Course Requirements and Grade Distribution
Total: 100 Points
Midterm (Thursday, March 1): 20 points
The midterm will consist of a set of short and long questions covering students' mastery of: my lectures; assigned readings; in-class discussions; and assigned movies. You will typically have some choice, e.g., you will answer four out of five short questions, and one out of two long questions. The short questions will require brief and precise responses about one page in length. The longer questions will require more sustained responses of about 4 to 5 pages in length. All responses will be hand-written in Bluebooks in class.
Final (date to be announced): 20 points
This will be in the exact same format as the midterm.
Paper (due May 7 by 5 pm): 20 points
For the course, you will be required to write a well-argued research paper on a specific topic on modern European history. Your paper will be about 6-7 pages in length or 1,500-1750 words. Text should be double-spaced, in 12pt Times Roman font, with sources properly cited. Your paper should be grounded in a deep reading of both primary and secondary sources and should directly reflect the substance of in-class discussions. The paper will be shaped through the second half of the semester in two stages:
- submission of a preliminary 2-page analysis of a primary source (assignment due on April 9)
- submission of the 6-7 page final paper which will be built around the primary source analysis (due on May 7).
I will not accept any e-mailed copies for either! I will talk a lot more about the paper as the semester progresses, discuss the nature of primary and secondary sources, as well as talk about how to construct a historical thesis or argument.
I will grade your final paper based on:
- depth of research
- strength and logic of argument/thesis
- use of evidence
- quality of writing
- correctness of citations
Primary Source Analysis (5 points): Due April 9, this will be a step leading to your final paper. I will have more to say on this later, but basically this assignment will help you develop the skills to analyze a primary historical source.
3 Quizzes (3 X 5 points): 15 points
These will be in-class quizzes that will test your mastery of the assigned reading for that particular class day. These will typically be short questions about the text that you have to answer. Please note the dates of the quizzes in the syllabus.
Class Participation: 15 points
Participating in class is a must. This is a significant portion of your grade (basically one-and-a-half letter grades!) so it's imperative that you contribute to class discussions. I appreciate any well-intentioned participation in class discussions but I am more happy when you say something that shows me that you've carefully read the assigned readings for that day. I will carefully note through the semester those students who are actively engaging with the assigned readings.
Attendance: 5 points
Grading
For an explanation of the grading system, see Explanation of Transcript