Honors 210B: Spring 2005
Take-Home Essay #1
Instructions:
Write a thoughtful, polished, 5-7 page essay (1250-1750 words) on the question below. The
essay is due two weeks after distribution of this question, at the beginning of class on
Wednesday, March 23. 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, doublespaced, with 12-point font and one-inch margins. It must also have a descriptive title that relates
to your paper topic and conveys to your reader the overall argument of the paper. The essay
covers course material up to and including Week 6 on the syllabus.
Before you begin writing your essay, you must complete Writing Worksheets 1 and 2. Be sure
to staple both Writing Worksheets to the back of your essay. (Failure to do so will result in 5
points off of your essay grade.)
Essay Question:
Compare and contrast the opportunities for self-fashioning in early modern Europe, the
Americas, and Africa. What options did individuals have to fashion their own identities in each
case? What types of political, social, and cultural barriers existed that restricted self-fashioning
in each historical case? In your view, in which historical context did individuals have the
greatest opportunities to shape their own futures and gain power, and why? Your essay must
use specific quotes from all of the following discussion readings to illustrate your claims: The
Return of Martin Guerre, Lieutenant Nun, and Things Fall Apart.
**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,
discussion readings, films, and Traditions and Encounters. Note that the assigned discussion
readings are especially important. Your essay must include specific quotes from all of the
assigned discussion readings as evidence to support your argument.
**Hint #4: When you quote directly from a source, you must use footnote (not endnote)
citations. You must use the Chicago Style (Humanities Style) for the format of your footnote
citations. You may treat all the information you have gathered from lectures as general
knowledge that does not require a citation. To find information on the Chicago Style, you can
look at the Chicago Manual of Style in the reference section of Pollak Library. You may also
look at Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations.
(Turabian follows the Chicago Style format and is on course reserve at Pollak Library for my
History 521T course.) For this assignment, you will mainly be following the format for footnote
citations of books. For a quick overview on the Chicago Style citation format, take a look at the
following websites:
http://www.libs.uga.edu/ref/chicago.html#docnote
http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/DocChiNotes.html
Most word processing programs (Microsoft Word, etc.) have footnote functions. I can show you
how to use this function if it is new to you.
**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.
Some Sample Chicago Style Footnote Citations
Footnote citation for a book with a single author:
In the body of your paper, you would write the following:
As Chris Smith has noted, “Honors 210B is the best course ever.”1
At the bottom of that page, the following footnote reference would appear:
1. Chris Smith, Great Classes: A Survey of History Courses (New York: Routledge, 2002), 159.
Footnote citation for a book with more than one author:
1. Michael Craton and Gail Saunders, Islanders in the Stream: A History of the Bahamian People (Athens:
University of Georgia Press, 1992), 24.
With no intervening reference, a second mention of the same page of the above work can be
referenced like this:
2. Ibid.
The following reference is to a different page of the same work referenced immediately
prior:
3. Ibid., 68.
Use this form after the first complete reference if only one work by this author is used:
2. Smith, 256.
Please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Granata if you have any questions, and good luck!