RESEARCH ESSAY:
You will write a research essay of about six pages (1,500 words) using the work you completed for your library research assignment and completing more research as necessary.
I’ve included our topic list below. Keep in mind that each topic includes a primary source or set of primary sources. In addition to the primary sources, you will need to use the five additional scholarly sources that you found as part of your library research assignment.
You must provide a properly formatted bibliography at the end of your paper that lists all the sources that were consulted or cited to complete your essay.
A good research essay should have the following ingredients:
An argument:
An excellent research paper is more than just a collection of details and facts. You’re constructing a clear argument that answers a research question. You might be agreeing with the question, disagreeing, or even arguing that answering yes or no is too simplistic, but in all cases, you are constructing an argument supported by evidence and information that is supplied through your sources.
Clear introduction/thesis statement:
A clear and concise thesis statement is your summary of your essay’s argument. You should put it in your introduction where it will set the tone and expectations for the rest of your essay. When I’m done reading your introduction I should know exactly what your essay is going to prove; the rest of the essay will show me how and why I should believe you.
Essay body:
You should build your argument step by step. Use your paragraphs to frame each point of your argument. There should be a logical and clear flow to your essay. There is no set number of paragraphs that you should be using but generally short concise paragraphs are better than paragraphs that stretch on for a page or more.
Conclusion:
You can use your conclusion to summarize what your essay has proven and why you think it’s important. But remember, don’t wait until the end to tell me what you’re going to prove; state that right at the beginning in the introduction.
Citation:
Proper citation gives credit to your sources and demonstrates that you have engaged with them. You should have AT LEAST two to three footnotes at the bottom of each page. If there are not footnotes you are either not citing your sources properly, or you haven’t engaged with them enough.
Remember to cite material that you are quoting directly AND material that you are paraphrasing in your own words. Note: Essays without citation will be returned unmarked and I will ask you to add in the proper citation.
Breadth and Depth of Sources:
You will be marked on demonstrated engagement with your sources; I need to see that you’ve read this material and are fully engaging with it.
Citation and Style Guidelines:
- The research essay should be 1,500 words (six pages) in length.
- Use 12-point font, double-spacing, with one-inch margins.
- You must use Chicago reference style in this assignment as outlined in the Chicago Manual of Style(http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide/citation-guide-1.html ).
- In the olden days students were told never to use “I” in a research essay; the rules have loosened and you may. But use the first person judiciously. Save it for when you really are expressing your opinion.
- In addition to footnotes, your paper should include a title page and bibliography. The title page should include only the following elements. 1) the title of your paper, 2) your name, 3) the course number and section, 4) the date of submission. The title should be centered and placed about one third of the way down from the top of the page. The other information should be listed in the bottom right-hand corner of the page.
- A bibliography is a list of all the sources you used in preparing your essay. It is placed at the end of your paper. The sources should be listed in alphabetical order according to the authors’ surname.
- You should number your pages, beginning with the first page of text (i.e., the title page should not be numbered).
Grading: Your essay will be graded based on the following criteria:
A clear thesis statement in your introduction
Well-structured essay that conveys your argument
Breadth and depth of sources
Clarity of writing throughout
Proper citation and style
Research Essay Topics:
Note, some of these topics include two primary documents that are linked together. In those case, you can draw from both sources, but you will still need to find an additional five sources for your essay. In other words, the primary documents will only count as one source.
- Slavery in the ancient world: What did slavery mean to people ancient Greece? How did slaves fit into Greek society in the Before Common Era period?
Primary Source: Sources of The Making of the West, Chapter 2: Document 2.6: Xenophon, Revenues (Fourth Century B.C.E.)
- What were the strengths of the Persian Empire? What did it contribute to Western Civilization?
Primary Source: Sources of The Making of the West, Chapter 2: Document 2.1: Inscription Honoring Cyrus, King of Persia (c. 557–530 B.C.E.)
- How did Hippocrates transform the way Western civilization thought about disease? How did his contributions represent a new way of thinking about the world?
Primary Source: Sources of The Making of the West, Chapter 3: Document 3.4: Hippocrates of Cos, On the Sacred Disease (400 B.C.E.)
- What power did Women have in Roman society?
Primary Source: Sources of The Making of the West, Chapter 5: Document 5.3: Livy, Roman Women Demonstrate against the Oppian Law (195 B.C.E.)
- How did the Roman Empire’s approach to granting citizenship allow it to expand? What challenges did extending citizenship to new peoples create?
Primary Source: Sources of The Making of the West, Chapter 5: Document 5.4: Cicero, In Defense of Archias (62 B.C.E.)
- What does the experience of Vibia Perpetua tell us about the spread of Christianity during within the Roman Empire?
Primary Source: Sources of The Making of the West, Chapter 6: Document 6.5: The Martyrdom of Saints Perpetua and Felicitas (203 C.E.)
- What is Christianity? What challenges did early Christians face in creating a standardized Christian Religion?
Primary Source: (There are two sources here, but for the purposes of the assignment we’ll count them as contributing as one source in your essay. So even if you use them both you’ll still need to find another five sources.): Sources of The Making of the West, Chapter 7: Document 7.1: SOURCES IN CONVERSATION | Arius, Letter to Alexander, Bishop of Alexandria (c. 320 C.E.) and The Nicene Creed (325 C.E.)
- How did Islam become the heir of Hellenistic and Roman traditions rather than the destroyer of them? (See page 140 in your Sources of the Making of the West book for this statement)
Primary Source: Sources of The Making of the West, Chapter 8: Document 8.2: Islamic Terms of Peace (633–639)
- What role did women play in the courts of Seventh/Eighth Century European Kingdoms?
Primary Source: Sources of The Making of the West, Chapter 8: Document 8.4: The Life of Lady Balthild, Queen of the Franks (Late Seventh Century)
- Who won the Investiture conflict and how?
Primary Source: (There are two sources here, but for the purposes of the assignment we’ll count them as contributing as one source in your essay. So even if you use them both you’ll still need to find another five sources.): Sources of The Making of the West, Chapter 10: Document 10.2: Sources In Conversation | Emperor Henry IV, Letter and Pope Gregory VII, Excommunication (1076)
- How did university students think of themselves during the Medieval period?
Primary Source: (There are two sources here, but for the purposes of the assignment we’ll count them as contributing as one source in your essay. So even if you use them both you’ll still need to find another five sources.): Sources of The Making of the West, Chapter 11: Document 11.2: Royal Decrees of Special Privileges for Students and Student Letters(Twelfth–Early Thirteenth Centuries)
- How do maps shape how we see the world? How do they reflect the society that creates them?
Primary Source: Sources of The Making of the West, Chapter 12: Document 12.6: Centering the World: Hereford World Map (c. 1290–1300)
- How did the ‘Black Death’ transform European society in the fourteenth century?
Primary Source: Sources of The Making of the West, Chapter 13: Document 13.1: The Black Death (Fourteenth Century)
- How did war traumatize France’s peasants in the fifteenth century? How did they respond?
Primary Source: Sources of The Making of the West, Chapter 13: Document 13.2: Jean Froissart on the Jacquerie (1358)
