The assignment for the final paper in this course is quite straightforward: Choose one object that is small enough for an average person to carry, an object made after 1500 CE––preferably in one of the civilizations we have considered in this course. Write a paper about your object, focusing on a set of important and connected questions (please do not try to answer each of the questions I pose below; take them, rather, as a guide for how to think about your paper topic). The questions to focus on run as follows:
What is your object, and what is it made of? How was it made? How, precisely, does the object you’ve chosen reflect different aspects of the civilization that produced it? What does the object tell us about this world—about the people; the technology; the economy; the ritual activities; the social order? What parts of the civilization does it seem to speak to most clearly? How has your object been interpreted and used by current scholars? How does it compare to similar objects made contemporaneously in other parts of the world?
Ground Rules
You can choose an object with religious significance; with political significance; with social significance; etc. Your object might be precious, or it might be an everyday item from a middle-class household. Your object should not be a text. Nor should it be a generic type of object (e.g. a “sword” or a “tuxedo”) or material (e.g. “plastic”). Find a specific object–in a museum, in a primary text–an object that exemplifies your genre or material, and use the specific object as a focus for your broader interest.
This paper is due on Friday, May 2, by 5pm (local time). The paper should be approximately 7–8 pages long, typed, double-spaced, 11–12 point font, normal margins. You will submit your paper
More Ground Rules
a. You need to do some research about your object, and there is plenty of information on the web. Your web resources need to be legitimate secondary-level sources. “Secondary” is a term that is used to describe scholarship produced by serious researchers who have gone out themselves and pored through the primary material. You can use “Wikipedia” or “Britannica Online”, or some blog sites where material is gathered together, to get initial information, but these sources are tertiary—at a third level of remove from the original facts. You should have at least four separate secondary level web sources in your paper, ideally from .edu based websites or UBLibrary-based databases.
b. For inspiration, you might look at a wonderful (tertiary) source called A HISTORY OF THE WORLD IN 100 OBJECTS, by Neil MacGregor, published recently in connection with a museum exhibition at the British Museum (and a concurrent BBC Radio show). This book will be on reserve in the Undergrad Library.
c. In addition to web-based material, you should have at least two good text sources, again at the secondary level.
d. Don’t waste our time with an extended introduction that describes general components and historical periods of the civilization involved in your paper.
e. Spend a paragraph or two describing your object with some good and careful precision—itemize the key details on which you will focus your subsequent discussion.
f. Support the general statements you make about your object and your civilization with precise observations and details.
Pick the time: Europe: The Renaissance and the Papacy, The Reformation, The Age of Discovery & Conquest, Persia and India, 1450-1800, China in the 15th-18th centuries, Japan, 15th-18th centuries, Missionaries and Colonialism, Enlightenment and Absolutism, Industrial (r)evolution, World War I and its aftermath, Cold War/Space Race
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