History

 
Write an 7-8 page paper based on one of the texts listed at the end of the syllabus.  Your choice must be approved by Dr. Edwards to avoid two people giving oral reports on the same text. Your task is to show how the text (or a least a portion of it) you have selected sheds light on the period during which it was written.  This is not a book report: do not try to summarize the entire work. In other words, focus on what the text shows about events, socio-economic relationships, ideas or religious sentiments during the period we have studied.
     Do not just assert what you think to be true – you need to quote or paraphrase from the document to show exactly how the document supports the position you are asserting.  If the work you have chosen in long, you may restrict your analysis to only a part of the work, as long as your paper is 8 pages long.
     You will also be expected to give a brief (5-10 minute) oral report summarizing your findings, at the last two classes or the day of the final.  This will be an important part of your classroom participation grade.
What I want you to do is discuss how your chosen document relates to the historical period during which it was written. In other words, is there information in the text that tells you more about the British history from 1688 to the present or resonates with information that you are finding in the textbook? Be sure to quote from the document to substantiate the argument that you are making.