History 110B
Fall 2004
Take-Home Essay #1
Instructions:
Write a thoughtful, polished, 3-5 page essay (approximately 750-1250 words) on the question below. The essay is due
two weeks after distribution of this question, at the beginning of class on Monday, October 25. Be sure to read over the
syllabus for information on grading criteria, late assignments, and rules for the take-home essay exams. Your essay must
be typed, double-spaced, with 12-point font and one-inch margins. Also be sure to read this essay assignment sheet over
thoroughly, as there are important guidelines and instructions outlined below.
Before you begin writing your essay, complete Writing Worksheets 1 and 2. You must staple both Writing Worksheets to
the back of your essay. (Failure to do so will result in 5 points off of your essay grade.)
The essay covers course material up to and including Week 7 on the syllabus.
Essay Question:
Write an essay that compares and contrasts the "rhetoric of otherness" used by various historical societies in the early
modern world (approximately 1500-1700 CE). In other words, what images, words, and arguments did societies use to
describe other groups or cultures they encountered? To put it another way, how have different historical societies defined
"the Other"? Your task will be to compare and contrast how societies in the early modern period perceived other groups
or cultures, and how these cultural stereotypes and misperceptions influenced the behavior of one group toward another.
In answering this question, you must select 4 out of the following 5 course topics:
Note: The readings listed in italics and underlined below (primary source evidence in the Bentley text or on course
reserve) are crucial sources for this essay. Your essay must include specific quotes from all relevant primary source
evidence to support your argument.
1. The Columbian exchange and the European conquest of the Americas
Relevant course materials: Christopher Columbus's First Impressions of American Peoples (Bentley p. 617),
First Impressions of Spanish Forces (Bentley p. 671), Bentley Ch. 23 and Ch. 25, film clip from "1492."
2. Transformations of Europe
Relevant course materials: Malleus Maleficarum (on course reserve) and Bentley Ch. 24
3. Africa and the Atlantic World
Relevant course materials: King Afonso I Protests Slave Trading in the Kingdom of Kongo (Bentley p. 703), and
Bentley Ch. 26
4. Tradition and Change in East Asia
Relevant course materials: Fabian Fucan Rejects Christianity (Bentley p. 749), and Bentley Ch. 27
5. Islamic Empires
Relevant course materials: Ghislain de Busbecq's Concerns about the Ottoman Empire (Bentley p. 757), Bentley
Ch. 28, and film "Islam: Empire of Faith."
See back page for important further instructions!
**Hint #1: There is no single “right” answer for this essay. I am asking you to develop your own argument or point of
view and to support your own interpretation using the relevant class material.
**Hint #2: No outside research is required or allowed for this essay. You must gather evidence to support your
argument using only the sources made available to you in this class.
**Hint #3: A successful essay will make use of all relevant class sources: class lectures and discussions, discussion
readings, films shown in class, and background information in the Bentley textbook. Note that the assigned primary
source discussion readings (in italics and underlined above) are especially important. Your essay must include specific
quotes from all relevant primary source discussion readings as evidence to support your argument.
**Hint #4: You are not required to use footnote citations. When you quote directly from a reading assignment, note the
author and page number in parentheses directly after the quote, for example (King Afonso I in Bentley, p. 703) or (Kramer
and Sprenger in Malleus Maleficarum, p. 1). You may treat all the information you have gathered from lectures as
general knowledge that does not require a citation.
**Hint #5: Beware of closely paraphrasing or using the words of the textbook or discussion readings without giving
credit to the author. This is plagiarism and will result in a zero on the assignment. Plagiarism is stealing the words, ideas,
or thoughts of another person and treating them as your own. Students sometimes plagiarize from books and web sites
(by using the author’s words without quotation or attribution), but they also can plagiarize from each other. Changing a
word or two in a sentence is not enough to avoid plagiarism. When in doubt, cite the source! If you have any questions
about plagiarism, please see me.
Good luck, and feel free to contact me if you have any questions.