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Textbooks provide a kind of grand narrative of Western Civilization. But we don't have a text book. So we have to formulate our own narrative. We rely heavily on several written sources: online essays, primary and secondary sources - including textbooks - in this course, so comprehending the reading is important. It is important to take the time to do the reading and think about it and formulate questions and responses for class discussion. In addition to narratives about the past, history involves analysis. Why did civilizations arise? What caused democracy to emerge? What was the effect of religious beliefs? What sources can we look at to demonstrate the role of women? and so forth. Classroom discussion will focus largely on analytic questions. However, doing history involves answering analytic questions for yourself, so you will get some practice in writing analysis papers and presenting them to the class. You will write an analytic paper for each course sections. Make sure you review the What You Should Know suggestions as they point to what well educated persons should know about the history of Western Civilization. Identifications and narratives are submitted to the discussion list in the "Post Weekly Assignments" discussion board. Analysis papers should be sent directly to me as email or an email message with an attachment (I accept only MSWord, HTML, RTF or plain text formats). Be certain you receive an email acknowledgement receipt from me. The details on each of these types of assignments are below: You identify something by saying who,
what, where, when, and why. If it's a person, the who is a bit
redundant, but it might be relevant to state their full name or
something. The "what" means saying the person was a Queen or
a reformer or whatever. Their main role on the historical stage.
"Where" is where the person lived, where the battle was
fought. Give what detail you can. Thus, you can say the Battle of The "why" concerns historical significance. The Battle of Crécy was important because it was the first major victory of the English over the French in the 100 Years War. You could say more. This is the really important part of the answer, yet it is often completely left out by students. The Identification assignment usually comes in under 100 words. You can often state the who, what, where and when portions in a single sentence. For example: The Battle of Crécy was fought between the English and French at a site in northern France in 1346. Then, all you would need is a sentence or two on the significance. Some answers are easier to compact than others. There is no length limit but strive for both completeness and brevity. Try to go beyond a single source in your search for explanations. Cite your sources. Here you just tell the story of an event, a career, a development. The key with the narrative assignment is clarity. Your narrative should have a clear beginning, middle and end. It needs to stay on topic and not wander off on side issues or get distracted by giving too much background. Just narrate the events. This assignment will take more words. The length will be determined by the topic, but typically will run 50 to 200 words. Try to go beyond the book in your search for narrative information. Midterm examination There will be an in-class Midterm examination. You will be tested over the primary and secondary readings and the class postings on Blackboard. See the What You Should Know sections for Ancient Times. Textbooks on Western Civilization are often organized both temporally and topically but often do not always follow a strict linear progression. There is a lot of history and it is hard to keep track of who was doing what where and when. To help you keep track of what was going on when, create a timeline of significant events (significant to you) Ancient Times. Content is up to you. Choose people, events and places that interest you. I have had students trace the history of agriculture, irrigation, warfare, religion, philosophical movements, development of writing, technological inventions, changes in roles of women, migrations of the Celts, and the flourishing of literary and artistic movements. Anything within the time segment is okay. Format is up to you. A simple linear progression on paper is fine. Some students create web pages or power point presentations. Some create scrolls or mock up newspaper accounts. Be creative and have fun. These will be presented in class so you will also get a chance to do public presentation. This is your basic history essay or short paper. The key to this assignment is in the name: analysis. Your paper will probably contain some identification and some narrative and maybe even a definition or two, but if you don't do any analysis of the event or person or development, then you aren't really doing this assignment. All of the basic paper-writing rules apply here: have a clear thesis statement, include in your paper only those facts that go toward supporting your thesis (unless your paper is specifically addressing differing points of view). You must include a bibliography of sources you consulted or referenced. There is not enough room here to teach you about how to write a term paper, even a short one. See Student Guide to Writing a Paper. Each Analysis paper should be no less that 750 words and preferably no more than about 1250 words. The lower limit is inflexible and you will be graded down if you go below it. The upper limit is a strong suggestion. This upper limit is to encourage you to be thorough but brief. It sets a limit on how much effort I expect you to expend on this project. It helps you define the scope of the activity. It teaches you to edit your papers for content. Presentation When we meet you will present your paper. Presentations are half of the grade for the analytic paper. Most people do not like public speaking but the practice will help. I went into teaching because I was terrified about speaking in front of audiences. Experience does help. Do not read your paper, summarize it. Tell us the title and your thesis statement. Give us the arguments pro and con and give us your conclusion. Be prepared to answer questions from the class on your topic. Handouts and visual aides are fine but not necessary. If you have online visuals you need to send them to me in time for me to get them on to the class site. Submitting Assignments Assignments are late if they are turned in after the due date. I will give extensions if you have a valid excuse, but you must talk to me by email or after class to receive an extension - preferably before the due date. Required assignments are required. You must turn in all required assignments in order to pass the course, no exceptions. Unexcused late assignments will not receive any points, however, they still must be turned in to me in order to pass the course. Send your analytic papers to me by email at least one day before class. I accept attachments in HTML, Word, RTF and text.
Post your weekly comments to the period discussion board. Remember this is one third of your grade. Post your weekly identifications or narratives to the assignments discussion board. In your subject line include assignment type, week number, and your name. For example:
See course syllabus for grading information Self Evaluation. Submit a self assessment by email. Tell me how you think you did in the course, how hard you worked and what grade you would give yourself and why. This is worth 10 points. Class Evaluation. For 10 points, email me an evaluation of the class as an attachment. |
