Warfare in the Modern period:War Narratives? papers.

This course considers why and how people from societies across the globe began, waged, limited, and concluded war. The combat and activity that sprang from these wars was often political, as Carl von Clausewitz contended in On War (1832). On other occasions, cultural factors heavily influenced the manner in which these conflicts commenced, continued, and concluded?much as John Keegan asserted in A History of Warfare (1993). Each of you will re-enter this debate?much like the one you began on the first day of class, in the first homework assignment, and in the first discussion?when you consider the reasons behind how and why people in world history waged and halted warfare in the two ?War Narratives? papers for this course.

The idea behind both of the ?War Narratives? paper is rather straightforward. For each ?War Narratives? paper, you will choose two primary sources offering insight into how societies throughout the world conducted themselves in war. The first ?War Narratives? paper, due on October 27, will look at warfare during the pre-modern (before 1775) period. The second ?War Narratives? paper, , will look at warfare in the modern (1775 and afterward) era. In both papers you should analyze how these two primary sources address and depict warfare as it relates to the societies? attitudes toward gender, politics, culture, religion, technology, class, ideology, and other pertinent factors.

Each paper should have the following general format: It should be between five to seven pages in length (not counting the cover page). It should be typed (with twelve-point font), and it should have double-spacing between each of the typed lines. It should have page numbers on each page. It should be stapled. It should have a cover page. Last but certainly not least, it should cite all its sources in footnote or endnote format according to the Chicago Manual of Style. If you do not know how to insert Chicago-style footnotes or endnotes, I STRONGLY RECOMMEND meeting with a member of the Writing Center (in the SSU Library). Here are some of the templates for citing sources covered in this course:

Citing a lecture:
Michael E. McGuire, ?World Religions and Warfare, 310-1453?, Salem State University, Salem, Massachusetts, 2 September 2016.
After this, you could simply cite the source as McGuire, ?World Religions and Warfare.?

Citing a page from a secondary source (such as your textbook):
John Keegan, A History of Warfare (New York, 1994), 210.
After this, if you cited Keegan?s History of Warfare again, you could simply write: Keegan, History of Warfare, 230.

Citing a page from a printed primary source (such as from The Book of War):
Thucydides, ?The Melian Dialogue,? 416 BC/BCE, in The Book of War: 25 Centuries of Great War Writing ed. John Keegan (New York, 2000), 11.
After this, if you cited Thucydides? Melian Dialogue again, you could simply write: Thucydides, ?Melian Dialogue,? in The Book of War, 12.

Citing a page from an online primary source (such as from the course?s Canvas website):
Lord Shang Yang, The Book of Lord Shang (4th Century BC/BCE), page 4, https://salemstate.instructure.com/courses/965893/files#HST%20%20108%20-%2002%20%283238%29%20WAR%20AND%20SOCIETY%2FReadings%20for%20September%2017 [Accessed on 28 September 2016].
After this, you could simply write: Lord Shang Yang, 3.

Citing an online secondary source (such as an encyclopedia):
?Alexander the Great (king of Macedonia),? in Britannica Online Edition http://corvette.salemstate.edu:3455/levels/referencecenter/article/106078 [Accessed on 10 October 2016].

Choosing your primary sources
Beyond the chronological factors, there are no requirements for the primary sources that you will choose for each ?War Narratives? paper. You can choose two sources that we have covered in class. You can choose two sources that we do not cover in class. You can choose two sources from the same war/culture. You can choose two sources from completely different wars and cultures. You can choose two primary sources from the same general era, or you can choose two sources from completely different historical periods. All I ask is that you email me your primary source selections a week before your papers are due.

Here are two things I recommend you keep in mind when selecting your sources for each paper:
1. Look for primary sources that are interesting to you. You are going to be writing the paper, so why pick two sources that are boring. If there is an era or a region that interests you, pick sources related to that era and/or country.
2. Look for some common element between the two sources you select. You are going to be comparing the ways that these sources address and depict warfare. It therefore helps to have some common framework to use when evaluating these sources. They could be from the same war, the same region, and/or the same time period. Or both primary sources could deal with a common theme, such as the treatment of civilians in warfare, or the role of religion in regulating warfare, or another such common theme.

Organizing your War Narratives paper(s)

Each paper should be well-written and well-argued. Each work should convey a clear, unique assessment by you of pre-modern or modern warfare in world history. I therefore recommend organizing each of your papers along the following lines:

I. Introduction (1 paragraph): The introductory paragraph should establish the focus of your paper, and state any general argument (i.e., your thesis) you have. Instead of spending hours or perhaps days pondering your thesis, I would first recommend analyzing your primary sources (see below) and writing the body of your paper based on this analysis. Then, read your analysis and ask yourself if there is one central theme or overall statement that could encapsulate your views on the topic in one sentence or two. That theme/statement is your thesis.

II. Background history (1 page approx.): In order to contextualize your assessment, you should provide a brief summary of relevant past events and factors?such as the context of the wars and/or societies from which your primary sources emerged?that are important to your paper. Here is where it helps to look at secondary sources, such as Keegan?s textbook, online encyclopedia entries, or (gasp!) books from Salem State?s library.

III. Analysis of the war narratives (3-5 pages approx.): This part depends entirely on the two sources you choose. However, I recommend considering a few of the following general questions, as they relate to your particular primary sources:
What are the attitudes toward warfare depicted in your primary sources?
Do your sources indicate why people are fighting or killing?
Do your sources address efforts to define/restrain the scope of killing and destruction in warfare (avoiding death of civilians and/or of nobles, and avoiding the destruction/damage of property)?
How do your sources represent the ?enemy? against whom the author of your source is fighting?
Do the sources represent warfare as a cultural or a political phenomenon?
To what extent are technological advances and weaponry important to your primary sources?
Do your sources represent differences of culture, gender, class, religion, and/or nationality?

IV. Consequences (1 page approx.): In this segment, you should indicate how the attitudes toward warfare expressed in your primary sources influenced military conflicts related to your two primary sources. Here I again recommend looking at secondary sources related to the wars and societies related to your primary sources.

V. Conclusion (1 paragraph): Here you should summarize the general tone of your assessment. What does your evaluation of these two primary sources say about the nature of pre-modern or modern warfare in world history?

Writing Style and Grammar (or Grammah, as pronounced in metro Boston)
There are several grammatical elements you should try to avoid in your papers. Passive voice, for instance, is something you should eschew. Passive voice occurs when your sentence does not clearly assign responsibility for an action. Historical analysis, by contrast, assigns responsibility for actions and thoughts. Therefore as a general rule, you should avoid using passive verb tense in your historical papers (unless you really do not know who or what was responsible for a certain action).

For example, the following sentences are in passive voice:

Today, a lecture was given. or I was mugged

These sentences communicate some information, but are not specific. Who lectured? Who mugged me? These are important facts if I am trying to reconstruct and evaluate the past. To convey this information, I could simply add a prepositional phrase. For instance:

Today, a lecture was given by Professor McGuire or I was mugged by Snooki

However, these are long sentences, and in a 9-11 pp paper, you want make your point succinctly, so as to leave space for analysis of other topics. It is better to rephrase the sentences as follows:

Today, Professor McGuire lectured. or Snooki mugged me (The Situation watched)

You should also make certain that, when you discuss events in the past, the verbs in those sentences referring to action or thought in the past are in past tense.

One way to avoid grammatical errors?typos, conflict between subject and verb, sentence fragments, etc.?is to read your paper aloud. Many times, if you hear a sentence spoken, you will realize if it is in correct English without explicitly understanding the grammatical rules in question. However, if at all possible, you should have someone else read your paper?a fellow student, someone at the Writing Center (located in the Salem State Library), or me?because after reading your paper several times, it is probable that you will miss some errors that another person will not.

The $20,000 mistake.
Every year, there is at least one student who plagiarizes her/his paper, and attempts to submit work that in some fashion is not her/his intellectual property. Plagiarism is grounds for a failing grade and disciplinary action through the Dean?s Office, and can result in the total loss of academic credit for a semester. Simply defined, it is the intellectual theft of ideas, analyses, sentences, paragraphs, even papers whose origins do not lie completely with you. If you use an author?s exact words without quotation marks and citation, that is plagiarism. If you misrepresent a concept or an interpretation you acquired from a secondary or primary source as your own intellectual property, such misrepresentation is also plagiarism. If you submit a paper that you did not write, that is plagiarism. Information that is considered common knowledge?e.g. that Charlemagne was crowned in 800?is not plagiarism and does not need to be cited. If you would like further clarification as to what is and is not plagiarism, there are two sources I would recommend that you consult. The first is Salem State?s Academic Integrity Regulations, which can be found at http://catalog.salemstate.edu/content.php?catoid=1&navoid=16#Academic_Integrity. The second source is the Plagiarism brochure, which can be found at https://www.salemstate.edu/assets/documents/PLAGIARISM_BROCHURE.PDF.
If you are ever in doubt on this issue, feel free to consult me.

You should also avoid examples of unauthorized collaboration. For instance, if you and another student are writing on the same topic, and decide to work together on your analysis, you should make certain that each of you produces a distinct and unique academic work. Otherwise, you will both in essence be plagiarizing each other, and passing off each other?s work as your own. Discussing ideas, concepts, issues, and interpretations of sources and documents does not in itself constitute a violation of the Academic Integrity Policy; in fact, I encourage such discussion, as long as all who are discussing produce their own analyses of the document(s). However, excessive collaboration on the same assignment, with the purpose of handing in two highly similar and virtually identical papers, does.

Your researched argument is meant to stand as a culmination of all the work you have done throughout the course.You will more than likely be asked to write many of these as you move further into your academic and professional career, and you should expect these essays to gradually become longer and more involved as you move forward.
Throughout this course, we have been focusing our arguments on the practice of arguing to find meaning. Because of that, it is important to practice balancing opposing viewpoints of a single issue.This essay allows you the chance to do just that. Because much of the writing you will be doing throughout your academic and professional career will be argumentative, this essay will help you to hone your rhetorical skills in several ways: first, this essay will help you to establish an environment of civilized discourse within your writing (essential for productive argumentation); secondly, this essay will allow you to practice your research skills in both identifying and integrating sound arguments; and thirdly, this essay gives you a chance to practice your critical thinking skills?skills you will need for success throughout your academic and professional life.
Remember, the purpose of this essay is not to prove whether you are right or wrong, but instead prove that you can fairly present two sides of an argument and logically determine the best solution to the problem you are faced with. With that in mind, we ask that you withhold your personal opinion, personal judgments of the material, or personal narrative until the concluding remarks of your essay.
The final draft of your essay should meet the following guidelines:
is between 900 and 1200 words in length;
includes direct quotations and paraphrased passages from four or more scholarly texts representing more than one side of the issue;
qualifies each of the authors (authors representing each side of the debate should have compatible credibility);
withholds personal opinion until the conclusion of the essay;
is written clearly, concisely, and accurately;
is written primarily in third-person;
includes a References page;
has been closely edited so that it contains few or no mechanical errors.
*Note that no one writes a polished essay in a single sitting.Start early and give yourself time for multiple revisions.
Researched Argument Checklist:
As you go work on your essay, the following questions should help to keep you on track. It may be beneficial to have someone read your essay and help you answer them.
How does this essay meet the assignment criteria?
Does this essay treat both sides of the argument equally and fairly?
What is the purpose of this essay to be? What does it do to meet that purpose? How effective is the argument?
Does this essay avoid second person language and limit first person language?
Are there elements of pathos, ethos, and logos in this essay. Do these appeals work together to propose a solution?
Does the essay avoid logical fallacy in the reasoning behind the solution?
Grading Criteria Assignments Maximum Points
Meets or exceeds established assignment criteria 40
Demonstrates an understanding of lesson concepts 20
Clearly present well-reasoned ideas and concepts 30
Mechanics, punctuation, sentence structure, spelling that affects clarity, and citation of sources as needed 10
Total 100
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