Paper Assignments
Each paper requires that you read and analyze one of the listed primary source readings. In your analysis of the document, you should address the following questions:
1. Who wrote the source? When was the source written? What type of document is it? What is the main storyline?
2. Who is the intended audience? (One of the most important questions). Why was it written? What assumptions can be made about source and author?
3. Can I believe this document? What can I learn about society/people who created document? How does source relate to its historical context?
4. Why you think the writer chose to express him or herself in this way?
5. What do you think is the lasting importance of the document you chose? Why is it important in the big picture that is Western History?
Paper Option 1: Sept 16 Select one of the sources below to write on
The code of Hammurabi
The Beautiful and the Good
Aristotle’s Nichomachaean Ethics
Polybius Rome and Carthage Compared
Roman State Religion
Livy Roman Religious Toleration
Roman or Barbarian
Paper Option 2: Oct 12 Select one of the sources below to write on
The Capitularies of De Villis
The Capitularies of the Missi
An Arab Diplomat in Constantinople
The Canons of the Fourth Lateran Council Canon 68 and Canon 3
Peter Abelard Sic et Non
The Trial of Joan of Arc
The Goodman of Paris
