History 1001

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 you believe this document?  What can you 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

 

Late papers will be penalized.  Papers should be 2-3 pages typed with one-inch margins in Cambria or New Times Roman 12-point font.

You should use a source (not an encyclopedia) in investigating the source and its context.