Midterm Assignment

The Midterm Assignment

In this assignment you will be writing one essay. When I grade your essay, I will be looking for the answers to the following questions:

Has the student in this essay -

• Demonstrated knowledge of the textbook, documents, and discussion assignments?
• Applied this knowledge skillfully and persuasively throughout their essay?
• Inferred from known facts to arguable or "educated" guesses?
• Cited (given proper credit to) the sources they have used in our course so far?
• Written a clear, grammatically correct, well-organized essay, free of misspellings

The Task: Please answer one of the following four essay questions (see below) in a formal essay. Be sure that your essay has a clear-cut theses, that it  logically develops its thesis or main point, and that each part of your paper is backed with specific historical evidence - evidence that convinces me that you've read and understood the textbook, and can effectively use the material presented in the forums we've tackled so far.

Citing Your Sources: Be sure to correctly cite the words you borrow. If you borrow another author's words, data, or ideas, use quotation marks to make clear what you've specifically borrowed, then immediately give a parenthetical citation telling me the work you've used, the author, and the page number. Using another person's words without citing their work or without using quotation marks to identify precisely what you've borrowed is plagiarism. Ignorance of the term is no excuse and it  will earn you an "F" for the paper and a black mark on your academic transcript - the one that is sent to the college you hope to transfer to.  

I will submit all essays to an anti-plagiarism service. 

In short, Good Student, do not plagiarize. To refresh your memory on what plagiarism is and how to avoid, please recall the video all of you watched in the first week of our course and the quiz you took on it. The Plagiarism Module can be accessed HERE. 

Other Specs: Your essay must be, at minimum, 1600 words long. If you wish to exceed the minimum word requirement, please do. In calculating your word total, I will not count your bibliography or title page, only the main body of the essay itself. Also know that the essays must be double-spaced throughout, typed, and that you must use Times New Roman. Be sure the file is in one of the following formats: .pdf, .doc, .docx. No other filetypes will be allowed. If I can't open your document for any reason, you will lose two full letter grades. (If you're paper would have gotten an "A," it can now only get a "C," etc.)

Do the best work you can, start early in drafting your essays, and use your own words.Your paper must use as much historical evidence as possible and incorporate as many primary sources as possible.

Your finished essay must be uploaded by clicking on the "Submit" button at the upper right of this page. (Look for it!)

Submit it here (not in an email outside of the Canvas Platform!) before 11 pm (PST) on October 20th, 2019.  Late essays will not be accepted.

The Midterm Questions

Each of the following four questions addresses one or more of the key themes in our class. 

Choose ONE question on which to write your essay. If you are not citing from the book and the discussion materials, you are probably failing the midterm. USE THESE MATERIALS TO ARGUE YOUR THESIS.

Here are the questions:   

1. In our course so far we have examined several ancient societies. How were these societies different? How were they the same? Please compare and contrast the following societies: Periclean Athens and Ancient Egypt. Using only your text and our the documents, compare and contrast the key elements of these societies. (note: a question about society is not one about politics or culture. It is about an organized group of persons associated together in an ordered community. Hence, questions about society are about social classes, gender relations, social inequality, and hierarchy.)
   
   
2. We have also examined in this course several ancient religions or belief systems. What did these religions have in common? How did they differ from each other? Please compare and contrast the following three religions: the Greek pantheon in Homeric times and earlier, ancient Hebrew monotheism, and the Roman pantheon and mystery cults. Again, using only our text, the documents, and the lectures, compare and contrast the most salient differences and similarities of these religions.
   
   
3. Geography and climate played and continues to play a key role in the history of nations. What were the effects of geography and climate on the histories of the following civilizations: Ancient Egypt, the Ancient Greece, and ancient Sumer?
   
   
4. Architecture and its importance have been a constant topic in our course so far. The Architecture of ancient societies reveals to historians who was in power, how a people saw themselves, a peoples’ technological expertise, and its values and aspirations. Please examine the architecture of the ancient Egyptians and Romans, noting several examples of each. What were the architectural achievements of these cultures? And what do they specifically tell us about these cultures and peoples? Avoid generalizations: get down to evidence.

I will use the following rubric in assessing your papers.

 Good Luck!