Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Assignments"
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| [a] Meiji RF |
History 210—Anthropology 275
Final Paper Assignment
Writing From Primary and Secondary Sources
Read the following assignment carefully and reflect for a few moments upon what historians really do when writing about the past—blending the sources and their analyses into readable and intelligent essay form. Then, using the knowledge you have gained through reading your assignments, choose six to ten documents that revolve around a general theme that interests you, and which you would like to pursue further. Once you have chosen your topic and sources, please e-mail this information to me (see below). The deadline for this preliminary work is Monday, December 3, but I encourage you to send it earlier. Finally, write a medium-length (3,000-word) essay from these sources. The paper is due in my office by 5:00 on Wednesday, December 12.
This assignment is broken into three posts. Click below for the others:
Read the following assignment carefully and reflect for a few moments upon what historians really do when writing about the past—blending the sources and their analyses into readable and intelligent essay form. Then, using the knowledge you have gained through reading your assignments, choose six to ten documents that revolve around a general theme that interests you, and which you would like to pursue further. Once you have chosen your topic and sources, please e-mail this information to me (see below). The deadline for this preliminary work is Monday, December 3, but I encourage you to send it earlier. Finally, write a medium-length (3,000-word) essay from these sources. The paper is due in my office by 5:00 on Wednesday, December 12.
As you write
your historical source analysis, imagine
that you are writing for intelligent people who know little about Japan,
and that your task is to convey an honest, interesting picture of some aspect
of Japanese social, cultural, political, or intellectual life during the
periods we have studied. It might help
to think of this as an extended
reflection on six (or more) different sources, in which you write
confidently and intelligently about your understanding of the themes in the
documents. Your main focus is the
documents, and you are encouraged to quote from them. You should use the knowledge you have gained
from general reading and lectures to set the historical context, but you will
be judged mostly on your ability to grasp themes in and between the documents you have chosen. Your balance of primary and secondary sources
should be about half and half.
Engagement
with both primary and secondary sources are important skills in historical
analysis, and this assignment gives you an opportunity to work on them.
Just to get
you thinking about possibilities, I have included some possible
categories. You, however, will need to
refine them as you think about your paper. These categories are intentionally broad, in order to encourage you to
choose freely from among a wide variety of readings in your course books and
supporting material. Your actual topic
will be more focused.
* women, gender relations, family...
* rebellion, social disorder, war,
banditry, famine
* poverty, peasants, agriculture,
tenancy
* outcasts, rebels,
"barbarians"
* family life, social organization
* bureaucracy, taxation, land
ownership, government work
* intellectuals, examinations,
ruling
* religion, spirits, ancestors,
ghosts, "heaven...."
* myths, historical writing, and
other narrative prose
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| [c] Heian rose RF |
Your
paper should be between 3,000 and 3,500 words, or approximately ten to twelve
pages. There
is usually little to gain by exceeding 3,500 words. If you do, you are likely writing for reasons
other than a good grade. If you “need”
to write a longer paper (if you are compelled to write thirty pages about
Tokugawa economics, for example) please feel free to do so. I will read every word, and comment
accordingly. 3,500 well-written and well-argued words will put you in “95+”
territory, though, so consider your other classes before using this assignment
to begin your doctoral dissertation.
The
real problem lies with “minimalism.” Please put enough time into your paper so
that you write more than a handful of pages. Papers that under 2,500 words almost
always lack development and serious analysis of the sources. I admire efficiency,
but don’t assume that it courses through your authorial veins. Papa Hemingway
might write a beautiful 1,783 word masterpiece called “The Aged Literatus and
the Yangzi River” or “Goodbye to Munitions.” You’re not Hemingway…yet. Write
3,000+ words.
You may consult any other books
you deem necessary, but your work will
be judged on your ability to write directly from the sources you have chosen. While it is acceptable to choose a source or
two from beyond our course materials, my intention is for you to make the most
of the detailed syllabus we have studied in this class.This assignment is
meant to judge your ability to use primary and secondary sources. It is not meant to be the final word on the
subject!
This assignment is broken into three posts. Click below for the others:
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| [d] Sources RF |
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