History Paper

HISTORY 111 (AS02) – Winter 2013: Primary Source Assignment: (15%)

The Primary Source assignment is due at the start of class on February 7, 2013 and it is worth 15% of your final grade. Your essay should be three to five pages in length, typed, double-spaced in 12-point font with one-inch margins, page numbers and the pages stapled together. Your answer to one of the questions found below must be written in essay form with a strong introduction containing a thesis statement, followed by the development of several supporting points bolstered by specific references to the primary source readings and a conclusion. You must answer the question in the first paragraph and put the material in your own words in conjunction with examples from the selections to illustrate your points in the body of the essay. While it is important to forward your own interpretation and argument, remember to remain focused on the topic or question. A clear writing style in concert with solid organizational techniques, a well-developed argument and transitional sentences from paragraph to paragraph should result in a polished and effective essay. Please use the past tense consistently when writing about past events, sources and people, remember to use transitional phrases to connect your paragraphs together, and to the thesis, and avoid including too many quotes, instead rely on paraphrasing (with appropriate citations – footnotes or endnotes1) to integrate specific examples into your essay to support your argument.

Please proofread your paper to correct errors prior to submission. You may also ask me to review your paper in advance, with enough notice, to give you suggestions for improvement in terms of argument, use of sources and/or presentation. Late assignments will be accepted without penalty only in cases of extreme illness with documented proof of that illness from a licensed physician. If you submit your assignment late for any other reason, the grade for your paper will be reduced by 10% for every day it is late, including if it is submitted after 9:45 a.m. on February 7, 2013.

Remember that all of the required written work for the course must be your own and not done in collaboration with others or used in previous classes. Any student caught plagiarizing will be turned into the appropriate authorities with the recommendation that the harshest punishment be enforced. Plagiarism includes copying directly from someone's work and also includes taking ideas that are not your own without giving credit. You must keep your notes and drafts for your essay until it is returned to you, with a grade by the instructor. You must incorporate material from the primary sources assigned on the topic of your choice (as found on weblinks2) within your essay to answer one of the following questions and you should not incorporate any outside materials in your essay. Please use only the Chicago Style of citation (i.e., footnotes or endnotes) for your essay for any quotes or material paraphrased from the sources, and please do not submit a “Works Cited” page or bibliography for this assignment. Please refer to the examples found at the bottom of the page, or the Rampolla book, for the format of citations to be used for this assignment and you will be severely penalized if you use any other form of citation in your essay.3 You will receive a F for your essay if you do not provide citations for the examples and/or points discussed in your assignment that are drawn from any sources.4

Please answer ONE of the following questions:

European Exploration: You must use all of the assigned primary sources on European exploration in your essay. 1) Whose concerns and actions are reflected within the assigned documents and what do they demonstrate about the nature of Early Modern European exploration? Ottoman Society: You must use all of the assigned primary sources on Ottoman society in your essay. 2) What insight into Ottoman society, and European views of it, can be gained from a study of the assigned sources? Reformation: You must use at least four of the assigned primary sources on the Reformation in your essay. 3) How do these sources exemplify the complexities and differences found within religious reform in Early Modern Europe?

1 Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, “The Turkish Letters: Lesbian Love in a Turkish Bath,” Web Archive, accessed January 25, 2013, http://web.archive.org/web/19981206071508/http://www.signature.pair.com/letters/archive/busbecq.html. 2 “A Visit to the Wife of Suleiman the Magnificent, c. 1550,” Modern History Sourcebook, accessed January 28, 2013, http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/mod/1550sultanavisit.asp. 3 Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, “The Turkish Letters, 1555-1562: Excerpts,” Modern History Sourcebook, accessed February 1, 2013, http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/mod/1555busbecq.asp. 4 Ibid.