General guidelines - Please read
carefully
The reading responses are designed to present you with a writing format
conducive to your reflection on the assigned materials as you read
them. Undergraduates are responsible for turning in 2 responses during
the course of the term; graduate students must submit EITHER 2
responses or complete 1 response + the Galbert essay..
- Responses should be about 3-4 pp., typed, double-spaced, with
1-inch margins. Please make sure your name, the date, the response
number (i.e., #1 or #2), and page numbers appear on each response. Do
your best to come up with a title and indicate which source(s) you are
responding to.
- Responses should be
tailored to the longer primary sources and the secondary sources (book
chapters and articles). You may utilize the
shorter primary source excerpts contained in the reader; a response
that bundles 3 or 4 shorter primary sources together is also
acceptable. If you have questions about what qualifies, please ask.
- Responses will be assigned a letter grade based on several
factors: (1) the evident effort put into them, as determined by the
extent to which they engage the ideas in the texts in a manner that is
cogent, lucidly argued, and intellectually productive; (2) the
faithfulness with which your responses represent the authors' ideas,
comments, descriptions, etc.; (3) the extent to which your draw on
evidence and examples from the texts you are using; (4) the writing:
organization and logical progression of ideas within paragraphs and in
the paper as a whole; grammar and sentence syntax; use of evidence;
spelling.
- Your first response can be turned in at any time on or before
November 1. It should address assigned readings from the first half of
the term (your choice). The second response must address readings from
the second half of the term, and is due on or before November 29.
- When referencing or citing sources about which you are writing,
please use in-text, parenthetical references which include the
title/author and
page number, if applicable. For example: (Medieval Towns, 77; Broomhall, 28).
You are encouraged,
of course, to use direct quotations from the sources in writing your
responses, especially when illustrating your argument(s).
Late
responses
Responses may be turned in late, that is, beyond the 11/1 and 11/29 due
dates. However, they will be deducted 5 points (5%) for each day --
including weekends! -- that they are late. If you complete an essay
after the submission deadline, you may e-mail me a copy to timestamp
it. Please then bring me the hard copy at the first
opportunity/following class.
Extensions
Please refer to the syllabus for my policy on assignment extensions.
Assignment
guidelines
For your responses, choose one (or more) text(s) from the assigned
readings, read them closely, and consider their historical or
historiographical significance or assess the argument they are making.
Some questions you might start with:
For all sources: Who wrote
it, when, where, and for whom? What is the text about and why was it
written? Can we determine the author's basic assumptions, beliefs,
ideas? Does
the author have a discernible agenda? How do we know?
For secondary sources: What
is the author's thesis (argument), and what are they hoping to show?
What sort of evidence does the author draw on to make their points?
Does their evidence consist mostly of primary sources? secondary
scholarship? What larger historiographical
questions or debates in the field -- or other historical
interpretations -- does the essay/chapter/article address? Are the
author's arguments
persuasive? If yes, why? If not, why not? Does it
seem to make a contribution to its historical field(s)? What is it?
For primary sources: What is
the work's structure or organization? What kind of source is it -- a
historical narrative, biography, a sermon, a legal collection, a
charter, a set of statutes, a treatise,
a letter, or something else? How do its genre, style, and format affect
its purpose, audience? Who might have read it?
Beyond these basic guidelines, this assignment is meant to be
open-ended. You are encouraged to reflect on the details in the
readings that most interest you. While there are no "right answers"
here, exactly, do not merely summarize a work's contents. Rather, I am
looking for you to analyze an issue, argument, or question from the
materials that intrigues you. Think carefully about an aspect or
aspects of the author's ideas or argument, and engage those ideas with
a supported criticism of your own. Build an argument. If you are stuck,
I have an example reading reponse I can share.
It may help to think of the reading responses as mini-essays or thought
pieces. Develop a thesis or argument, ponder or debate the ideas in the
works, adding evidence as necessary, and write a brief conclusion about
your
findings.
Each response is weighted 100 points, or 10% of the final grade.