Any topic (writer’s choice)
Write a 2-page essay proposal (between 1000 – 1100 words, single space: excluding title, works cited, and references) answering ONE of the following question:
Climate Change: What evidence from the assigned readings supports the presence of climate change? How does this change alter the people’s way of life and subsistence strategy? When were the changes, and how did people adapt to these changes? Please discuss beyond the Paleolithic and Neolithic to incorporate later periods.
Technology: Choose one type of technology discussed in class (stone tools, pottery, metal, bone, etc.) compare how these artefacts were made and used through time in one specific region of choice (China, Korea, or Japan). Please cover more than one timeframe for this artefact. What can your selected artifact tell us about past cultures and how it changed through time? Why is this artefact significant?
Writing: In this course, we began from a time without written records to the Tang dynasty. In your opinion, can archaeology and written records be combined to tell us about the past? Does the combination strengthen or weaken our view of the past? Use examples from the assigned readings to help with your discussion.
It is graded at a value of 15% and must be submitted via Quercus by 11:59pm on the due date (November 4th). Late submissions will receive no credit, and there will be no extensions given.
Focus your proposal on the topic you have selected and explain exactly how you intend to support your argument or discussion. Include why you selected this question and explain why this question is important in our understanding of the past.
Incorporate at least Four articles in this discussion. Explain why you are going to use them in your essay and how they are related to the topic.
Please do not go beyond the assigned readings to answer these questions. You may use any assigned readings throughout this course.
Use Chicago Manual Style to reference the articles. You can find the reference guide on Quercus under Pages section.
This essay proposal will be evaluated based on how convincing your proposal is, the logic and clear presentation of your argument, and your understanding of the class material.
