Take Home Essay #2
The goal of this assignment is to ensure that you understand the topics and themes covered in class and that you can demonstrate your understanding and your ability to think critically about these topics/themes through your writing skills. For this assignment, you must choose one of the questions provided by me and construct a 2-3 page formal essay that is a minimum of 500 words. Please read carefully as your essay must include:
Five paragraphs
Typed, double-spaced, 12pt font
Essays must be drawn from course materials (textbook readings, primary source documents, class notes, class discussion, Blackboard discussion boards, documentary/film); DO NOT use sources the instructor has not assigned
At least 1 direct quote from course materials in the essay
All quotes and paraphrased material from class resources must be cited in the text of the essay according to MLA guidelines
Provide a Works Cited page on a separate page after the text of the essay
Follow proper grammar and spelling for formal essays, since clarity and style will be considered (i.e no contractions, first/second person, or slang)
Submit a Word (.doc or .docx) or PDF (.pdf) file to the drop box
Citing Note: If you do not include proper documentation, meaning in-text citations and a Works Cited page, you will receive an automatic F because the work is technically plagiarized. Moreover, if you are using AI to create the whole essay, that too will be considered plagiarized.
Grading Note: While you can submit this assignment late, late submissions will be marked down according to how late they are. For further information on grading please review the Essay Guidelines and Rubric page.
Due Date: Tuesday May 7th by midnight in this drop box *please indicate when you submit your essay whether or not you want me to make comments on it.
Directions:
Choose one of the questions below to answer in your essay. Notice that the main question you are answering is underlined. That means your thesis statement should directly answer the underlined question.
Essay Questions:
From the outset of large complex societies, humans have found ways to extend their reach and their power over others. Beginning with the period of the Axial Age, human societies saw an accumulation of power in some of the largest empires on record – specifically the Persian, Greek, Roman, Chinese, Indian, Teotihuacan and Mongolian empires examined in class. Therefore, what factors contributed to the rise and continued strength of such large, powerful empires? (Choose at least 3 of the empires listed to discuss)
The traditional story of the exploration and conquest of the Americas was that the Europeans were incredibly intelligent, brave, and resourceful and that they were destined to conquer the “New World.” However, contemporary scholarship on this event shows that the conquest of the Americas was contingent on other historical events that created a unique moment allowing the Europeans to seize the opportunity of exploration and conquest. Therefore, on what factors was the conquest of the Americas contingent and how did they lead to Europeans being the conquerors?
Citations for your Works Cited:
“Ancient Rome – The Ultimate Empire (Ancient History Documentary) by AncientWorld.”
Dailymotion, Dailymotion, 5 Apr. 2015, www.dailymotion.com/video/x2lrtu7.
Burt, Jessica. “China in the Axial Age.” Progress in the Axial Age. North Shore Community
College, April. 2024.
Burt, Jessica. “What’s Going on around the Globe?” Foundations of a Global World: Expansion,
Exploration and Conquest. North Shore Community College, April. 2024.
Confucius. “Confucius: Analects (5th C. BCE?).” The Website of Prof. Paul Brians, Washington
State University, brians.wsu.edu/2016/11/10/confucius-analects-5th-c-bce/.
“Darius the Great: Ruler of Persia.” My History Lab, Pearson Education Inc., 2001,
www.myhistorylab.com.
“Emperor Asoka, from the Edicts of Asoka.” My History Lab, Pearson Education Inc., 2001,
www.myhistorylab.com.
“Greece: Age of Alexander.” Greece: Age of Alexander| Engineering an Empire (S1, E2) | Full
Episode, YouTube, 6 July. 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwgbUWnzTHU.
Fernandez-Armesto, Felipe. The World: A History. 2nd ed. Vol. 1, Pearson Education Inc.,
2010.
Fernandez-Armesto, Felipe. The World: A History. 3rd ed. Vol. 1, Pearson Education Inc., 2016.
“From Luxuriant Gems of the Spring and Autumn Annals: ‘The Responsibilities of Rulership.’”
Primary Sources with DBQs, Asia for Educators, 2009, afe.easia.columbia.edu/main_pop/ps/ps_china.htm.
Lambert, Tim, director. Guns, Germs, and Steel. Guns, Germs, and Steel: Episode II, National
Geographic, 2005, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUn6FQQEFvY. Accessed Dec. 2023.
Marks, Robert. The Origins of the Modern World: A Global and Ecological Narrative
from the Fifteenth to the Twenty-First Century. 2nd ed., Rowman & Littlefield, 2007.
ProQuest Ebook Central,
ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/nscc-ebooks/detail.action?docID=979610.
“Mexica (Aztec) & Tlaxcala Accounts of the Spanish Conquest 1500s.” Edited by León-Portilla
Miguel, Primary Source in U.S. & Literature, National Humanities Center, 2006,
nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/contact/text6/text6read.htm.
Nunn, Nathan, and Nancy Qian. “The Columbian Exchange: A History of Disease, Food, and
Ideas.” Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 24, no. 2, 2010, pp. 163–188.,
https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/nunn/files/nunn_qian_jep_2010.pdf.
“Pliny and Trajan: Correspondence, c. 112 CE.” Internet History Sourcebooks Project: Ancient
History, Fordham University. March 2023 https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/ancient/pliny-trajan1.asp.
Rossabi, Morris. “The Mongols in World History.” Mongols in World History, Asia for Educators,
2021, http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/mongols/index.htm.
“Teotihuacán The City of the Gods.” Performance by Josh Berstein, Teotihuacán: The City of
the Gods | Digging For The Truth (S2, E7) | Full Episode, YouTube, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liWIh7H-4Nc. Accessed April. 2024.
