Order 852471: Read Instructions

Guidelines for Term Papers

Each student will choose a topic on the list below or another topic chosen with the approval of the instructor. Research should start at the very beginning of the class. During the first half of the class, each student will choose a topic on the Normans in Normandy, or the Normans in England. For the second half of the class, each student will choose a topic on the Normans in Italy and/or Sicily, the Normans and the Church, or the Normans on Crusade.

You must concentrate on both primary and secondary sources in the paper, and seek out the most recent sources (books and articles) available. Use the internet only with extreme caution. Each paper should be 5-7 pages in length. You may add to those 5-7 pages illustrations, maps, drawings, etc., up to five pages. At least six of your sources must be books, and may include the assigned books for the course; and your internet sources may only consist of 50% of the sources you use. You will be graded on the intelligence of your discussion of the questions and the sources you have found, and the thoroughness and care with which you have selected them. Grammar and syntax also factor into your grade (see below

The paper may be handed in to the History office on the due date from 8 am to 5 pm, where Gloria will date stamp it, or mailed to the following address::

of Houston Department of History 524 gnes Arnold Hall Houston, TX 77204-3003 Houston Suggested Paper Project Topics:

PAPER I: Normandy and England--Choose one of these topics, or suggest another

1. How "Viking" were the Normans? What Viking customs did they transfer to Normandy and England?

2. Why did the Normans Succeed: "Predatory Kinship" or "Feudal Monarchy"?

3. The Norman Uses of Propaganda: Creation of Myths and "Histories"

4. The Anglo-Norman "Empire": Myth or Reality?

5. Families and Power: The Importance of the Norman Aristocracy

6. Children of William the Conqueror: Filial Interactions

7. The Norman Church and the Formation of the English Church

8. Lanfranc, Anselm, and the Abbey of Bec in Normandy and England

9. The Transfer of Power: King Stephen and the Empress Matilda

PAPER 2: The Normans and the Wider World--Choose one of these topics, or suggest another

1. Norman Military Institutions and their Uses (Include Social as well as Military Uses)

2. The Secrets of Norman Success: Italy, Sicily, Spain, the Mediterranean

3. How "Viking" were the Normans? What Viking customs did they transfer to Italy and Sicily?

4. The Norman Kingdoms of Italy and Sicily: Methods of Control and Successful Rule

5. The Norman Empires: England and Sicily Compared

6. The sons of Tancred d'Hauteville: Successes and Failures

7. The Normans in Italy and Sicily and the Papacy

8. Sicilian Kingship: Roger II, William I and William II

9. The Normans on Crusade: Heroes and Villains

10. Contacts between the Sicilian Normans and the Anglo-Normans

11. The Norman-Italian Church

12. The Norman-Sicilian Church

Here are some general guidelines and reminders for the actual writing of your paper. If you need help with your writing skills, you can visit U-H’s Writing Center.

Basics: Remember that your paper MUST consist of 5-7 pages of text. Use twelve-point font, double-space, and use normal margins. You may hand-write on your maps and pictures if absolutely necessary; maps, illustrations, charts, etc. must be footnoted just like quotes or paraphrases. Remember that you MUST hand in a hard copy. DO NOT use binders, folders, or transparent covers. Simply staple the upper left-hand corner (if it’s too thick to staple, use a clip).

Sources and Documentation: You MUST use at least six books, which may include the assigned texts, especially the van Houts collection of Primary sources, and the assigned secondary sources. You may NOT use general encyclopedias. You may use ONLY two internet sources for text; additional internet sources may be used for figures, pictures, maps, etc. Internet sources are not required. All figures such as drawings and maps MUST be footnoted just like quotations and paraphrases from texts. A bibliography is required--in addition to the 5-7 pages of text. Please divide your bibliography into primary and secondary sources.

Writing the Paper:

Structure : Begin with an INTRODUCTION containing a thesis statement that briefly states the idea that your paper is going to prove. Your introductory paragraph should be a mini-outline of the entire paper (NOT in outline form, but giving a run-down of the main points that will be addressed): the thesis you are going to prove and the main points of your logical proof. The thesis and main points may be stated as the statements which are your conclusions, or as the main question and sub-questions the body of the paper will answer. Each body paragraph should then present evidence and analysis to prove one (or a part of one) of the points you listed for your LOGICAL ARGUMENT (or the questions you are answering) in your opening paragraph. The body should progress from point to point and stay parallel in structure with your introduction. End with a CONCLUSION that restates your thesis (or answers your main question) and summarizes how you proved it with your main points.

Figures : You may insert figures (maps, illustrations, charts, etc.) within the text, or you may place them at the end of the paper, but be sure to include a reference to your source for each figure within the text so it can be easily located and identified. You could also choose to place the notation for the figure in a footnote or write a caption for each illustration. If you choose to insert a caption, be sure it includes your source for the figure.

General Reminders : Be sure to PROOFREAD your paper carefully before turning it in. Spelling, syntax, and grammar all count. DO NOT rely solely on spell-check! (“Eye have a spell-check; it came with my pea-see; an itch thyme eye make a miss steak it fines them awl, ewe sea…”) Correct all errors before printing.

--Italicize all titles, even in your bibliography (do not underline them).

--Use words for numbers up to one hundred, not numerals (write “ten,” not “10,” and “tenth,” not “10th”), within the body of your paper (the exception would be Roman numerals after a name).

--DO NOT use bullet points or outline form within your text. If you need a chart, find or create one.

--Note that “e.g.” means “for example,” and “i.e.” means “that is” (you probably do not need to use these anyway).

--DO NOT use “etc.”

--Do not use contractions like “don’t;” they are too informal.

--Be sure that each sentence is a full sentence, containing at least a subject and verb. Do not begin sentences with “and,” “but,” “which,” or other connectors.

--Above all, do not sacrifice substance for style! If you want to use a fancy word, be sure that you know exactly what it means and how to use it properly. Choose precisely the right word to say precisely what you mean.

--When in doubt, footnote! Footnote all direct quotations, of course--but you must also footnote paraphrases of a source, and also ideas taken from a source. If you footnote all direct quotations, paraphrases, and ideas, your own ideas and conclusions will stand out clearly. However, your paper should not be just a string of quotations, but should include a discussion of your own ideas. All short quotations (less than four lines) should be placed in parentheses. Long quotations--of which there should be relatively few--should be indented five spaces each from the left and right margins, and single-spaced.

Examples of proper footnotes.

1. David Bates, Normandy Before 1066 (London and New York: Longman, 1982), pp. 28-30.

2. Bates, Normandy Before 1066, p. 82.

3. Judith Green, Henry I: King of England and Duke of Normandy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), pp. 20-21.

4. Green, Henry I, p. 42.

5. Sally N. Vaughn, Archbishop Anselm: Bec Missionary, Canterbury Primate, Patriarch of Another World (Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate, 2012), 66-67.

6. Vaughn, Archbishop Anselm, p. 100.

7. Anselm, Epistle 206, To Pope Urban summarizing problems with Rufus, in Vaughn, Archbishop Anselm, in Part II Sources: Anselm's Letters from Lambeth 59, p. 215.

8. C. Warren Hollister, "The Anglo-Norman Civil War: 1101," in C. Warren Hollister, Monarchy, Magnates and Institutions in the Anglo-Norman World (London: 1986), pp. 77-96, at p. 80.

9. Hollister, "Anglo-Norman Civil War," p. 85.

Examples of proper bibliographical references, in alphabetical order by author's last name:

Primary Sources:

Anonymous, Vita Gundulfi, tr. Sally N. Vaughn, printed on Blackboard Website for History 4329, The Normans.

Anselm of Canterbury, Anselm's Letters from Lambeth 59, in Sally N. Vaughn, Archbishop Anselm: Bec Missionary, Canterbury Primate, Patriarch of Another World, Part II: Illustrative Sources. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate, 2012, pp. 169-266.

Orderic Vitalis, excerpts from Ecclesiastical History, "Mabel of Belleme," compiled by Sally N. Vaughn, printed on Blackboard Website for History 4329, The Normans.

Secondary Sources: (in alphabetical order by author's last name)

Bates, David. Normandy Before 1066. London and New York: Longman, 1982.

Green, Judith. Henry I: King of England and Duke of Normandy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.

Hollister, C. Warren, "The Anglo-Norman Civil War: 1101," in C. Warren Hollister, Monarchy, Magnates and Institutions in the Anglo-Norman World. London: 1986, pp.

77-96.

_________________. Monarchy, Magnates and Institutions in the Anglo-Norman World. London: 1986.

Vaughn, Sally N. Archbishop Anselm: Bec Missionary, Canterbury Primate, Patriarch of Another World. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate, 2012, 66-67.