COMPREHENSIVE ESSAY: 1000 POINTS
EARLY WESTERN CIVILIZATION
DIRECTIONS: Please work on this assignment, as a Microsoft Word
document, on a weekly basis until completed. The focus of the essay is
on the important specific contributions of each historical topic in this
course on the development of Western Civilization. The comprehensive
essay presents a great opportunity for students to demonstrate their
ability to synthesize an extensive amount of historical material in a
coherent manner. To meet the history program writing requirement, all
students are required to compose a well-organized, insightful, analytical,
factually based essay relying on both the course lectures and the course
textbook. No other sources may be utilized. This is not a research
paper. The essay assignment will be graded based upon the quality of
its historical analysis (clarity, insightfulness, and depth), content
(organization, use of examples and variety), format (being followed),
and writing style (including flow, editing, spelling, and grammar).
Please proofread your assignment closely.
REQUIRED ASSIGNMENT FORMAT:
Essay’s First Page: At the top, left side, of your essay’s first page only
please include these six items: create an essay title that is informative
and interesting (Your Essay’s Title), your full name (Your Full Name),
course name (Early Western Civilization), class identification (HIST
2210), your instructor (Professor Yazdi) and the due date (11:30 p.m.,
Sunday, April 21, 2024) of the essay assignment.
Essay: Your essay should be eight to ten full pages in length. Essays
are allowed to be longer than ten pages. Please use one-inch margins
on top, bottom, right, and left sides of your pages. Please double-space
your essay and use 11 to 12-point sized font. You may choose the font
style. Please number the pages by placing your last name and page
number together in the top right corner of each page. Your essay should
include an introduction paragraph, body paragraphs with source
citations at the end of the paragraphs, and a conclusion paragraph for
your essay. Your essay should use complete sentences, and paragraphs
with the first sentence indented. Please utilize my required format for
the source citations in the essay which is shown below:
Lecture Citation Format: (Lectures, Historical Topic Name)
Example: (Lectures, Ancient Near East)
Textbook Citation Format: (Textbook, Chapter or Chapters)
Example: (Textbook, Ch. 1 or Chs. 1 & 2)
Outline: After your essay, you should have a detailed two to three
pages outline of your essay using a Roman numerals type of format
with multiple categories and numerous subcategories. The purpose of
the outline is to help you organize your essay and to provide the reader
with insight into how you structured your essay.
Works Cited Page: After your outline, a basic works cited page is
required with my straightforward required format of the source citations
shown below. The purpose of the works cited page is to acknowledge
that the textbook and lectures are your only sources for your essay.
Cole & Symes. Western Civilizations. Combined Volume.
Brief Sixth Edition. New York. W. W. Norton &
Company, 2023. Print or Digital.
Yazdi, A. T. Course Lectures. History 2210. Pellissippi State
Community College. Knoxville, TN. Spring 2024.
ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT POLICY:
Academic misconduct committed either directly or indirectly by an
individual or group is subject to disciplinary action.
Cheating will not be tolerated in any form. For the purposes of
this class and this out of class essay assignment, cheating will be
defined as follows:
1) Plagiarism (borrowing the ideas of another person or the use
of generative AI programs like ChatGPT and other AI programs
and passing them off as your own) of any kind, which
includes copying all or part of another student’s paper;
handing in papers written for you by someone else, or failing
to properly cite direct quotations, paraphrased passages, or
the opinions of other scholars.
2) Collaborating or receiving any assistance from another
person on this out of class essay assignment. The only
exception to this policy is that you may receive guidance
from the PSCC Writing Center tutors regarding writing and
format issues but not regarding content issues.
person on this out of class essay assignment. The only
exception to this policy is that you may receive guidance
from the PSCC Writing Center tutors regarding writing and
format issues but not regarding content issues.
In accordance with the academic policy of the college (Student
Disciplinary Rules of the online PSCC 2023-2024 Catalog), those
persons found guilty of cheating by this instructor will receive a
grade of “F” for the assignment and may also receive a grade of
“F” for the course.
ESSAY PARAMETERS:
Introduction Paragraph: Paragraph 1 (approx. 1/3 to ½ page
length) Please analyze the development of Western Civilization.
What is your central thesis (your main argument) or theme
(main idea); up to three themes (main ideas) are allowed
which you believe dominated the formation of Western
Civilization? A thesis is a statement that is put forward as a
premise to be proven by your essay. A theme is the main idea
that occurs throughout your essay. Next, connect your thesis or
theme(s) to a broad overview of Western Civilization from 3200
B.C.E. to 1750 C.E.
Body Paragraphs of Essay: Paragraphs 2 through 12
Please provide one paragraph (approx. 2/3 to ¾ page length)
for each historical topic. Please describe the important
specific contributions of each of these historical topics to the
development of Western Civilization:
-Near Eastern Societies (Paragraph 2) (includes the
Mesopotamians, Egyptians, Indo-Europeans, Hebrews,
Phoenicians, and Persians) (discuss these societies contributions
in a brief manner to keep this paragraph the same length as your
other historical topic paragraphs)
-Classical Greeks (Paragraph 3)
-Hellenistic Greeks (Paragraph 4)
-Roman Republic (Paragraph 5)
-Roman Empire (Paragraph 6)
-Early Middle Ages (Paragraph 7)
-High Middle Ages (Paragraph 8)
-Late Middle Ages (Paragraph 9)
-Italian Renaissance (Paragraph 10)
-Religious Reformation (Paragraph 11)
-Age of Exploration (Paragraph 12)
The essay must discuss equally in length and depth all of the
above listed historical topics. The contributions discussed
should be a mixture of political, military, economic, cultural,
societal, technological, and intellectual advances throughout
the essay. The types of advances may vary based upon which
historical topic is discussed. Please provide specific factual
examples to support your analysis throughout your essay.
Conclusion Paragraph: Paragraph 13 (approx. 1/3 to ½ page
length) Restate your thesis or theme(s). Synthesize or
summarize the main points of your essay that support your thesis
or theme(s). Explain how the historical topics have influenced
the development of Western Civilization in the past and in the
present.
Due Date: All essays are due in Brightspace by the official due
date which is 11:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 21, 2024. Late
essays will be accepted up to the late essay deadline which is
11:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 23, 2024, and will have a one letter
grade deduction of 100 points. Due to grading necessities, late
essays cannot be accepted after 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April
23, 2024.
