HIST 141 Perry Sourcebook Essay: Spring 2020

HIST 141 Perry Sourcebook Essay: Spring 2020
Peruse and choose three to six sources from the Perry Sourcebook, using the
chapters up to and including Chapter 7. Choose whichever sources interest you
most.
Read the intro to the source, the source itself, and underline or take notes. Then
write a 1500-2000 word, single-spaced paper, presenting a nuanced, objective
argument stating what story in history these sources might suggest to you.
Imagine you were a historian discovering these documents in an archive or
institution before anybody else. What would they inspire you to argue about
Europeans and their history? What argument can you plausibly make? Naturally,
place the sources in the context of our class readings, discussions and the texts.
You should upload the essay in MS Word format to the appropriate Assignment in
Canvas, any time before midnight :
• You will be graded based on TOES – Thesis / Organization / Evidence / Style.
See the syllabus for specifics on essay grading criteria in college.
• With regard to primary sources, consider: What do they seem to say? What is
the main content or substance? What meaning may we derive from them?
What are their limitations? What biases might be apparent?
• The task is to tie your source-based essay into the text chapters we have
read. Those chapters provide the main historical narrative. The best papers
will refer to that history or those historical processes/events.
Points will be docked for not following the below guidelines:
1. Type single-spaced in Times New Roman, font size 12, with regular indents.
2. Use Microsoft Word.
3. Evidence used to support your claims must be cited with footnotes. (“Insert/
Footnotes/Insert” in MS Word)1
4. See documents on Canvas for guidance in writing a strong essay and citing.2
5. See the syllabus for notes on plagiarism.
6. This paper is worth 20% of your overall grade.
7. No late papers will be accepted for this assignment.
1 ie. Perry, Marvin. Sources of the Western Tradition, Voltaire, (Wadsworth, 2015),
p142.
2 Perry, Sources, Rousseau, p184.