Formal Essay One Fall 2008

First Formal Essay, World Civilizations 101
Lewis-Clark State College, Fall 2008

Assignment Details.

DUE DATE: This is a take home exam and it is due in class on October 14. Unexcused late papers will be marked as such and will receive a full grade deduction for every 24 hour period late. Your paper is late if I don't have it in my hand when I ask for it in class. Papers placed under my office door will receive an additional grade deduction. The simplest thing is to have your essay ready to hand in on the day it is due.

ESSAY LENGTH: This essay is worth 20% of your overall grade and will be evaluated as such. The minimum length of your essay is four double-spaced, typed pages (approximately 1000 words). The maximum page limit is eight double-spaced typed pages (approximately 2, 000 words). Although there is not a direct connection between the number of pages you write and the grade you earn, the more you write the more chances you give yourself to answer the question you have chosen. Below is a rough guideline to keep in mind as you are writing.

6 pages: you have written 50% more than the absolute minimum amount for the course essay requirement. If your essay is polished & well documented, you have given yourself a chance to cover enough material to earn a 'A' on this essay.

5 pages: you have written 25% more than the absolute minimum amount for the course essay requirement. If your essay is polished & well documented, you have given yourself a chance to cover enough material to earn a 'B' on this essay.

4 pages: you wrote the absolute minimum amount for the course essay requirement. If your essay is polished & well documented, you have given yourself a chance to cover enough material to earn a 'C' on this essay.

No essay of less than four pages will be accepted.

SOURCES: You are expected to utilize all of your class material to develop and support the points in your essay. The more references you make to class readings, lectures, discussions, & videos the better your essay will be documented.

Secondary Sources: your essay must make direct reference to material in Traditions and Encounters, and at least one secondary source from Worlds of History to support your argument. You should expect roughly a full letter grade deduction if Traditions and Encounters or your secondary source from Worlds of History is missing from your essay. Consider using some material from the documentaries we have used in class as additional secondary sources.

Primary Sources: your essay must make direct reference to two primary sources from Worlds of History to support your argument. (Other primary sources will be considered with prior approval). You should expect roughly a full letter grade deduction for each primary source missing from your essay. Traditions and Encounters also has one or two primary sources for each chapter. These are also acceptable primary sources for your essay, but be sure you know how to identify a primary source.
I expect to see the optional readings used to some degree in your essay if you read them. For some essays there will be a more obvious way to use it than others.

You must utilize (and refer to) a meaningful map that places your essay into the context of world geography. Your map may be an original creation, or a cited copy of a map from Traditions and Encounters, Reilly or elsewhere. You can include any details you wish on your map, but keep in mind its purpose to help you introduce the reader to the main thesis of your essay.

Images: If a picture is worth 1,000 words, then why not add some images to your essay? Traditions and Encounters is full of good images that would help to illustrate your points. And most of these images can be easily found on the web. Be sure to discuss the meaning of any images you select in your essay. Just don't cut and paste some pictures in without using them for something.
Graphs, Charts & Tables: are an effective way to present quantitative data (numbers) that support your argument. Very few students include these, so they get noticed.

CITING MATERIALS: Various disciplines (History, English, Sociology, Anthropology etc...) have different ways of documenting where information comes from. In this class we will use a variation of Turabian/Chicago style, which is what historians use & we will use footnotes. See the following link for a basic Turabian Style Guide. For Microsoft Word users footnotes is as simple as selecting -- insert, footnote. If you use another word processor we may need to chat.

Provide a full bibliographic citation and the page number the first time you use a source.

Loewen, James W. 1995. Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong. (New York: Simon and Schuster), 31.

Provide the authors last name and page number each time you use the source afterwards.

Loewen, 55.

Be careful with the Reilly book, as it is an edited work. Reilly is the author of the introductions to each document and the 'reflections' statements at the end. Your citations from the Reilly book will look something like this:

First time using source:

Diaz, Bernal. 1963. "The Conquest of New Spain" in Reilly, Kevin, ed. 2000. Worlds of History: A Comparative Reader (New York: Bedford/St. Martin's), 43.

Each time thereafter:

Diaz, 44.

Only insert footnotes after the period at the end of a sentence. You are expected to include a bibliography (does not count as a page). Treat each document in World of History as a separate bibliographic entry (source). If you utilize material on the web, cite it according to the Turabian Style Guide.

DRAFTING ESSAYS: This is a formal essay and I do not expect to see first or second drafts that have been hastily written the night before. One week before your essay is due we will have a required peer editing session. You will turn in your peer edited draft, along with your final draft. You should expect at least a full letter grade deduction if your essay does not have a peer edited draft submitted with it.

Choose one of the following questions to answer.

1) Creative writing is not my thing. But it might be yours. If you can help me think of some better creative writing type questions that utilize our class materials, I'd be glad to hear them.I bet any of the below questions could be converted to short stories or one act plays. If that sounds more appealing, lets chat.

1. A) (Creative Writing): Write your own historical detective story. Make sure you are able to develop a plot line that fufills all the source requirements. Perhaps using your primary sources as "clues" would help. [In the past, students have found this question to be difficult considering the 1,500 word limit -- so keep that in mind.]

1. B) (Creative Writing): Select three or more historical figures from different civilizations. Place them in a setting, such as a coffee shop or a party, and describe the conversation that they have. Perhaps they debate over the best way to govern a society, perhaps they are curious about certain political, social, economic, or cultural aspects of each others societies, perhaps they are watching the news -- you get the idea. In order to prevent any unnecessary rambling on your part, if you like this question I want you to discuss the general conversation you intend to have your characters engage in with me before you get started. You have to have some kind of thesis

2) Write a review essay for a professional journal directed at college students enrolled in HIST 101 evaluating the first halves of both Worlds of History and Traditions and Encounters as tools for learning about world history up to 500 c.e. Make a recommendation, with specific examples, either for or against the use of Worlds of History and Traditions and Encounters in a college level, online World History course.

[ A few things you might consider: What are the pro's and con's of each particular set of resources? What have your learned about world history from each so far? Anything you wish those materials had covered? Do they offer similar histories? Did you prefer one over the other? Any one of those questions can probably get you started.]

3) Consider the entire span of time before 500 CE. During this period, did women's social status's/roles change for the better or for the worse? Support your argument with specific examples from the readings and viewings and propose a theory that explains why you think this change occured as it did.

4) Document the profound changes in human societies brought about by the development of agriculture. Make an argument with specific examples that documents how this seemingly simple development changed the course of human history. [Make sure you take this essay all the way to 500]

5) Examine the predominant religious/philosophical ideas and practices in the worlds earliest civilizations. In what ways were the religions practiced between 3500 BCE -500 CE alike? What aspect seem the most similar? What aspects seem the most distinct? What do the answer to these questions tell about the nature of religion before 500 CE.

6) Which characteristic (politcal, economic, social, cultural, intellectual, environmental) tells you the most about the period before 500? Briefly explain your selection process, then demonstrate your understanding of the characteristic using the course materials as evidence.

7) The creation of large Empires across Afro-Eurasia was a major characteristic of the classical period. Additionally many of the world's ‘great’ religions (Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity) were founded or took on new status during this same period. Explain this. Conclude your essay with an argument demonstrating the impact of imperial rule on the religious lives of the peoples within the empires.

Come up with your own essay question, but don't surprise me. All customized essay questions must be cleared with me.

Your essays will be graded in accordance with the following rubric.

Content (Approximately 50%)

Addressed question
Strong thesis
Thoughtful introduction
Creative and strong conclusion
Topic sentences linked to thesis
Balance of descriptive content (what happened) and analytical content (why it is important)
Sufficient evidence to prove points
Use of map to convey sense of geography
Adequate number of citations from:
- At least two primary sources from Worlds of History
- At least one secondary source from World of History
- Traditions and Encounters
- Other course readings

Class Videos
Class Notes
The Optional Readings

Demonstrate an understanding of chronology
Use of terminology introduced in class
Demonstrate a command of the material covered in class
Demonstrate an understanding of historical interpretation
Bibliography included

Writing (Approximately 40%)

Use of topic sentences
Sentences flow together smoothly
Transitions effectively connect sentences and paragraphs
Fragments and run-ons do not mar work
Paragraphs used appropriately
Limited misspellings.
Proper citation system
Evidence of "essay drafting" (Peer Review)

Miscellaneous (Approximately 10%)

A few miscellaneous comments from the person who is going to grade your essay

Although there are many ways to do it, most of your essays would benefit from a statement in the first paragraph that begins "In this essay I will demonstrate...." and then you need to remember to stick to that statement as you proceed through your essay. Pick something to prove and work with your sources to illustrate your points.

Your essay should be organized as a discussion of the historical evidence, both primary and secondary, we have looked at this semester. Make sure you understand what a primary and secondary source is. Don't just mention the evidence or footnote it -- discuss it. And make sure your evidence gets beyond chapter 1 of your texts.

Wikkipedia, or any other encyclopedia/dictionary, is NOT a source. It is a good place to start learning about your topic, but I do not expect to see it in your footnotes unless you are
- 1. comparing the encyclopedia entry to our other sources for intellectual purposes
- 2. intentionally trying to give me signals that you did not do the assigned readings.
When grading your essays I often check the footnotes first and evaluate your discussion of the sources before reading your essay. Make sure that discussion is there.
If you have more to say than the max. page limit allows -- then revise and wordsmith. Say more with less -- that is what separates the A's from the B's. And I stop reading after 2,000 words of text (eight pages).