RESEARCH ESSAY – HIS 101

Respond to one of research prompts provided on page 2 and 3 of this document, demonstrating your
ability to present a clear argument and support it with historical evidence.
There is no "right" or "wrong" answer to this questions; rather, this assignment allows each student to
construct an argument based on his or her own analysis of the evidence. However, you must answer the
prompt directly. Do not take this exercise as an opportunity to write about your favorite key
developments or offer a general narrative of the period.

BEFORE WRITING, ALSO CAREFULLY REVIEW ALL OF THE INSTRUCTIONS IN YOUR ADDENDUM.

This assignment will demonstrate your ability to evaluate and draw logical conclusions based on
information provided in class lecture, outside research, and Chapters 1-15 of Cole and Symes’ text,
Western Civilizations.

REQUIREMENTS:
 Double-spaced Times New Roman 12-point font
 Standard 1" margins and a minimum of 6 full pages plus a Works Cited page
 Basic mastery of grammar, syntax, and style (proof read at least once)
 Each paper must have a clearly defined introductory paragraph, one or more body paragraph/s,
and a concluding paragraph.
 Each paragraph must have at least five sentences.
 Each paragraph must have a topic sentence expressing one main idea.
 An introduction must contain context (who, what, where, and when).
 An introduction must contain a thesis statement, which must take the form of an unambiguous
claim based on the above question.
 Every paper must have at least 4 approved scholarly sources, not including your textbook (see
the addendum for instruction regarding approved sources and MLA in-text citations).
 These scholarly sources must occur in the Works Cited Page and as an MLA in-text citations in a
body paragraph.
 All claims (not just direct quotations) from your textbook and your additional scholarly sources
require MLA in-text citations. Such in-text citations occur at the end of sentences. A few citations
for each paragraph are common. Review the instructions for essays and citations/quotations
provided in your syllabus.
 A concluding paragraph provides a recap of the paper and must attempt to answer the question –
'so what?' This, above all, is the paragraph that can be most creative and can contain an element of
subjectivity and persuasion.
 RESEARCH PAPER TOPIC QUESTIONS
Here is a short list of historical questions, from which you can formulate a thesis statement that will
guide your research paper. Most of the questions below come from the first half of this semester's
lectures. This way, by the time you get deep into your research and writing you will have at least
some familiarity with any given topic.
With the instructor's approval, you may also choose a topic of your own design, not on this list. This
topic must take the form of a question, which your thesis statement must address explicitly in
declarative form. The body of your essay must provide evidence for this argument.

1. How would you characterize the relationship between kings and priests in Sumer?
2. What does the Epic of Gilgamesh tell us about Mesopotamian culture?
3. What were the effects of the Indo-Europeans on the Near East?
4. What role did military technology play in the rise and fall of ancient Near East empires?
5. Why do some scholars consider the Old Kingdom a highpoint of Egyptian civilization?
6. What was the function of Egyptian religion?
7. What was the relationship between Rabbinical Judaism and the exile in Babylon?
8. Why do scholars suggest Zoroastrianism and influenced Judaism, Christianity, and Islam?
9. Why did Akhenaton's attempted reforms of Egyptian religion failure?
10. Why were the Persian Wars such significant events?
11. How realistic was Homer’s depiction of Mycenaean history?
12. How was the Hellenistic world multi-cultural?
13. How did Alexander the Great achieve his conquests?
14. What was the Roman Empire's relationship to the peoples within its borders?
15. Explain the Roman opposition to Jesus and his early followers.
16. What was the relationship between paganism and the Roman state?
17. What set of circumstance led to the division of the Roman Empire into two parts?
18. How can we account for the scope and speed of Arab conquests?
19. What were the consequences of the Islamic translation of Greek and Persian literature?
20. What role did monasteries play in medieval society?
21. How did the Abbasid Dynasty rise to power?
22. How did northern Europe differ from southern Europe in the Late Middle Ages?
23. What was humanism's relationship to the Renaissance?
24. What was Martin Luther’s argument with the Catholic Church?
25. What was the relationship between Christianity and the Age of Exploration?
26. What was the relationship between the Protestant Reformation and witch-hunting?