The purpose of Writing Assignment #4 is to look at complex causes and their consequences.
For this assignment pick one of the following prompts and write a response.
Prompt 1: By the 19th century, European countries came to dominate the world in systems of trade, exchange, and empire-building. Explain how World War I affected that global system of colonialism and nationalist competition. Be sure to explain why.
Prompt 2: The legacy of the Enlightenment in Europe was vested in institutions like democracy, capitalism, and progress. In what way did the rise of totalitarian regimes in the post-war period capitalize on peoples disillusionment with this legacy? Be sure to explain why the totalitarian regimes were attractive in the 1930s.
Write an essay that has the following essential components:
1) Your essay clearly and directly address all parts of the prompt.
2) Your essay uses information from the assigned materials (textbook, lecture, and overview) to support your argument. Do not use any outside secondary sources without discussing them with me first.
3) Your essay quotes a primary source, an eye-witness account from the period of time you are studying. You can find primary sources at the Internet History Sourcebook Project, but be aware that not every link on this site is a primary source. If you need help, let me know.
4) Your essay should be 500 words at the minimum, not counting footnotes or bibliography. You must supple footnotes to show where you found specific information (as in a page number) and you must supply a bibliography.
Style Guide:
Your paper should have an introductory paragraph that explain in clear details what you are going to argue: such a statement is a thesis statement. A good example of a thesis statement (from a former undergraduate student) is “Although gender roles changed from the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire, the state’s military culture ensured that women remained a lower valued group. “A thesis statement that offers only generalities like “although there were both changes and continuities, there more more continuities than changes” is very weak. A thesis that simply states a subject “e.g.: I am going to discuss changes and continuities in Islamic societies” is also weak. You must give an argument about change and continuity in a specific society. Your thesis must be testable in the sense that it will require evidence to prove. If you are still unclear about what makes a good thesis statement, look here or or ask me!
