Humanities in the Western World

Write a 5-page essay on any topic related to Humanities in the Western World.
That should give you plenty of options. Your essay can be on a piece of art or
architecture, a musical composition (Beethoven’s Fifth) or musical genre (jazz),
philosophy, or any other approved topic that you like. The main caveat is that you
must have witnessed whatever it is you are writing about firsthand if it is a
physical object. If it is a painting or a piece of sculpture, you must go to the
museum and see the original (that does limit you a bit, I know). If you are writing
about a musical composition or genre, you should listen to the music, not just
read up on it. If you do architecture, do something you can go see. If you decide
to do something on philosophy, you need to read the original text (or a
translation) of one of the main proponents of the philosophy.
If you live outside the Twin Cities area and are having trouble coming up with
something you can view firsthand, contact me.
Other guidelines:
● Double-space your paper. Don’t put extra spaces between paragraphs;
indent your paragraphs instead.
● Put your name and page number on a header so it shows up on each
page.
● Come up with an interesting title. “Humanities Essay” is not an interesting
title.
● Present your assertion in a thesis statement. What is it overall that you are
trying to say about the artist/picture/sculpture/musician in the paper? Make
the thesis the answer to the question, not the question itself.
● Use at least five credible outside sources, and DOCUMENT YOUR
SOURCES. You must do this both to show that you did your research, and
to show that you weren’t copying anyone else’s ideas (if you give them
credit, it’s not copying). Wikipedia is not a credible source.
● Your sources should be used to support your views. Don’t write a paper
that is basically a compilation of what other people said.
● Proofread your paper and/or ask someone else to proofread it. This isn’t
cheating; it’s common sense.
● Document your sources in accordance with the MLA method. In a nutshell,
you don’t footnote. Instead, you put the authors name in the text of the
paper, either in parenthesis after the quotation/paraphrase or in the lead
up to the quotation/paraphrase. Then, you do a Works Cited page that
goes at the end of the paper. See the LEO website for more information.