Compare and contrast Eastern and Western family and gender roles and ideals, discussing the similarities and differences between the two cultures and societies. Make sure to respond with an argument that you support through analysis of our sources.
You will need to choose from the following sources from your sourcebook Worlds of History, choosing at least one from each of the following sets of documents (one document from Eastern sources and one from Western sources):
Easter Sources:
1. Family Instructions for the Miu Lineage, Late Sixteenth Century (p 685) or 3. Qing Law Code on Marriage, 1644-1810 (p 697)
And
Western Sources:
5. The Autobiography of Mrs. Alice Thornton, 1645-1657 (p 704) or 6. Diary of the Countess de Rochefort, 1689 (p. 710)
Begin with an argument directly responding to the prompt and then use the sources to support that argument.
- Who wrote the work? Was the author an eyewitness, relating a story he/she heard, writing down a legend, etc? What kinds of biases might the author have? What was the author's purpose for writing? Who was his/her intended audience?
- When was the source written? How far removed in time is the recording from the actual events described?
- What kind of document is it? Is it a letter, chronicle, a legal document, etc?
- When comparing the document's information to what you know about the time period, does the document seem accurate? Is there any questionable information in the document? If so, why might you question the information and what might the author have intended with such deviations from reality?
- How does this document further your knowledge about the culture/religion/society/political structure/etc of the civilization from which it arises? How does this document further your knowledge about the development of western civilization?