The paper should be roughly 1250 to 1500 words long and will include a formal bibliography and appropriate notation, according to one of the major style sheets. Note: General knowledge encyclopedias are not considered acceptable sources and should never be cited in a college history paper. All the information you need to write the paper can be found in your textbook. You don’t need to use any other sources. If you do use other sources and do not use and cite the textbook, that will be counted against your score. The paper should use standard notation. Every time you quote from the textbook or use information from the textbook, you have to use quotation marks and give the page number where the quote can be found. Failure to cite your sources will be counted against your score. You should also follow standard expository composition format. You should have a short (not more than one paragraph in a paper this length) introduction and a short conclusion. You should spend most of your paper laying out your points and supporting them with evidence drawn from the textbook. Here are a few other hints/instructions that will be helpful… Never turn in a paper without your name on it. Otherwise you won’t get credit. Always keep a backup of all your work. Sometimes technology lets you down. Make sure your paper is converted to either MS Word (.doc or .docx) or Rich Text Format (.rtf). Any other format may not be uploaded correctly. I know for a fact that Moodle does not like files produced by Google Docs, Apple word processor programs (.pages files), or unconverted zipped files (such as those produced by OpenOffice). Make sure you convert your files to either Rich Text Format or Microsoft Word. Submit your paper through the Moodle web site. Make sure that your paper is properly submitted, and not just uploaded to the Moodle site. Papers that are not properly submitted aren’t always retrievable and I may not be able to read them. Make sure to allow sufficient time for things that may go wrong to be corrected. In particular, watch your email for a couple of days following the due date. I will email you if there is a problem with your paper. Choose one (and only one) of the following topics and write a 1250 to 1500 word paper answering the question it poses. Developing societies. Identify agricultural influences on the developing civil society. Consider how agriculture’s influence created more than a reliable food supply. You may want to consider the following: early industrial development of complex irrigation canals to control water and soil erosion; creating a barter system within the community that developed into an early economy; and causing a greater need for an educated society that conceived the concept of class identification. Early Mesopotamia. Discuss the process by which human society evolved from small groups of hunters and gatherers to city-states and empires in the region known as Mesopotamia. Discuss the consequences of this transformation on the development of complex societies. You may want to consider the role of the environment in shaping Mesopotamian societies, in terms of political structure, religion, society, and culture; the importance of innovations and technologies that allowed urban societies to expand their wealth and extent their power, including military technologies and those that facilitated trade could be discussed; and the overall implications of this process. Was every development beneficial? Or did this process solve one set of problems only to create another? Use specific examples. Ancient India. What influence did South Asia have on societies around it in the centuries after the fall of the Mauryan Empire? Consider in your response the spread of Mahayana Buddhism through Central Asia to China; the process of Indianization in Southeast Asia; and the intensive trade for Indian cloth and spices by merchants from east and west. Chinese empire. What influence and interaction did China have with its neighbors? Consider the northern pastoralists, Korea and Japan, Southeast Asia, and the Silk Road. Consider your answer how other peoples were influenced by and attracted to Chinese excellence at scientific and technological innovation; the development of the Silk Road caravan route across Central Asia; northern invasions by pastoralists and the Chinese xenophobic “Great Wall Complex” reaction; and Chinese defense of assimilation, absorbing invaders, creating openness to foreign cultural, artistic, and religious influences. Islam and the World. Explain how Islam influenced the development of the early modern world system economically, politically, and socially. Consider in your answer the ideology of Islam and its rapid expansion, the development of exploration technology, and the importance of North Africa and Central and South Asia.
