1/18/24, 3:54 PM Paper Topic

https://learn.vccs.edu/courses/623320/assignments/13519315 1/2

Paper Topic

Due Jan 28 by 11:59pm Points 2 Submitting a text entry box or a file upload

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Paper Topic (2pts): Your first page should be a separate title page (include your name, course name and number, the paper’s title, and the date).

The title should reflect the paper’s purpose (an analysis of primary sources)—eg., An Analysis of Ancient Roman Primary Sources.

Include a brief description of a potential topic, a one or two- sentence thesis (arguments or points you intend to make) and some of the key ideas and themes and the importance of the primary sources you have chosen to analyze.

Include a list of the primary sources you are intending to analyze from particular chapter(s) of the primary source reader or identify other primary source(s) you will use.

In addition to the title page, I’m looking for a paragraph (which can include bullet points) that has the aforementioned information.

For help with your paper and citations see Paper Assignment Resources and Writing Guides (https://learn.vccs.edu/courses/623320/pages/paper-assignment-resources-and-writing-guides) .

General Instructions (from the syllabus for the Primary Source Analysis Paper) are below:

Paper Assignment: Primary source analysis (supported by secondary sources for context and historical narrative).

A great place for Western Civilization primary sources is PCC: https://guides.pcc.edu/c.php? g=225959&p=1497800

(PCC is Portland Community College Library) Note: for help studying, reading, and writing, go to the campus Reading and Writing Center, CG 409 or go to http://www.nvcc.edu/annandale/asc/writing/index.html

Using primary sources from chapters 1-15 of Sources of the Making of the West-Volume 1 or any primary source (book, novel, or Portland Community College (PCC) Library etc.,), what can we learn

1/18/24, 3:54 PM Paper Topic

https://learn.vccs.edu/courses/623320/assignments/13519315 2/2

about a society or civilization during a particular historical era (from ancient history to 1648)? Write a 5– 8-page paper analyzing what the primary sources reveal about important issues, events, or ideas. Your paper must contain a central, guiding thesis stating your viewpoint or interpretation of the documents and related historical events. Be creative, marshal your evidence (use your textbook to help you analyze your primary sources), and defend your views. Effective historical writing contains a clearly articulated thesis, convincing evidence, and insightful analysis.

Based on your reading or research, address the following: 1) What possible conclusions can you make about the nature of the society, culture, and politics during the time? 2) What concerns seem to be uppermost in the public mind? 3) What do your sources reveal the existence of particular tensions and anxieties peculiar to the period? 4) What attitudes do the writer(s) exhibit toward any of the following (depending on your topic and thesis): politics, international and military events, economics, religion, territorial and urban growth, ideologies, agriculture and industry, transportation and communication, reform movements, social issues, gender, race, immigration, slavery, class, crises, imperialism, war, technology, sexuality, racism, leisure, the family, etc…?