Write a research essay of at least 7-10 pages on the ways in which Enlightenment thought challenged (or did not challenge) European society in the long eighteenth century. Students should begin and base their essays on a careful and close reading of Isser Wolochs traditional treatment of the movement in his Eighteenth-century Europe, Chapters 6 and 7, The Enlightenment and Living the Enlightenment. Students should then explore the now vigorous historiographical debate over whether we can rightly speak of The Enlightenment as a coherent intellectual movement at all [see here, especially, the article by Lifschitz Those who dare to know on Blackboard]. From there, students may choose to answer the question in any of a number of ways, by looking at, for example, the importance (or not) of women in eighteenth-century intellectual thought and society, or by exploring how Enlightenment thought manifested in individual states in Europe, or by considering the work and specific ideas on religion, economics etc. of one or more eighteenth-century thinkers, like Voltaire, Diderot, Smith or Kant, to take a few examples. Another way to approach the question would be to look at a theme like the place of economics, science or politics in Enlightenment thought or institutions such as salons, coffeeshops or academies often associated with the Enlightenment. What is expected? – an understanding of the central events and ideas underpinning the period an awareness of more than one historical perspective and historiography a well-constructed and coherent argument sustained throughout the essay clarity of expression and prose: fluent and accurate use of language evidence of a close reading of at least 3 relevant, and scholarly, sources in addition to the chapters in Wolochs, Eighteenth-century Europe. a clear and effective introduction indicating an understanding of the question and the approach which will be employed in the essay to answer it a conclusion that concludes Marks will be deducted for vagueness; failure to use specific historical examples sweeping statements and generalisations lengthy paragraphs with material presented in no discernible order writing too much, writing too little failure to employ or engage with scholarly sources in sufficient depth; failure to employ any scholarly sources at all inadequate referencing and bibliography; too much direct quotation You must include footnotes, endnotes or parenthetical citation for works cited and a separate bibliography of material consulted. Internet sources (other than reproductions of primary documents) encyclopedias, of any sort, the textbook and class notes are not acceptable as scholarly sources. See especially Suggestions for Further Reading, pp 327-44 in Woloch.
