Silk Road and pre-modern

*Use the books “When Asia Was The World, By Stewart Gordon” ,and “Central Asia in World History, By Peter B. Golden”, and “The Silk Road A New History with Documents, By Valerie Hansen”

*Continue the thesis*

*Make this argumentitive*

Final research paper: 50%; Part 1: Outline and bibliography (due 2/11) 5% (see separate assignment) Part 2: rough draft (due 3/17) 5% (see separate assignment) Part 3: 10-15 page paper, plus bibliography (due 4/6) 35% Part 4: Class presentation, last day of class, 5% (see separate assignment) Part 3: 10-15 page paper The papers will focus on one of the major states/cities/place that we will examine this term (see list below). Each of you will take on writing a history of one of these states. This history should add to the materials that we have examined in class. You are to both outline the arc of its history and the peoples who lived there through time, but also make some argument about what its history says about globalization in the pre-modern era. Furthermore, your paper should consider its place in the larger history of the Silk Road. States/cities/places (directly drawn from our readings): Kroraina, Kucha, Turfan, Samarkand, Changan, Dunhuang, Khotan, Melayu Kingdom/ Srivijaya, Champa, Sri Lanka/Ceylon, Khwarezm; OTHER (if you have an alternative topic we can discuss it) Areas of particular importance: Discovery and use of sources beyond course materials: use of primary (both textual and/or material), and secondary sources, quality of materials in the bibliography Must use reviewed sources! * Focused argument that is supported by evidence Mechanics: Well organized: introduction, main body and conclusion Well written: clear and supported thesis; clear use of editing and rereading Citations in proper form, Chicago or MLA style Creativity, originality, detail, focus, etc. Grading Rubric: A has cogent analysis, shows command of interpretive and conceptual tasks required by assignment and course materials: ideas original, often insightful, going beyond ideas discussed in lecture and class commands attention with a convincing argument with a compelling purpose; highly responsive to the demands of a specific writing situation; sophisticated use of conventions of academic discipline and genre; anticipates the reader’s needs for information, explanation, and context essay controlled by clear, precise, well-defined argument; is sophisticated in both statement and insight well-chosen examples; uses persuasive reasoning to develop and support thesis consistently; uses specific quotations, statistics, aesthetic details, or citations of scholarly and primary sources effectively; logical connections between ideas are evident well-constructed paragraphs; appropriate, clear and smooth transitions; arrangement of organizational elements seems particularly apt uses sophisticated sentences effectively; usually chooses words aptly; observes professional conventions of written English and manuscript format; makes few minor or technical errors B shows a good understanding of the texts, ideas and methods of the assignment; goes beyond the obvious; may have one minor factual or conceptual inconsistency addresses audience with a thoughtful argument with a clear purpose; responds directly to the demands of a specific writing situation; competent use of the conventions of academic discipline and genre; addresses the reader’s needs for information, explanation, and context clear, specific, arguable central claims; may have left minor terms undefined pursues explanation and proof of thesis consistently; develops a main argument with explicit major points with appropriate textual evidence and supporting detail distinct units of thought in paragraphs controlled by specific, detailed, and arguable topic sentences; clear transitions between developed, cohering, and logically arranged paragraphs a few mechanical difficulties or stylistic problems (which/that use, split infinitives, dangling modifiers, etc.); may make occasional problematic word choices or syntax errors; a few spelling or punctuation errors or a clich; usually presents quotations effectively, using appropriate format C shows an understanding of the basic ideas and information involved in the assignment; may have some factual, interpretive, or conceptual errors presents an adequate response the essay prompt; pays attention to the basic elements of the writing situation; shows sufficient competence in the conventions of academic discipline and genre; signals the importance of the reader’s needs for information, explanation, and context general thesis or controlling idea; may not define several central terms only partially develops the argument; shallow analysis; some ideas and generalizations undeveloped or unsupported; makes limited use of textual or visual evidence; fails to integrate quotations appropriately some awkward transitions; some brief, weakly unified or undeveloped paragraphs; arrangement may not appear entirely natural; contains extraneous information more frequent wordiness; unclear or awkward sentences; imprecise use of words or over-reliance on passive voice; some distracting grammatical errors (wrong verb tense, pronoun agreement, apostrophe errors, singular/plural errors, article use, preposition use, comma splice, etc.); makes effort to present quotations accurately D shows inadequate command of course materials or has significant factual and conceptual errors; confuses some significant ideas shows serious weaknesses in addressing an audience; unresponsive to the specific writing situation; poor articulation of purpose; often states the obvious or the inappropriate argument vague; central terms not defined frequently only narrates; digresses from one topic to another without developing ideas or terms; makes insufficient or awkward use of textual or visual evidence; relies on too few or the wrong type of sources simplistic, tends to narrate or merely summarize; wanders from one topic to another; illogical arrangement of ideas some major grammatical or proofreading errors (subject-verb agreement, sentence fragments, word form errors, etc.); language frequently weakened by colloquialisms, clichs, repeated inexact word choices; incorrect quotation or citation format F writer lacks critical understanding of lectures, readings, discussions, or assignments shows severe difficulties communicating no discernible argument little or no development; may list disjointed facts or misinformation; uses no quotations or fails to cite sources or plagiarizes no transitions; incoherent paragraphs; suggests poor planning or no serious revision numerous grammatical errors and stylistic problems seriously detract from the argument; does not meet Standard Written English requirement.