Essay Topics
The final exam will include two of the following topics, and you will have to write an essay on one of the topics.
Notes:
- These essays make reference to the "four regions" that we have covered: the Americas, Europe, China, and the Ottoman Empire.
- Be sure that your essay makes reference to at least two primary sources. You do not need to quote primary sources, but refer to them to support your argument. Do not simply mention a primary source in passing, but actually analyze the source so that it serves as a substantive example to help your argument.
- The essay should have an argument (thesis) and should be structured with an introduction, body, and conclusion.
A) 1492
The year 1492 was a momentous year. The events of that year didn't affect everywhere immediately but, over time, 1492 changed the entire globe. Explain how the events of 1492 affected three of the four regions covered in this course.
B) Scientific Revolution and Contract
At the end of the course, we examined how during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries some Europeans and Americans devised a new way of constructing truth and, consequently, how to fashion society and politics. These ideas marked a real break with more traditional ideas about the individual, society, and the state. Compare these ideas to more "traditional" ideas from at least two regions (Europe could be one).
C) Centralization
Most us in this class grew up in a country with a stable government that effectively governed its territory. However, centralization is not a natural phenomenon. In this course we have studied successful and failed efforts to impose centralized control over a vast territory. Write an essay that explains both how centralization can succeed and how it can fail. How does a central government come to exert control over the resources within its territory? Why does a centralized government become less centralized? Or, why does a government fail to centralize in the first place? Consider at least two regions to answer this question.