Essay Instructions: Fourth Quarter Term Paper -
EUROPEAN HISTORY Paper - 100 points - due May 5, 2003
Spring 2003 Research Paper/Book Report *Draft - 15 points (extra credit) - due April 16, 2003
INSTRUCTION SHEET
During the fourth quarter, all European History students have a 4-5 page research paper/book report due. The paper will be an analysis of Voltaire''s Candide as a representation of the Enlightenment. Besides Candide (your primary source material), you should read pages 457-463 in the textbook. Besides the book and the textbook, you will also have four other sources for your Bibliography. Since you have already done a research paper in this course, this one will be a closed research paper, meaning that I provide you with the list of sources and you use only those sources.
I shall be grading both the content and the form of your paper. Please note the due dates above. The final paper must be typed. You are not required to hand in a draft, but you can earn 15 points extra credit for handing one in by the deadline above, but it must be typed and represent a bona fide effort. The deadline for the draft is absolute; if you are absent that day, you cannot turn in the draft when you return to school.
Schedule
On March 24, 2003, you must bring with you to class your copy of Candide. I have a few copies to loan if you see me early. Each student must have his or her own copy. I will be checking that this is the case. Anyone who tries to pass off another person''s copy as his or her own will receive a detention for dishonesty.
On April 16, 2003, you may submit a Draft of your paper. This should not be a first, rough draft, but it does not have to be a draft that you consider as final either. Try writing a rough draft, fixing any major problems in your rough draft, and either handing in the second draft or correcting small problems with it to make a third draft. This Draft is worth 15 points of extra credit and must be typed. The extra credit will go to the Major grade.
On May 5, 2003, you will submit your final Paper. The final paper will be worth 100 points. The final paper must be typewritten.
We shall not be discussing the book in class on a regular schedule, and I do not plan to go over the events of the book. It is, however, a subtle and satirical work, and you should have questions about puzzling events. It is your job to do the reading and to ask questions at the beginning of each class. I reserve the right to give pop quizzes on the material (either extra credit quizzes or regular quizzes), so read it.
Requirements
Your paper should consist of a) a title page, with a title that reflects your thesis; b) an introduction in which you set forth your thesis and summarize the various elements of your paper; c) a short discussion of the author of Candide focused toward your thesis and passages; d) a short description of the Enlightenment focused toward your thesis and passages; e) a short description of the overall story that includes main characters and events and lesser characters and events important to your thesis and passages; f) an analysis of at least three passages from separate parts of the story (these are your primary source material); g) an explanation (this is your argument based on your thesis) of how these passages and the whole of Candide make it representative of the Enlightenment as a whole or of some aspect thereof; h) a conclusion; and i) a bibliography. Your paper should also include internal citations for quotes and sources.
Although you are reading Candide in translation, so it is no longer truly a primary source, you should treat it as if it is the original. Remember that a good analysis of primary source material consists of at least briefly paraphrasing the passage, explaining how it fits into the larger work (putting it in context), analyzing the language, and applying it to your thesis by explaining how it supports your thesis. In this paper, you do not have to attach or block quote passages. Your citations and paraphrasing should make the particular passages clear to the reader.
The following is the weighting of the various elements that I shall use:
Title Page 5 points
Introduction 15 points
Discussion of Author 10 points
Discussion of Enlightenment 10 points
Synopsis of Story 10 points
Analysis of Three Passages 30 points
Conclusion 5 points
Bibliography 5 points
Grammar 10 points
Suggested Schedule for Reading
This is a short book; however, since it is a primary source of a time that is quite foreign to us, you should not expect to read it in a weekend and gain any understanding of it. To make it easier to discuss issues students raise in class, it would be best if all students read the book on the the same schedule. If you plan to do the extra credit draft, you may want to read ahead of this schedule. The schedule below is about 10 to 15 minutes (or less) reading per assignment averaging about 6-7 pages per assignment.
March 25 -- Chapters 1-3
26 -- Chapters 4-6
27 -- Chapters 7-9
28 -- Chapters 10-11
31 -- Chapters 12-13
April 1 -- Chapters 14-15
2 -- Chapters 16-17
3 -- Chapters 18- 19
4 -- Chapters 20 -21
7 -- Chapter 22
8 -- Chapters 23-24
9 -- Chapters 25-26
10 -- Chapters 27-28
11 -- Chapters 29-30
Sources
1. Your textbook
2. The text of Candide, not the introduction, etc.
3. Encyclopedia Americana (in library), Vol. 10, "Enlightenment"
4. Encyclopedia Britannica (in library), Vol. 19, "Voltaire"
5. The Oxford Companion to Philosophy (my room), particularly entry on Leibniz
6. Introducing the Enlightenment (my room)
