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TwoFinalEssaysInstructionsWorldsince1600Sp2021.docxTWO FINAL EXAM ESSAYS--INSTRUCTIONS
World Civilizations since 1600
Due Thursday, May 13, by 11:59 p.m.
Weight: This assignment constitutes 12% of your course grade
Scope: The essay choices come from the assigned material for the last half of the course (since the midterm essays).
Format: The final will consist of TWO ESSAYS written at your convenience and submitted as a Word document (or PDF file in an emergency)
1. Length: each essay should be a minimum of 650 words (about 2 full pages when double-spaced) and a maximum of 850 words (a strictly enforced maximum limit; nothing after that will count towards your grade, so you need to be efficient).
· At the end of each essay, please give your word count. Not doing this will mean a penalty of -3 from your score.
· To do a word count using recent Microsoft Word programs, look at the bottom left, or highlight the relevant selection of your text, then click on “Review” at the top of the document, and choose “Word Count” from the menu that appears.
· If you have a lot to say, then (because of limited space) you need to write as densely and efficiently as possible. Avoid redundancy and formulate your sentences for maximum effect.
2. Sources: you are expected to use information from the textbook (Wiesner-Hanks, History of World Societies), and in some cases also from the assigned primary sources found as PDF files in the “Readings” folder (if there is relevant material).
· REFERENCING: If you only use these assigned sources, you are not required to include a bibliography (works cited list). Still, whenever you use information from either of the above sources, even if when you are not quoting directly, you must reference the location.
i. Use footnotes, if you can (but parenthetical references are better than nothing). To reference the textbook, simply indicate the author and page #, like this (Wiesner-Hanks, 782). If you’re using an e-book without page numbers, chapter and heading is fine.
ii. For the PDF file documents (if you use them), the author (or title if the author is unknown) and page number is enough.
· I recommend you NOT consult any additional sources, since course materials should be more than enough.
· If you nevertheless do consult any other source (online, or in other books), you must include a complete bibliography (works cited list) at the end of the essay and insert references within your text in the places where you use that information.
· Failure to reference your sources is plagiarism and will result in an automatic score of zero for the exam.
· NOTE: You are not required or expected to discuss specific primary source documents or provide specific direct quotes from those documents as you have been doing for many of your assignments. You will do that later in the semester for your formal paper. If you wish to do so anyway, you may, as appropriate, but don’t go overboard with the amount or length of quotes.
3. Tips for Success:
· Include abundant specific historical details (people, places, events, and dates)
· Show evidence of your own reading and judicious use of the most appropriate parts of the textbook.
· Note that there are two equally valid approaches: depth or breadth
i. Depth: develop a few good examples very thoroughly, with more detail, or
ii. Breadth: provide a wide range of many examples from many times and places, but (necessarily) with less detail
4. Style: Your writing style may be relatively informal, but it needs to be clear. Do your best to use correct and appropriate grammar, punctuation, and vocabulary.
5. Submission: Label each essay clearly (identify which topics you are writing on). Submit your essays in Word or PDF format. The two essays can be included on one document, or submitted as two separate files (it’s up to you). Submit in the assignment link in “Content” by the deadline. If you miss the deadline, you may submit it late, with a 25% late penalty, any time until May 17.
FIRST ESSAY TOPIC (obligatory):
World War I (1914-1918) started out as a European/Western conflict, but quickly became a truly global war. How and why did regions outside the “West” become involved in the war, and what were their motivations and contributions in the course of the war? After adequately addressing the question in general, illustrate your essay with specific examples from at least three of the following:
1. China
2. Japan
3. India
4. The Ottoman Empire
5. African colonial territories
6. NOTE: excluded from this essay are the United States and other thoroughly “Western” societies like Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.
SECOND ESSAY TOPIC (choose your favorite one, from A-E):
A. Compare and contrast China from the late 1940s to 1989 with Russia/The Soviet Union from about 1914 to 1991. What factors in each of these countries contributed to A) the initial victory of their communist revolutions, and B) the governmental policies/actions of these communist governments? In summary, C) what were their key successes and failures?
B. From 1815 to 1914, the West presented a significant set of challenges to rival states. Describe the nature of these challenges in general terms, then compare and contrast how TWO of the following regions responded to both general and specific challenges of the West.
i. Imperial Russia
ii. Ottoman Empire
iii. India
iv. Either China OR Japan (not both)
C. Describe and explain how, on the one hand, China grew increasingly impoverished and weak in the 19th and early 20th centuries while, on the other hand, Japan grew wealthier and stronger. (Consider events through the end of World War I).
D. What were the major motives for Western-style imperialism,” from about 1800 to 1914? Be sure to define important concepts, and to include specific illustrating examples from at least two of the following imperial regions/powers: Europe, the U.S., and Japan.
E. Analyze major trends in “decolonization” in the years after 1945 (post-World War II). Consider a.) how and why territories under previous imperialst domination gained independence, and b.) what political and economic systems they could (and did) choose to adopt, and c.) what some of the major problems and successes were for these countries in the first few decades of their independence. Illustrate your remarks with detailed examples from the history of specific countries in at least two of the following regions:
i. India
ii. Southwest Asia / the Middle East (several countries; use select examples)
iii. Southeast Asia (several countries; use select examples).
iv. Africa (many countries, use select examples)
v. Latin America (several countries; use select examples)
NOTE: This essay should be a combination of generalizations (listing a wide variety of trends and explanations for about a page), plus more detailed illustrations from the history of at least two specific countries (about another page). For your specific country examples, an effective method to prepare would be to look up your chosen countries in the index of the textbook and read everything the textook has to say about them in the years after World War II; in some cases, this is a very manageable amount of information.
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