Assignment

An assessment of the following secondary source document (not sure of what

“secondary source” means? See “Secondary sources,” in the index of the required textbook,
Rampolla, Mary Lynn A Pocket Guide to Writing in History Eighth Edition [Boston: Bedford
Martins, 2015]. See also, http://ift.tt/2jlHWDJ of-
writing/history):
—Dorothy Ko, “The Body as Attire: The Shifting Meanings of Footbinding in
Seventeenth-Century China,” Journal of Women’s History, vol. 8, No 4 (Winter 1997),
pp. 8-27 [THIS ARTICLE CAN BE ACCESSED ONLINE VIA THE UWO LIBRARY
CATALOGUE]
This article will be discussed in tutorials during the week of October 31, 2017
Length of the assignment:
The assignment should be 3-5 pages in length (approximately 800-1000 words),
double spaced and in Times Roman 12 point font.
A word count must be included on the title page.
Although there is no formal penalty for assignments that are too long or too short,
since such papers do not fall into the stipulated guidelines, they are subject to a reduced
mark.
Resource Material
Students may use other resource material if they wish, but they will not be
penalized if they only use the textbook and the article. However, you may find that you
need to use other material to support your arguments. If so, you must include citations
and cite that material in your bibliography.
The assignment must conform to one of the conventional academic formats (i.e.,
proper citations, formatting of quotations, bibliography, etc.). The preferred format is
referred to as, “Traditional Endnotes or Footnotes with Superscript Numbers
(humanities),” as outlined in the following website:
http://ift.tt/2ht06mv
See also:
http://ift.tt/2jgivn4
NOTE: The APA (American Psychological Association) format is not acceptable for
this course.
Essays without proper citations for sources will not be accepted.
Since, Rampolla, Mary Lynn A Pocket Guide to Writing in History Eighth Edition
(Boston: Bedford Martins, 2015), is a required text for this course it is expected that students
follow the guidelines outlined in this book as to formatting (e.g., see “format of essay,”
“footnotes,” “citation guides,” etc., in the index).
What is Expected from the Written Assignment
This assignment consists of two parts. The first is a short summary, or précis of
the article (see Rampolla, Mary Lynn A Pocket Guide to Writing in History, 8th edition
[Boston: Bedford Martins, 2015], p. 29). Remember, as Rampolla notes, “a summary
should not include your reaction to or critical analysis of the text.”

However, the second part is a critique of the article, that is, to present one’s
interpretation/understanding of the article, or an aspect of the article, and to articulate that
as precisely and coherently as possible—see Rampolla, Mary Lynn A Pocket Guide to
Writing in History, 8th edition (Boston: Bedford Martins, 2015), pp. 38-39. See also, “The
Book Review or Article Critique” in
http://ift.tt/2jlHWDJ of-writing/book- review
and, “Summary writing” in:
http://ift.tt/2hpCYFy]
Since the article for the assignment will be discussed in the tutorials it is expected
that your analysis be put in the context of the tutorial topic (i.e., historiographical issues).
The main objective of the assignment is to prepare the student for the research
paper. Thus, if the student has problems with issues such as development of a thesis,
organization of an argument, writing style, etc., they will be pointed out by the marker in
this short assignment, and it is expected that the student will take these criticisms and
comments into account in order to produce a more effective essay at the end of the
academic year [for a guide as to how to develop a thesis see,
http://ift.tt/2ji2QDX
dout.pdf].
Criteria for Evaluation:
—for the summary/précis: how well did you understand the article? Did you have a clear
understanding of the author’s arguments?
—for the critique of the article: are your arguments clear and concise? Were you able to
integrate material from lectures and tutorials, as well as from the article itself, to
strengthen your arguments?
NOTE: Since this is an academic setting, it is expected that written material meet a
minimum standard of literacy (i.e., grammar, spelling, writing style, etc.). Accordingly,
those who are not familiar with writing essays, or those whose native language is other
than English, are expected to avail themselves of the various writing skills facilities
available on or off campus. One such resource is the Effective Writing Program offered
by the Student Development Centre: http://ift.tt/2yHUUPo
If you have doubts about writing style or grammar, the following website could be
of help: http://ift.tt/2jjlbAk
Keep in mind that the reader can only assess what is submitted, and if the material
is ambiguous or unclear because of grammar or spelling, it cannot but have an impact on
the effectiveness of the paper, and so ultimately on the mark. Therefore, be aware that
writing style, gramma