Humanities Annotated Bibliography and the Final Paper

Proposal-Outline

Professor Loretta Nyhan (03/09/2014)

Proposal-Outline

HUMN 303

A. Enlightment

Explain your course project in a brief, clear paragraph that tells:

(1) Explain what the Enlightenment was; discuss how the ideas of the Enlightenment influenced people to create more democratic governments. Also, identify the ideas of John Locke, Baron de Montesquieu, Voltaire, Rousseau, and Thomas Hobbes.

(2) This topic interests me because it’s about oneself and intellectual capacities in determining what to believe and how to act.

(3) How does this topic link strongly to the Humanities?

This topic links strongly to Humanities because during the Enlightenment the age in which humanism reached its fully developed from.

B. THESIS

1. Through the different philosophies and intellectuals of the era, it grows evident that individuals addressed religious and social issues by criticizing the current nature of the state, suggesting more effective methods, and by applauding certain other figures worthy of admiration.

C. RESEARCH APPROACH

Explain your method of research.

• What primary sources (such as first-hand writings) will you use?

The Enlightenment in America

The Age of Reason was described as a method of thinking and knowing based on presumption that the natural world is best. Enlightenment thinkers advanced four fundamental principles: the order of the natural world, the power of human reason, the natural rights of individuals (including the right to self-government), and the progressive improvement of society.

• How will you find secondary sources that are scholarly of academic-quality

and suitable for university-level research?