HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ESSAY

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1 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ESSAY Choose one essay question below. Write an essay answering all parts of the question. This essay should be at least 7 pages long with a 12-point font excluding bibliography page and cover sheet. This essay will be evaluated on historical significance and examples to support the essay question. You must use additional resources besides your textbook to fully complete this essay. Please do not use ALL internet sources to complete this assignment or you will automatically be deducted ten points from your paper. You must use primary and/or some secondary sources to complete this historical essay. Please save a copy of your essay on a disk or cd. 1. What were the new attitudes and practices developed during the New Kingdom in Egypt? How and why did they differ from those of the Old and Middle Kingdoms? What roles did family and marriage play in the life of ancient Egyptians? Compare and contrast with the social, political and economical structure of Egypt with that of Mesopotamia? Which era provided more advantages for women? Explain. 2. Explain the concept of reincarnation as it is understood by Hindus in India. To what degree can Siddhartha Gautama be described as the creator of Buddhism? Why? Where the beliefs of early Hindus and Buddhists fundamentally the same. Explain. Finally, explain how the Middle Path of Buddhism distinguishes it from the beliefs and practices of Jainist and Hindu believers? 3. How ere the structure of family and the effects of the harvest cycle on rice cultivation in ancient China related? Did gender and class significantly influence one s life opportunities in ancient China? Would it be more beneficial to be a male or female in China? Explain. What role did Confucianism, Daoism or Legalism have on the role of women and men in ancient China? Explain. 4. Compare and contrast the social, political, economic, and philosophical/religious practices of the polis-based Hellenic society with the more cosmopolitan Hellenistic civilization. Explore the Greek and non-greek elements which made up the Hellenistic civilization. Finally, compare and contrast the various Greek philosophers ideas such as Plato and Aristotle. Are their views populist thoughts during the Hellenistic world? Explain. 5. What factors in the beliefs and social structure of the Roman Empire contributed to the rise of Christianity? How did the ideas and actions of Diocletian and Constantine affect the fate of the Roman Empire? What role did Christianity play in the Late Roman Empire? Did Christianity have a role in the fall of the Roman Empire? Also, could Christianity prolong the life of the Roman Empire? Why or Why not?

2 6. Discuss the evolution of Greece from the Dark Ages through the Classical Period. Make sure to discuss the evolution of early Greek villages to the creation of independent city-states. Was Greece successful in colonizing additional regions? If so, explain? Finally, compare and contrast Sparta and Athens and did these two important independent states cause conflicts within the great empire? Explain. 7. Discuss the military and political evolution of the Greece from the early Dark Ages to the Classical Period. Make sure to discuss the creation of the polis and the Greek City-States and its role in the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars. Finally, were these wars successful or did they lead to the collapse of the Greek States? Explain. 8. Completely review the Roman imperialism from the Dark Ages through the Height of the Roman Empire. Discuss how Rome successfully colonializes additional regions including the Italian peninsula and the Mediterranean region lead by Carthage. Make sure to analyze the Punic Wars and the complex role of the Roman Army. Finally, discuss how the growing inequality within Rome, the fall of the political and social structure led to the collapse of the Roman Empire. 9. Compare and contrast the political, social, and cultural structures of the Mayans, Incas, and Aztec civilization. Explore the possible causes for the decline and fall of the Mayan, Incan and Aztec civilization. Also, thoroughly explore their strength and weaknesses of the Mayan, Incas and Aztec civilizations on the eve of their encounter with European societies. 10. What were the most significant aspects of Islamic civilizations, and why? How did the social structure and religious ideas of the Islamic world compare and contrast with those of India after the Aryan invasion? Finally, what role did Islamic philosophers and scientists play in the evolution of Islamic society? What impact did they have on the development of human knowledge? 11. Discuss the founding of Islam. Make sure to fully explore the basic beliefs of the Islamic religion, the role of Muhammad and his role in the development of the Islamic faith. In addition, completely explain the five pillars of Islam and it s role in Islamic culture? Did the Quran define Islamic culture and society or did other influences such as the Shari a and/or Hadith dictate the lives of Muslims. Explain. Finally, explain how the Arabian culture and not the Quran restricted the lives of all Muslims especially women. 12. Compare and contrast the development of civilization in eastern Africa and southern Africa. What factors determined the strength and spread of Islam and Christianity in northern and eastern Africa? How and why did their influence operate as it did? Finally, what are the several possible reasons which might explain Islam s success in Africa prior to 1500 E.? 2

3 13. Describe the African societies in terms of urban life, family relationships, and the parts played by women and the institution of slavery in their social fabrics. Compare and contrast the indigenous religious practices of African societies with those in other areas. Finally, in your opinion, what are the most significant cultural contributions of the African societies? Explain. 14. Discuss the various reasons or causes that led to the decline of Buddhism in land of its birth. What factors might explain the success of Hinduism, first in the challenge to Buddhism and second, as a challenge to Islam? Finally, what factors, religious and non-religious, that led to the successful establishment of Islam in India? 15. What is Confucianism and what role did it have in the development of Chinese society? How did the events of the Tang, Song, and Yuan dynasties influence the Chinese social structure and the daily lives and activities of the common people, who were the vast majority of the population? For example, how did marriage customs and religious ideas change during these dynasties? Also, how did Buddhism, the Confucianism and Daoism change during the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties? How did these changes relate to political and social factors of each dynasty? 16. Explore the development of government in Korea from the era of the three kingdoms through the establishment of the post-yuan Yi Dynasty. How did local and Chinese ideas and institutions influence this development? How did the early development of Vietnam compare and contrast with that of Korea? What were the similarities and differences in their relationship with the Chinese government and cultural influences? Was their relationship with China at all like Japan s? Explain. Who were more successful in resisting Chinese assimilation Japan, Korea or Vietnam? Explain. 17. Discuss the evolution of the Christian Church from the 4 th Century to the fall and/or lost of prestige of the Christian Church by the beginning of the 15 th Century. Make sure to discuss the role of the following: the structure and organization of the church, Pope Benedict, the role of monasticism, the abuses of the papacy, Lay investiture, the controversy between Pope Gregory VII and King Henry IV; the controversy between Pope Boniface VIII and King Phillip IV; Pope transition to Avignon and how it sparked controversy, Great Schism of the Church and the aftermath. 18. Discuss the role of Europeans in creating a new world markets in the 15 th Century. Make sure to discuss the key players and what region(s) they exploited. What were their justification for such exploits and what happen to the native populations in each region(s)? BE VERY THOROUGH IN THIS ESSAY OPTION. 3

4 19. Was European Christianity in serious decline in the early 1500 s? How did the ideas and actions of the Protestant Reformation change its nature and status? Discuss the most significant individuals and events involved in the rise of Protestantism in Germany, Switzerland, and England? How and why did the major aspects of the Roman Catholic Reformation compare and contrast with those of the Protestant Reformation? What were the results? Explain. 20. Completely analyze why the Protestant and Catholic Reformation led to the rapid Witchcraft Mania of the 15 th Century to the 17 th Century. Make sure to define the key elements of the witch hunts (especially in central Europe), the trial for suspected or condemned victims, the torture, and execution of said persons. In addition, why were women the target of this Witchcraft Mania and who were the key players of this so-called movement to rid the world of witches? Explain. FORMAT OF ESSAY: I. INTRODUCTION (WITH THESIS STATEMENT) II. III. IV. FIRST THEME SECOND THEME THIRD THEME V. CONCLUSION **A BIBLIOGRAPHY AND/OR WORKS CITED PAGE IS NEEDED WITH THIS PAPER AS WELL. REMEMBER TO USE FOOTNOTES OR ENDNOTES TO REFER TO ADDITIONAL SOURCES USED IN PAPER.** 4

5 Here are the complete instructions for writing the Historical Essay: 1. This historical essay must be at least SEVEN pages long of content (excluding the cover page, bibliography and/or work-cited page. 2. This essay should be double-spaced in regular 12 point font. 3. The students must use the standard essay/research paper format, which includes an introduction with a thesis, the body of the paper (main themes and arguments) and a conclusion. 4. The essay must answer the question analytically and with a thesis statement that focus on the student s position. (Introduction) 5. Student must answer each prompt of the question thoroughly and provide supporting data for each point. (Body of the paper: main themes and arguments) 6. The essay should be written as if the reader is not the professor and is not familiar with the topic chosen. 7. The student must have a work cited page or bibliography and a cover page. If there is no cover page and work cited page, the paper will be deducted 10 points each. 8. Also, the student must use outside sources beside the textbook to complete this essay. In fact, the textbook should only be used as a guide for this essay, not the primary source for the paper. 9. Do not use all internet sources to write this paper. You must use secondary and / or primary sources to write this paper. If you use all or mostly internet sources, the student will automatically be deducted 10 points from the paper. 10. This paper must be ed to me by the due date. I WILL NOT ACCEPT LATE PAPERS. You have plenty of time to prepare for the essay. In case of an emergency, I will accept the late paper with documentation. But each day you are late, you grade will drop one letter grade. 11. PLAGIARISM: BE CAREFUL: When you write this essay and any other assignments, remember to cite your sources. If you have summarized thoughts, themes and copied information from any source, please cite your source using Chicago, MLA style, Turabian style, etc. You can use parenthetical citation, endnotes and /or footnotes (in any format) to prove where you got the documented information. If not, this would be considered plagiarism and that would have severe consequences. (Also, refer to TCC guidelines on plagiarism) 12. Please keep a copy of your essay on a disk or cd. HINT: If you write a SEVEN page paper or less, the highest grade you will probably receive is a C, depending on the content of the paper. Hence, if you want or expect a higher grade, your paper should be longer than 7 pages long and follow all the instructions listed above. 5