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Modern History Sourcebook:
The West: Enlightenment to
Present
Term Paper & Annotated Bibliography
Paul Halsall
Fordham Lincoln Center/HSLF 1000:007
/Fall 1997
The West: Enlightenment to
Present
Term Paper & Annotated Bibliography
1. The Term Paper (6-8 pages) will be a serious
attempt (i.e. an essay) to deal with a historical problem chosen
by each student. On October 28 you must hand in
brief statement of your topic. By November 11 you
must hand in a developed thesis statement, outline and an unannotated
bibliography of at least eight items. The paper and annotated
bibliography must be handed in on time, December 2.
It must conform to a standard term paper style, preferably Turabian since this is a history class. See the Stylesheet on class web site. To use MLA style, see me first.
2. Choose one of the topics below. You may suggest another
topic, if I approve it. Papers must relate to course content.
3. After you have done some preliminary reading, formulate
the THESIS STATEMENT you intend to defend in your paper.
NOTE: A thesis statement (the word means "idea")
is not a) a statement of the topic [e.g. "This
paper is about Louis XIV and absolutism"], b) a statement
of intention [e.g. I will look at the issue of Louis XIV and absolutism"],
c) a statement of a blindingly obvious truth [e.g. "Louis
XIV was a French king who advocated absolutism"]. Rather
a thesis statement seeks to summarize in one or two sentences
the argument you will make in your paper, e.g. "Louis XIV's
policies advanced royal power at the expense of the nobility both
by expanding the scope of state power and by giving over the administration
to bourgeois state officials". Your paper would then consist
of arguments to defend this thesis and to refute objections.
To summarize: you have a THESIS, the thesis is backed up
by a number of ARGUMENTS, the arguments are supported by FACTS,
the facts, especially important ones, are reinforced by CITATIONS
AND NOTES.
4. Using the bibliographical resources of the Library,
and the suggestions of your textbook, create a typed bibliography
of at least eight items. At least two of these items must be from
academic journals. Do not use newspaper, popular magazine, or
encyclopedia articles.
5. Annotated Bibliography: You must accompany your
final paper an annotated bibliography. The aim is to construct
a bibliography which would allow a person who knew nothing about
your topic to gain a good grasp of it by reading the items you
list. You should then include items about the general context
of the topic as well as more narrowly focused texts.
There are innumerable books and article on all of the topics listed
in the course outline. Your task is to chose the 8-10books or
articles most relevant to your subject. Each bibliographical item
is to be accompanied by a two to three sentence annotation on
its relevance to your chosen topic. Bibliographic items can include
books, journal articles, and, for very recent subjects, magazine
articles. At least two of your items must come from academic
journals. Do not include items taken from newspapers or encyclopedias. Do not include collections of articles, although you may
list and annotate individual articles. Citations must be
in alphabetical order and follow standard MLA or Turabian style
(you must specify which style at then end of the bibliography).
Please note that you do not have to read thoroughly every book
or article you list, you only have to understand what its point
is. On the other hand don't try to pass off publisher's blurbs
as annotations! Also note that to get the 8-10 most relevant books/articles
you will have to look at more than that.
Here is a sample bibliographical citation and annotation:-
Eric J. Hobsbawm, Nations and Nationalism Since 1780: Programme,
Myth, Reality, (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1990).
Hobsbawm, writing from a moderate socialist perspective, discusses
modulations in nationalist ideologies primarily in the 19th and
20th centuries. He suggests that neither `nations' or `nationalism'
are stable concepts, but that necessarily nationalist ideologies
present both as unchanging and unchangeable. The book, rather
than delivering a narrative account of nationalism, is an inquiry
into its meaning.
SUGGESTED TOPICS
Absolutism: success or failure? (in France, or Austria, or
Russia, or England, Cardinal Richelieu's Political Testament)
Trade and Empire in the early modern period (Spain, India,
Chinese response to the West, W. Africa, Brazil)
Faith and reason during the Scientific Revolution Rousseau on (the family, property, "rights")
Origins of Nationalism (Herder, Rousseau, folklorism) Political
Nationalism in (Italy, Czech lands, Ireland, Japan)
Industrialization and urbanism (poverty, disease, mass culture) Scientific politics? (social Darwinism, racism, imperialism)
Creativity of capitalism (railways, cartels, assembly lines) Marxism & gaining workers' power (Marx, Lenin, Bernstein)
Different liberalisms (feminism, gay rights, civil rights movement) Women's public power (suffragism, prohibitionism, Schafly)
The crisis of western culture (Freud and the Enlightenment,
Dada, Wilfred Owen, industry and environment)
The nature of mass culture (French revolution festivals, modern
newspapers, Hollywood & capitalism, suburbia)
Religious traditionalism and modernity (Marian Apparitions
in 19C, Radical Shi'ism, John Paul II, Lubavitchism, fundamentalism)
Impact of the colonized on the colonizers (foodstuffs, cultural
relativism, ideal of "noble savage", American Buddhism)
Resistance/accommodation to the West (Africa & Islam, Ho
Chi Minh, national salvation fronts, Philippines, non-aligned
mov't)
Collapsed dreams? (new soviet man, Capitalist economy since
1973, New World orders, Arab national unity, Zionism)
The Internet History Sourcebooks Project is located at the History Department of Fordham University, New York. The Internet
Medieval Sourcebook, and other medieval components of the project, are located at
the Fordham University Center
for Medieval Studies.The IHSP recognizes the contribution of Fordham University, the
Fordham University History Department, and the Fordham Center for Medieval Studies in
providing web space and server support for the project. The IHSP is a project independent of Fordham University. Although the IHSP seeks to follow all applicable copyright law, Fordham University is not
the institutional owner, and is not liable as the result of any legal action.
© Site Concept and Design: Paul Halsall created 26 Jan 1996: latest revision 6 October 2023 [CV]
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