maps) from at least two chapters assigned. They cover the period roughly between 1600 and 1871.
• It should be a critical and analytical synthesis of at least THREE assigned primary source readings (“Competing Viewpoints” & “Analyzing Primary Sources” sections). Another option is to use TWO READINGS from those sections & TWO IMAGES (NOT MAPS) from the textbook OR ONE READING from those two sections & FOUR IMAGES (NOT MAPS) from the textbook. The section “Interpreting Visual Evidence” contains only images and editor’s notes. Only the sources in “Competing Viewpoints” & “Analyzing Primary Sources” sections are legitimate readings. Editorial notes introduce the primary source readings and images but DO NOT count as primary source readings. DO NOT use any other books or websites.
• It should organize evidence to show change over time instead of jumping back and forth to the examples belonging to different time periods.
• It should have a clear structure (the introduction with a straightforward thesis statement which briefly answers the question and serves as a “roadmap” of your argument).
• No separate title page. In a Word Document, go to Insert, then Header, and type your name our class # in the upper left or right corner.
• Attach a bibliography of sources cited in the paper identifying author, title, date, and the page in the textbook (the list cannot be considered as a page of writing). The list will help both you and me to make sure that you have used enough required sources. See examples of how to format the bibliography below.
• Primary source reading
o Author unknown, “The Epic of Gilgamesh,” (circa 3,000 BCE), Joshua Cole, Carol Symes, Judith Coffin and Robert Stacey, Western Civilizations (N.Y.: W.W. Norton, 2012), 10
o Aristophanes, “Socrates as a Sophist” (circa 400 BCE), Joshua Cole, Carol Symes, Judith Coffin and Robert Stacey, Western Civilizations (N.Y.: W.W. Norton, 2012), 78
• Primary source image
o Raphael, “The School of Athens” (1510CE), Joshua Cole, Carol Symes, Judith Coffin and Robert Stacey, Western Civilizations (N.Y.: W.W. Norton, 2012), 25
