Arts Core Sample Assignment

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ROOTS OF THE MODERN AGE - HISTORY
MICROTHEME ASSIGNMENTS

General Requirements: All students are required to write two microthemes. Each paper must be no more than 550 words (about two pages double spaced). Each microtheme should be based on the relevant primary source documents, with some reference to class notes or Esler's textbook wherever those sources are pertinent to your topic. Your paper should include several brief quotations from the appropriate documents, with citations of page numbers for all quotes. Do not quote from the headnotes or from Esler's textbook. Organize your essay carefully, and support your generalizations with specific examples and quotations. There will be a penalty for lateness.

MICROTHEME #1 -- Due Thursday, February 17, 2000

Choose one of the following questions.

1. Compare two of the following cultures, using two of the documents from Unit One of The West in Global Context. Focus on the political, economic, and social or cultural aspects of each native culture as you discuss similarities and differences between the two groups you select. Your essay should also briefly consider whether the narrators are sympathetic, critical, or neutral towards the native peoples they are describing.

1. Irish
2. Indians of Virginia
3. Siberians
4. Africans

2. Briefly summarize and compare the political ideas ofEmmanuel Joseph Sieyes and Edmund Burke concerning the FrenchRevolution. Conclude with an analysis of the major factors thatshaped their different perspectives.

3. Summarize the major themes in Simon Bolivar's "Address tothe Second Congress of Venezuela, 1819," and explain how itreflects the influence of the democratic revolutions of theeighteenth century. Conclude with a brief consideration of Bolivar's comparison of the proposed Venezuelan Constitution andthe United States Constitution.

4. Summarize and compare the viewpoints of olympe de Gouges(document 16B) and Elizabeth Cady Stanton (Document 21)concerning women's rights. Explain how both documents reflect theinfluence of the Age of the Democratic Revolutions.