Assignment:
1. Peter von Sivers, Charles Desnoyers, et al., Patterns of World History, to 1600. vol. 1. Brief 3rd edition. Oxford. 978-0190693602
2. Primary sources from the von Sivers text or uploaded to Canvas. See the schedule for the details for the sources.
2. Typed Essay. Your choice of a topic comes from our textbook. Pick a topic that interests you from our course, chosen from:
• A) the status of women around the world, to 1500 CE (for help, use the Index on "Women"). Pick two topics and write on them, from India, China, Europe, or Greece.
• B) the importance of religions in world history, to 1500 CE. Pick two from Judaism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Daoism, Hinduism, Buddhism, or Islam, and write on those two.
• C) how wars are fought, t 1500 CE. Pick twofrom the Persian Wars, Muslim victories, the Gallic Wars of Julius Caesar, the Battle of Tours, the sack of Constantinople in 1204, or the sack of Constantinople by Muslims in 1453.
• D) the literary and artistic achievements, to 1500. Pick two from those in Afghanistan, China, Egypt, medieval Europe, Greece, Rome, the Olmecs, or accomplishments in writing and calligraphy. (See achievements" in the Index.)
Pick one topic from A-D and make notes of the relevant parts and pages in the textbook. No outside reading is necessary, though you may find it helpful for background. The goal is help you see how major issues have changed over time, and to show the reader (the professor) that you understood this story from our textbook. An essay from other sources may get a lower grade since using our textbook well is the key to a good grade.
In 1800 to 2000 words (6 to 7 pages), write on your topic chronologically. Give an MLA or Turabian footnote for each point you find in our textbook. This is not a research paper; this a summary of a topic. As you write it, compare the regions and try tocompare one place with another, but it is not necessary to write a compare and contrast essay.
The format: the essay must be typed, using MLA or Turabian citations for each fact or idea you get from the book. There should be several citations for each paragraph, from our textbook. Spelling and grammar count in the grade. The essay should be double-spaced, with a 12-point font, one-inch margins, numbered pages, and a final paragraph on your assessment of the topic, as of 2017.
On the last paragraph: Was there a moral focus or was there immorality happening? Do you see improvement at work in the history? Who are the winners and losers? Did women ever rise in their status over time? There are more way to assess or analyze these topics; have fun with it, or do it prayerfully.
Include a "Word count" at the end of the essay. "Word count: 2050."