IMPORTANT NOTE:
Make sure you are reading the assignment sheet for the right class.
History 221-01 meets TR at 9:30; History 221-02 (writing intensive) meets
TR at 2:00.
FINAL WRITING ASSIGNMENTS for HISTORY 221-02 (writing intensive, TR 2:00-3:15)
I. Short Essay
Due: Thursday, May 9 by noon, in my office or mailbox
Format: minimum 2 pages, typed, double-spaced, essay with 1-inch margins. You may cite your examples with parenthetical citations.
Assignment: write a 2 page response to the following question. Use plenty of examples to support your argument.
Did Erec live up to the ideals of chivalry? Why or why not?
Note: your grade on this essay will account for the bulk of the
10% of the course-grade that was previously devoted to short writing assignments.
Your base grade for that 10% will be the grade you receive on this
essay. That base grade will be modified by your grades on the two short-writing
assignments in the following way: a check on a short writing assignment
will not change this grade; a plus (+) will increase this grade by 1/3
letter
grade; a minus (-) will decrease this grade by 1/3 letter grade.
II. Final Essay: Synthesis [this is the essay that is called ‘final essay’ on the syllabus]
Due-Dates:
Monday, April 29th: first draft due by 5 PM
in my office or mailbox. No extensions can be
given for this due-date as I must return them to you by Thursday, May 2
Thursday, May 9th: final, revised draft due
by noon in my office or mailbox
Format: 6-8 full pages, typed, double-spaced, with standard 1-inch
margins. When you cite sources, please use endnotes or footnotes (consult
the
assignment sheet for the 2nd essay for proper style)
Assignment: choose one (1) of the following questions and write
a 6-8 page essay in response to it. Be sure to use as many specific examples
from
primary sources as possible.
1. A certain professor has maintained that “dependence was a universal
fact of life during the middle ages.” Do you agree? In your answer
please consider the following: kingship, religious belief or practice,
lordship and the role(s) of women.
2. How were the developments in kingship between 1050-1200 connected to
the rise of the papacy over the same period? Please consider both
the
goals and methods of royal and papal reformers, as well as the influences
each may have had on the other.
3. Power comes in many shapes and varieties. Choose three of the following
four categories of medieval persons and compare and contrast
the types of power exercised by each category: kings, popes, aristocratic
women, religious women. Be sure to consider the sources of each
category’s power as well as the means by which that category of person
exercised their power. Also be sure to use concrete (specific) examples
to illustrate your points.
Notes:
1. Remember to argue something. Make sure that your essay possesses
a strong opening paragraph that states a specific argument, a series of
closely-linked paragraphs demonstrating the validity of that thesis, and
a final conclusion.
2. You must use specific examples from the sources we have read.
3. Compare and contrast questions (see number 3 above) require active
comparisons and contrasts. An essay that talks about kings, then about
popes and then about queens without making active interconnections and
comparisons between them is not going to receive a very good grade.
4. The final draft should include a ½ to 1 page explanation
of how you have improved your essay from the first version.