HONORS 115
Western Perspectives II

Instructor: Dr. Paul Werth
9:30-10:20, 10:30-11:20 FDH216
office: Wright Hall 126 phone: 895-3344
e-mail: werthp@nunlv.edu
office hours: 1:00 - 2:30 M & W
http://www.scsv.nevada.edu/~werthp/





INFORMATION ON THE COURSE

Information on assignments




Links to Web-Viewing on various topics





DETAILS ON CONSTITUTION PAPER ASSIGNMENT
First, you need to get a copy of the Constitution. This can presumably be found at various places on the web, but here is a convenient link: United States Constitution on the web. In your paper, you should address the basic question: To what degree and in what specific ways is the US Constitution (including the first 10 Ammendments) an Enlightenment document? You may argue any position, but be absolutely certain that you use evidence to support your claims. In the intro, try to formulate your general answer to the question and then provide some basic idea about how your paper will proceed. You might then break up the paper into separate paragraphs, each of which will discuss a specific way in which the US Constitution does or does not reflect Enlightenment concerns. Try to establish direct connections where possible, but also try to address the more general ways in which the Constitution might intersect with or depart from the Enlightenment. Feel free to e-mail me with any questions, and be sure to follow my generic guidelines for paper submission: Gimme those guidelines.






DETAILS ON TRIAD ESSAYS

The purpose of this exercise to write an essay based on a triad. A triad is a list of three items (people, places, ideas, abstract concepts) that I propose are linked in a fundamental way in the context of the history we are studying. For this course, I ask that you write three (3) short essays (3-4 pp. each), each addressing one of the triads listed below. On the exams, I will ask you to write a paragraph (or short essay) on each triad. Thus, by writing essays on the triads over the course of the semester, you will be preparing for the exams.

In writing your essays, you should articulate clearly the historical relationship among the three items. The idea is to focus above all on the connections, rather than addressing each item in isolation from the others: How are the items related to one another? In some cases the relationship will be causal (that is, some items caused the others). In some cases, one item may be a context in which the other two items occurred. In still other cases, one item may be an issue over which two people or ideologies disagreed. And so on. In each case, the best answer will state in the paragraph's first sentence the relationship involved; the rest of the paragraph will then elaborate on that relationship, using specific evidence and detail from the materials at your disposal (lecture notes and relevant reading materials, etc.). Though the three concepts can usually be put together in a variety of ways, make sure that you do not ignore important evidence in putting your answer together. That is, look carefully through your readings and notes to make sure that you are at least considering all of the evidence that you have at your disposal. For the first essay, you should choose one of the triads listed below. Good luck, and feel free to contact me with any questions.

Scientific Revolution
Religion
Enlightenment
 peasants
violence
death
Absolutism
Enlightenment
Revolution
 peasants
labor
factories


For the second triad essay, you should select one of the following triads. A few more may be added subsequently. Please note that in answering some of the triads, it would make sense to consider and incorporate readings from earlier in the semester. In general, try to make use of (i.e. at least consider) all of the evidence that you have at your disposal.

urban development
class
women
 imperialism
civilization
capitalism
WWI
Ottoman Empire
ethnic cleansing
 total war
military front
home front


For the third triad essay, you should select one of the following triads. A few more may be added subsequently. Please recall that in some instances, it would make sense to consider and incorporate readings from earlier in the semester.

Europe
homogeneity
race
 fascism
propaganda
holocaust
war
nation-states
ethnic cleansing
 democracy
women
protest in the 1960s





 PREVIEW OF MID-TERM EXAM.

The exam (a.k.a. "A graded exercise in intellectual inquiry") will consist of three basic parts: chronology, short answers, and triads.
Chronology (20 points). In this section, you will be given several sets of events. Your job, in the case of each set, is to put the events in the proper chronological order. Note that you will not be asked to know exact dates; rather I ask merely that you be able to identify the basic sequence of events. For example:
So you would write: C, D, B, A. In short, there is nothing terribly difficult in this.

Short Answers (20 points). Here you will encounter a series of questions that ask for essentially factual information that I believe you should know if you have discharged your responsibilities in the course responsibly. For example: What were the two social classes that Karl Marx saw as being in fundamental conflict in the capitalist stage of development? (answer: bourgeoisie and proletariat).

Triads (60 points). The bulk of the exam will focus on triads. Here you already know the basic procedure, although presumably your answers will be shorter and a bit rougher here on the exam. Still, the best way to approach this part of the exam is to regard it as an opportunity to show me what you know, to demonstrate how much you have thought about the basic issues at the center of the given triad. All triads on the exam will come from the list below. Most likely, 4 of these triads will appear on the exam, and you will be asked to write on three of them. I have not been able to locate an example of a good triad exam answer, so I will merely note that you should focus on writing a clear, well-developed paragraph the supports its contentions with at least some evidence. The paragraph doesn't HAVE to be long, but it needs then to be dense in terms of the actual argumentation it contains. Above all, it should reflect the RESULTS of your efforts to think about / through the issues listed in the triad. Good luck.

Scientific Revolution
Religion
Enlightenment
 peasants
violence
death
Absolutism
Enlightenment
Revolution
 peasants
labor
factories
liberalism
socialism
revolution
 women
labor
Enlightenment




 PREVIEW OF FINAL EXAM.

In large measure the final exam will look a good like the mid-term. It will consist of three parts: 1) short answer; 2) triads; 3) essay. The first two sections of the exam will focus primarily on material encountered since the mid-term. In writing the essay, you may wish to reach back to material from before the mid-term. All portions of the exam will have some element of choice.

Part One: Short Answers (20 points). You should already be familiar with this exercise. The format and nature of the questions will be as they were on the mid-term.

Part Two: Triads (48 points). No examination would really be complete without triads. From among the triads listed below, most likely five will appear on the exam and you will choose three on which you wish to write. If you still haven't figured out what a triad is, go back and read the information above on triad essays and the mid-term.

urban development
class
women
 imperialism
civilization
ethnic minorities in Europe
democracy
women
protest in the 1960s
 total war
military front
home front
Europe
homogeneity
race
 fascism
propaganda
holocaust
war
nation-states
ethnic cleansing




Part Three: Essay (32 points). This essay represents an innovation on the mid-term examination. Below you will find two questions. Both will appear on the exam; you will choose one of them on which to write. Though you will of course focus your efforts on the essay of your choice, I would strongly urge you to give some thought to the other question as well, if only for the purposes of preparing for the exam as a whole more thoroughly. Please take the time to consider all potentially relevant information as you think about how to answer the question. Check through all the reading materials to see which texts may help you to construct your answer. Though you may certainly draw on knowledge that you have on these issues from outside the present course, please try to place the sources that we have read at the center of your discussion, and use that material in supporting your larger assertions. Try to map out in your mind the basic structure of your response, which will then take the form of paragraphs in your essay.