writing assignment 1

WRITING ASSIGNMENT # 1A: Age of European Exploration and Conquest.

This essay assignment will require you to compare and contrast the four major European nations that engaged in exploration and colonization during the 15th and 16th centuries.

INSTRUCTIONS

In order to prepare you must complete the following readings:

  • Identify and review the relevant sections of Chapters 2, 3, and 4.
  • Identify and incorporate at least one outside source to support your discussion. In addition to the textbook, you may use any material outside of the textbook that is recommended in the Additional Reading section at the end of each chapter. You are also encouraged to do your own research and identify relevant sources. Please keep in mind that WIKIPEDIA is not an acceptable reference.

PREPARE AND SUBMIT:

Write a well-organized essay, a minimum of 700 words (but not limited to), including supporting details from the documents/textbook/other sources in which you analyze and discuss the material that has been assigned by addressing the following question:

Identify and discuss the factors leading to the Age of European Exploration and Conquest during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and discuss how any two of the following nations-the Portuguese, Spanish, English, or French- differed in terms of their motivations for exploration and their settlement patterns.


Reminders

  • Paragraphs in an essay are not numbered. Any questions that are associated with an assigned reading are there to serve as a guide for your discussion.
  • Your discussion should incorporate all of the information from the documents and or textbook, and outside sources as one essay.
  • Students are required to research and incorporate into their discussions additional sources that relate to the content. Recommendations can be found in at the end of the textbook chapter in Additional Reading.
  • All statements must be supported and all sources must be identified and cited, and included in your reference list. This also applies to the textbook. Failure to do so constitutes Plagiarism, and the college has strict policies and penalties for failure to comply. Under the Resources tab, you will find links to sites that review how to format a paper or essay. I recommend that students use APA or Chicago Style to format their essay.Students should ask their instructor which format style they prefer you to use.
  • Proofread your work. Make sure that you have looked for all of the spelling and grammatical errors and corrected them, and that you have organized your work into coherent paragraphs.
  • Prepare the assignment as a Word Document, double-spaced and using a standard font of 12 points.
  • Submit it to the Dropbox as an ATTACHMENT. Any work that is submitted directly into the box will be graded as a 0.

Point Value: 100

Grading Criteria:

  • Analysis and discussion (60%)
  • Support for discussion (30%)
  • Organization (10%)

Reminder: All written work must comply with standard English rules, such as proper capitalization, grammar, and spelling. The assignment must be submitted by the deadline listed in the calendar.

Note: Even though you will see a statement giving you the option of copy/paste or file attachment, please disregard this statement. You are required to attach the assignment in MS Word format.

Links have been provided to various sites that offer guidance for essay writing, and APA format. This information is located in the “Student Writing Resources Folder” under the “Course Content” menu option,