Make sure your entire paper is in your own words; turnitin catches instances of academic dishonesty or plagiarism. Please talk to me if you have any questions about what constitutes plagiarism.
Here are some tips for revising your work after you have your draft midterm essay exam.
For your paper, please draw almost exclusively (ideally exclusively) on your books or notes from the class. Please do nt use any websites unless you are absolutely confident that they are scholarly sources. Examples might be the Gale Virtual Reference LibraryLinks to an external site. search engine through the IU library system.
You’d be best off using only class resources.
*Your paper should be about six double-spaced pages with one-inch margins and 12-point font. If your essay is fewer than six-pages, it is likely that you are not including enough examples, specifics, and information. The more information, the better! The best papers will include many names, events, places, and references to our documents. At the same time, I’d like to place a limit of eight pages on your paper. If you start to get to that point, please edit your work so you include only the most important information.
*Include page numbers from our book to link to the information that you use. In other words, if you only quote from the textbook, you could put the pages in parenthesis after the quote. You won’t need a works cited page. If you use sources from outside of our class you will need to cite them using MLA or Chicago style.
*This assignment asks you to do the higher order skill of synthesis. It is tough! You should have a core idea, an argumentative thesis that you prove to your reader using your evidence, and your whole paper should hang together.
…allow me to repeat here that paper needs to have a core argument. Please have a look at the rubric for this assignment because having an argument plays an important role in your final grade
*A good main point often has “back-pressure” to make it more dynamic. For example: “While men like Alexander the Great or Augustus play a leading role in historical narratives, in fact the Roman crowd, the Athenian publicum, and the Alexander’s soldiers also transformed history.” Consider starting your thesis statement with “Although” “It may seem” “If…” “While” etc. Also, your thesis should be powered through its strong verb.
*Every paragraph should include an insightful quote or paraphrase from the text. Every sentence (ideally) should include some specific information, a date, a person, or an event, in other words, something specific with a name. The trick of writing history is to move back and forth between the big picture (your point) and the details. You use your analytical abilities to show how you can bring together this big picture with the details. In this paper you are showing me your ability to synthesize our material (your big point), and you are showing me your command of our class content by linking that big point with specific information from the class.
* Only quote when the way something is said is particularly significant. Otherwise paraphrase. In general, also only quote to analyze. You should always introduce and frame your quotation for your reader. Explain to your reader how you understand your quotation and what you think it means. The added benefit of paraphrasing instead of quoting is that the process of paraphrasing itself will allow you to develop a deeper understanding of your sources.
*You must use at least three of our primary sources or quote from primary sources used in the textbook in your answer.
* Your main point or argument should not be immediately apparent to your reader, for example, “Christianity played an important role in the Medieval period.”
CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING PROMPTS
The men who led the Renaissance saw themselves as rediscovering Ancient Greece and Rome. What aspects of Ancient Greece and Rome did they see themselves as reviving? What aspects of medieval Europe did they reject? To what extent were they able to achieve this? In other words, point to specific similarities or differences between the worlds of Antiquity (aspects of Rome or Greece) vs. Renaissance Europe. You will be best off in this question if you define your terms specifically. What do you mean by “Rome,” “Greece,” or “Renaissance”?
To what extent was the Renaissance a departure from the world of Medieval Europe or to what extent were the changes of the Renaissance merely a continuation of high medieval cultures and achievements? Write an argumentative essay in which you stake out a claim about the relationship between the Medieval and Renaissance periods. You will be best off in this question if you define your terms specifically. What do you mean by “Medieval” or “Renaissance”?
Under Roman Emperor Trajan, Roman rule extended from Britain to Armenia and from northern Europe to Egypt. What accounts for the long slow “fall” of the Roman Empire? Write an essay in which you identify a turning point (or points) and describe differences between the period of the height of Roman rule, say under Augustus, and the early Medieval ages East and West. Finally provide some examples of the sources that help us to understand each period. Be sure that you define your terms, what you mean by “height” and “fall” and to which periods you are referring.
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