HST 354U - Early Medieval Europe, 300-1000
Portland State University
John S. Ott (c) (2017, 2018, 2019, 2024)
ASSIGNMENT GUIDELINES: CLASS
NOTE-TAKING JOURNAL
(80 POINTS / 8% of final grade; submitted twice, on Thursday, February
8, and again on Thursday, March 7)
Guidelines – please read thoroughly
This assignment is designed to be of practical utility for this course,
as well as furnish you with the opportunity to engage directly and
informally with the assigned reading this term. Over the course of the
term, you must maintain
a course notebook or, if you prefer, “journal.” You may use a
laptop/tablet, spirial notebook, composition notebook, loose-leaf
papers that have been stapled
or come with a three-ring binder, or something similar to keep the
journal.
The entries may be typed or handwritten. You will be able to use the
contents
of this journal/notebook on the final exam.
During the term, to fulfill this assignment, it is expected that you
will use the notebook to:
- maintain notes from class lectures and class discussions, which
you should take daily. As the quarter progresses, you will thus compile
a
study guide for the final exam, which in its format will be essay-based
and will test your ability to synthesize and analyze the course
readings,
lectures, and themes.
- regularly compose brief entries in the journal based on
your notes and preparation of the readings themselves. You should
compose
roughly 1 entry/week, and are welcome to do more. There is no correct
length for
these reading entries: they may be as long as you like, but should
cover
at a minimum around one-half page (200 words, typed). By the end of the
quarter, I would expect
you to have between 10-15 entries.
- record whatever reaction observations and moments of
inspiration that strike from the readings and lecture -- say, about the
linkage between medieval history and its modern legacies. You may also
choose to examine
your own assumptions about this period in human history. Is it like or
unlike our own time? Do they behavem think, act, feel, organize
information in ways similar to or different than our own?
- the shape of the journal is more or less yours to create, and
the effort you put into it will hopefully be rewarded by its utility in
writing your papers and preparing for the exam.
Evaluation
Evaluation of this assignment (done in two stages, each worth 40
points) will be determined by:
- Evidence that you have kept regular notes on the lectures and
class discussions -- I will be looking for grasp of course content,
ability to
synthesize and organize lecture material, and evidence of reflection in
the responses. The amount of notes will vary, but a page or more per
lecture/class
discussion would be about the minimum, based on amount of content
typically
delivered in a class.
- The presence of 5-8 reading entries per five weeks (above,
bullet point #2)
- Evidence that you have spent time on this throughout the
quarter, and have not dashed off a few random ideas at the end of the
grading period.
- Evidence that you have engaged with the readings and extracted
from them notes on your observations, questions about the content,
themes/ideas, etc.