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| History 330: British History |
History 330 – British History – Fall 2004
R. Whalen ofc: 209 Watkins
Ofc Hrs: MWF 9:00 – 9:50 tel: 704-337‑2208
& by app’t. email: whalenb@queens.edu
[Please Note: an electronic version of this syllabus is posted on the Queens University of Charlotte webpage, under the heading “2004 History Courses.” This electronic version will be the “official” syllabus, and will include all updates, corrections, and changes. So be sure to review the electronic syllabus frequently!].
I. History 330, British History investigates the British historical experience from the 17th century until today.
History 330 meets Tuesday and Thursday, from 12:00 – 1:15.
II. Objectives.
History 330 has TWO OBJECTIVES:
(1) this course will enable students to master key materials about the British experience from the early modern period until today, and
(2) will engage students in those methods of scientific analysis called “historical thought.”
“The British Experience.” Britain has played an absolutely central role in human history. Institutions that first arose in Britain, such as Parliament, Constitutional Government, and the Market Economy, first arose in Britain and have achieved worldwide importance. British culture, and the English language, is now part of world culture. How is it that this “tight little island” has had such world significance? This is perhaps the key question this examination of the British experience will explore.
“Historical thought.” This course, secondly, will engage students in a specific form of scientific analysis called “historical thought.”
“Scientific thinking” does not refer only to the physical sciences. Scientific thinking is the attempt to use your mind to understand your world. To think scientifically means to think in a disciplined, systematic, and thoughtful way. It means to think “carefully,” in which “carefully” means both that you think logically and that you “care about” how you think. History is a form of scientific thinking.
Scientific thinking is dedicated above all else to truth. Non-partisanship, open-mindedness, and objectivity are essential to good science. True, we all have our own agendas, perspectives, and psychologies, we all start from our own personal experience – nevertheless, what matters in history, as in all science, is not whether I’m right or you’re right, but rather whether what’s claimed is right. In doing scientific history, conservatives and liberals, believers and non-believers, everyone with this cause and that, must set aside their own perspectives and work together to determine the historical truth.
History is not about the “past.” History is about time.
Time is the unique environment of human beings. We live in time; it is the very air we breathe. If we are to understand anything about who we are we need to understand something about time.
History attempts to understand how time works by studying the inter-play of past – present – and future.
Note just a few of the puzzles history attempts to understand:
· We live in the “present” – and yet it’s clear that the present is profoundly shaped by the past. Many, if not most, of the issues we face, the attitudes we have, and the values we cherish we inherit from the past. It would seem, then, that to understand the present, we must understand the past.
· The past, then, is not dead, (as William Faulkner remarked), the past is not even past; “there is no such thing as ‘was.’” The past is actually a kind of current in the present, which continues to shape and mold the present whether we want it too or not. We are free to be ignorant of the past. Our ignorance of the past, though, does not make the past go away.
· We live, we say, for the future – ignore the past! And yet – the future will evolve out of the present. What we do today will profoundly shape what happens tomorrow. And from the point of view of tomorrow, today will be the past. The present, in other words, is the future’s past.
· Actions have consequences; you reap what you sow. Because we live in time, what we do today affects what happens tomorrow. No matter how hard we try to escape the consequences of our actions, those consequences will chase us wherever we go. To understand those consequences, we need to understand the actions that triggered them. To understand effects, we need to understand causes.
Thus, it seems, no matter where we look, past, present, and future are inextricably tied together.
HISTORY ATTEMPTS TO UNDERSTAND TIME BY EXAMING THE INTER-RELATIONSHIP OF PAST – PRESENT – AND FUTURE.
How?
There are four dimensions to the discipline of history – empirical, critical, imaginative, and normative.
1. Mastering the facts. History is an empirical science. It is built on facts. It is absolutely imperative that you develop a profound respect for facts. It is NOT enough to “hold strong opinions.” It is far more important to master “strong facts.”
An excellent student will have a vigorous hold on a rich stock of fundamental facts and figures, names and dates.
2. Thinking critically. History is an attempt to sort through these facts. Facts do not “speak for themselves.” It’s essential to sort the facts into meaningful patterns. Historians work, for example:
· to establish accurate chronologies so we know what happened first, and second, and third
· to distinguish cause from effect so that we can accurately decide what caused what
· to identify continuities as well as changes so that we can decide what the main trends were, are, and are likely to be at given times
· to sort facts into logical categories and sub-sets so that we can view them more clearly, sub-sets such as “political events,” and “social events,” and “cultural events,” and “economic events”
· to compare and contrast events and persons, the better to understand each shape human action.
An excellent student will demonstrate an ability to think critically about historical data in an especially sophisticated way.
3. Imagining sympathetically. History is a science but it’s also an art. Historians try to understand time by imaging other people’s experience. Imagination means mobilizing the five senses (what did an event look like? Sound like? Smell, taste, feel like?). Imagining means putting yourself into the facts, creating a story that “brings those facts alive.”
An excellent student will demonstrate the ability to evoke the past in an imaginative and compelling way.
4. Judging normatively. Sooner or later, historians have to decide whether some event or person was “good” or “bad,” “just” or “unjust,” “right” or “wrong,” “creative” or “destructive.” These are normative, that is, moral terms. Every historian needs not only to make such judgments (they are unavoidable) but to be careful and conscientious in making them.
An excellent student will demonstrate the ability to make careful, complex, and nuanced normative judgments about historical material.
III. A Labor Theory of Knowledge.
Knowledge is better than ignorance. Knowledge brings with it both power and pleasure. But - the acquisition of knowledge demands very hard work. We live, alas, in an age in which instant gratification and immediate entertainment are the norm. Anything that requires effort we often think of as “boring” or “too hard.” This course, however, will demand the kind of hard work athletes devote to sports or musicians devote to their instruments. Specifically, STUDENTS SHOULD INVEST FROM 2 1/2 TO 3 HOURS OF OUT-OF-CLASS WORK FOR EACH HOUR SPENT IN-CLASS. If you are unable to invest this amount of work, you should not take the class.
IV. The ATTENDANCE POLICY for this course is as follows: A student may miss three classes during the term without penalty. If a student exceeds this limit, the student’s final average will be reduced by 5 points (on a 100 scale) for each additional absence. Students who have reason to believe that because of some emergency they may have to miss a number of classes should consult the instructor as soon as possible.
V. Texts. The texts for this course are:
a. Stuart Prall and David Willson, England. Vol. II – 1603 to the Present.
b. Walter Arnstein, The Past Speaks. Vol. II – since 1688.
c. Web & Library reserve readings. ALL OF OUR OTHER READINGS WILL BE EITHER WEB OR LIBRARY RESERVE READINGS. PLEASE BE SURE TO KEEP UP WITH THESE READINGS AS ASSIGNED!
Books will be available in the bookstore. It is YOUR responsibility to purchase or borrow the books and study them as assigned!
We will view FILMS, parts of films, and videos in class. These materials will NOT be on library reserve because in most cases they will be borrowed for a short time only and will have to be returned. The films are as important a part of the class as the readings and other materials and you will be tested on them.
Other readings will be available as Library Reserves (LR) in Everett Library, as handouts, and on the History Department web page.
VI. Internet Materials. The syllabus, handouts, and supplementary readings will be found on the History Web Page at www.queens.edu.
VII. Tests. Just about every week, we’ll have a brief (10-20 question) objective test. The test will be on that week’s work AND will review earlier material. These tests are designed to measure your mastery of the class’s information. Students who come late to class will not be eligible to take the test for that class. There will be no make-up tests for any reason. Any missed test will count as a “zero.” At the end of the term, the TWO lowest scores will be dropped, and the average of the remaining scores will be your weekly test grade. This will count as 20% of your course grade.
VIII. Examinations. There will be two examinations in this course, the Mid-Term and the Final. Each will be primarily an “objective” test, that is, roughly 75% of each will consist of fill-in-the-blanks, multiple-choice, true/false, and other informational questions. Roughly 25% of each will be devoted to essay questions.
AN EXAMINATION MISSED FOR ANY REASON WILL COUNT AS A “ZERO.” MAKE-UP EXAMINATIONS MAY BE POSSIBLE ONLY IN THE MOST EXTREME AND UNUSUAL CIRCUMSTANCES.
The Mid-term counts 20% of your final course grade. The Final counts 30% of your final course grade. While the Final Examination will focus on material since the Mid-Term, it will include materials from the beginning of the course. The Final Examination will be scheduled by the University.
IX. Essays.
Each student will write TWO short essays (5-7 pages) in this class. The AVERAGE of the two essays will count 30% of your final course grade.
These essays must be ARGUMENTS, not simply DESCRIPTIONS.
A “description” attempts to provide basic information about some topic.
An “argument” goes much further, and makes a CLAIM about some topic, and then provides REASONS for that claim.
Thus, since you’re writing an “argument,” your job is not simply to describe some person or event (“this happened, then this happened, then this …”). Instead, your job is to interpret and analyze that event (and, for instance, explain its importance; its causes; its consequences; or perhaps investigate the motives or character or ambitions of some person). The first essay must be on material studied before the mid-term; the second essay must be on material studied after the mid-term. With that simple rule in mind, you are entirely free to select your own topic.
Be sure that you write GREAT essays! Here are some guidelines:
1. Make sure you’ve got an interesting title! An “excellent” paper has an interesting and attractive title.
2. Carefully craft your INTRODUCTION. Begin with an interesting story, an odd fact, a peculiar event – something that will attract your reader. Build your Introduction like a “funnel” – sketch out the general context of your topic, and then narrow and narrow to your THESIS. An “excellent” paper has a well-begun, well-constructed, funnel shaped introduction.
3. Start with an interesting TOPIC. Don’t try to do too much (you can’t report on the whole Chinese Revolution in a single essay!) or too little. Instead, whether you’re writing about a person or an event, find a moment, an action, a controversy that you honestly can deal with in 5 short pages. An “excellent” paper will address an appropriate topic.
4. Ask a question of your topic. The answer to your question becomes your THESIS. Your thesis is YOUR CLAIM. Your thesis is WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT THE TOPIC. Your thesis is your HYPOTHESIS, which your are going to PROVE. Your thesis must (a) be clearly marked (“my claim in this paper is …”); (b) one sentence in length; (c) clearly expressed. Your entire paper is built around your thesis so make sure you’ve got a good one! DO NOT SIMPLY WRITE A DESCRIPTION OF A PERSON OR EVENT! Do NOT simply write “this happened, then this, then this, and so on until the end.” Anyone can find such a description on the Internet or in an encyclopedia. But your job is NOT to write this sort of thing. Instead, your job is to write a compelling argument in which you advance YOUR judgement, and then explain why you think your judgement is correct. An “excellent” paper has a clearly marked, sharply focused thesis.
5. At the very end of your Introduction, quickly outline your paper. Say something like: “and, to prove this point, I’ll consider “x,” “y,” and “z.” This gives your reader a good sense of where you’re going. An “excellent” paper has an introduction which ends with a quick roadmap of the entire essay.
6. Prove your thesis! That is, explain why you think your thesis is true. DO NOT SIMPLY SUMMARIZE A READING OR SOMEONE ELSE’S IDEAS! Your paper is your chance to advance YOUR IDEA. How to you prove your thesis? By providing at least THREE reasons why your thesis is true. So, the body of your essay should move clearly from Reason One to Reason Two to Reason Three. Develop each reason in turn. Start with the less important reason and end with a “bang!” with your most important reason. An “excellent” paper moves clearly from reason to reason without confusion and without going off on tangents.
7. Your reasons MUST HAVE SOME SORT OF FORM TO THEM. For instance, your reasons might be basically:
· CHRONOLOGICAL (you build your paper around claims about what happened first, then second, then third);
· DEFINITIONAL (in which you decide whether “x” is really “y.” For instance, you might ask, “was President Kennedy really a liberal?” To answer that question you have to define “President Kennedy,” and then “liberal” and finally decide whether they’re the same.
· THEMATIC (you might organize your reasons around themes like “politics,” and “economics,” and “culture,” and “society,” or some other set of themes.
· CHANGE AND CONTINUITY (you might trace something along a chronology, and try to explain where things changed and where they didn’t and why).
· COMPARISON AND CONTRAST (a classic way of arguing is to compare and contrast two items and decide wither they’re more alike or more different)
· CAUSE AND EFFECT (perhaps THE key historical issue – what “causes” what? What is the “effect” of what?)
However you chose to organize your reasons, your organization should make good sense. An “excellent” paper won’t just string together a miscellany of reasons, but will organize those reasons in a way that makes clear sense.
8. Be sure that your three (or so) reasons are CONNECTED! Your essay needs to be a single, well-connected whole, not three mini-papers strung together. Pay careful attention to the connections among the parts of your paper. An “excellent” paper includes sections that are well linked together.
9. Have lots of good proof to prove your thesis!. Imagine that you’re a reporter. A reporter has to have strong sources. That means EYEWITNESSES; historians call these “primary sources.” You should have several eyewitness sources. You might also use some expert testimony too—from people, who are NOT eyewitnesses, but who are well-informed students of the subject; historians call these kind of expert witnesses “secondary sources.” Be critical of your sources! Are they reliable? What are their strengths and weakness? Who are they anyway? Be sure to cite these sources in end/ or footnotes. Be sure to list your sources in your bibliography. You can never have enough evidence!! For this course, you should, of course, use your assigned texts as sources. IN addition, you must use a MINIUMUM of THREE other PRIMARY SOURCES. An “excellent” paper will be based on lots and lots of eyewitness and expert witnesses.
10. But use all that evidence smartly. Have lots of quotes, but not too many. If you don’t have enough quotes, your evidence will be too thin. If you have nothing but quotes, your own argument will be too thin. So use lots of quotes, but use them carefully. An “excellent” paper will have lots of evidence, and will use that evidence very skillfully.
11. IMAGINATIVELY EVOKE your topic! How? Include LOTS OF ARRESTING IMAGES AND ANECDOTES. Be concrete and specific. Include materials that mobilize your, and your reader’s senses; make sure that your reader can see, feel, and even taste, touch, and smell, what you’re talking about. Beware of sweeping generalizations! Remember: truth resides in CONCRETE DETAILS, not in vague abstractions. Don’t talk too much about “Germans;” talk about specific Germans. Don’t talk about “liberals” or “conservatives;” talk about specific liberals and conservatives. An “excellent” paper uses lots of concrete detail to bring a topic alive.
12. Be sure that your final essay has a compelling and logical structure. Your paper should, of course, have three basic parts—your introduction + thesis; your body which includes all your evidence and arguments; your conclusion. Your paper must be a kind of Claim/ Reasons (“I think this BECAUSE of these reasons”) paper. You can organize your body in a variety of ways: thematically, or chronologically, or from least important point to most important point—but be sure that your reader knows exactly how your essay is developing.
INTRODUCTION
(1-2 pages)
Open with an attention-getting anecdote, story, or image
Prove general introductory background
CLEARLY STATE YOUR THESIS (“I claim that … and my reasons are …)
BODY
(4-6 pages)
Reason 1: state your reason. Provide your data, quotations, other evidence.
Reason 2: state your second reason. Provide your data, quotations, other evidence.
Reason 3: state your final reason, provide data, quotations, evidence.
BE SURE ALL THREE (OR HOWEVER MANY) REALLY DO SUPPORT YOUR THESIS!
The more evidence – statistics, quotations, etc., the better!
Be fair – do NOT ignore possible objections to your thesis! Be sure to give ALL sides to the issue (there may be more than just two sides!), and then explain why you think the way you do.
Be sure to move smoothly from reason to reason; write a single argument, not three disconnected arguments.
CONCLUSION
(1-2 pages)
Repeat your THESIS (“what I wanted to prove in this paper is that …” )
Then place your Thesis back in a more general background (“the general significance of all this is …” “here are some other issues to be investigated …”)
An “excellent” paper is very carefully organized. It moves along smartly; it doesn’t ramble or digress; at every moment the reader knows exactly where the paper is and where it’s going.
13. Write correctly! Grammatical and mechanical errors seriously detract from an essay’s quality. Even more important—write well! It’s simply not enough to be correct. Your essay should be witty, distinctive, compelling, and unique. Don’t use jargon, or clichés, or worn-out metaphors; don’t be frivolous, but don’t be tedious either. Don’t simply parrot someone else’s ideas but express your own ideas powerfully. PROOFREAD! PROOFREAD!! PROOFREAD!!!
An “excellent” paper is more than a paper without grammatical errors; an “excellent” paper is powerfully, uniquely, and arrestingly written.
14. Be sure you’ve included both footnotes or endnotes and a bibliography. Both are essential and must be without error. Both show that you’ve done your homework well, and give your reader a clear idea about where your gathered your information. An “excellent” paper includes correct notes and bibliography.
15. Don’t be boring! Write an essay that is crisp, clean, well structured, and fast moving. Write in active voice, not passive voice. Use action verbs. Vary your sentence length. Write in well-structured paragraphs. Do NOT write in one-sentence paragraphs; do NOT write in page-long paragraphs! Each paragraph should be a precise unit of thought, with a good topic sentence, several sentences and quotes in the body, and a transition sentence to the next paragraph. Be honest: when you’ve finished, re-read your essay. Is it REALLY INTERESTING? If not—re-write it! An “excellent” paper is one that the reader really can’t put down because it’s SO interesting!
16. End with a well-constructed CONCLUSION. Your conclusion should be an upside-down funnel. Start narrowly by repeating your thesis. Then put your thesis in a broader context. End as you began, with an interesting story, an odd event, a compelling anecdote, something that will stay in your reader’s memory. An “excellent” paper has a well-constructed Conclusion.
17. Of course: be sure that the essay really is YOUR OWN WORK. Plagiarism—whether intentional or not intentional—is theft and is a grievous violation of the Honor Code.
18. TURN IN YOUR PAPER ON TIME!! PAPERS ARE DUE AS SCHEDULED ON THE CALENDAR. You are expected to complete your work on time. Late essays will be reduced by one grade for every day late. Each essay will receive a letter grade from “A” to “F.” An “excellent” paper is turned in when it’s due!!
X. Grades. The grading system for this course is as follows:
A
94 – 100
4.0
“superior”
A-
90 – 93
3.7
B+
87 – 89
3.5
“good”
B
83 – 86
3.0
B-
80 – 82
2.7
C+
77 – 79
2.5
“satisfactory”
C
73 – 76
2.0
C-
70 – 72
1.7
D+
65 – 69
1.5
“poor”
D
60 – 64
1.0
F
59 and below
0
“failing”
Your Final Grade will be computed as follows:
Quiz Average 20%
Mid-Term Exam 20%
Final Exam 30%
Essay Average 30%
[Note: On very rare occasions, according to the Queens University Catalog, when “unusual circumstances” make it “impossible” to complete class work, students may request a temporary grade of “incomplete.” Please note however: (a) “Incompletes” are not normally given. An “Incomplete” is given only in “unusual” circumstances, such as family emergencies, sudden illnesses, etc. Note quite completing assigned work promptly is NOT an “unusual” circumstance; (b) the “unusual circumstance,” must make it “impossible” to get the work done. Students are expected to complete the course on time; only when it’s obvious that because of the “unusual circumstances” it’s simply impossible to complete the work, will an incomplete be issued; (c) any requests for a temporary grade of “Incomplete” must be made in writing prior to the date of the Final Examination. This request must explain the nature of the “unusual circumstances” and also explain just why that makes completing the work on time is “impossible.” Should you receive a grade of “Incomplete” it is YOUR responsibility to turn in the outstanding work before the DEADLINE set by the Registrar’s office. If work is not submitted by the deadline, the temporary grade of “Incompletes” will be turned into an “F.”]
XI. Calendar.
Note: readings marked by quotation marks are available on the History Department web page (as part of the material for this course) and in printed form in Everett Library.
There will be a handout for almost every class. BEFORE CLASS – PLEASE CHECK THE WEBSITE AND DOWNLOAD THE APPROPRIATE HANDOUT!
DATE
TOPIC
READING
OTHER
1. Th 26 Aug
2. T 31 Aug
Prall & Willson: 16
LR: “Political Styles and Constitutional Conflict”
3. Th 2 Sep
Prall & Willson: 17
LR: “The Great Rebellion” – Part I
Test 1
4. T 7 Sep
Prall & Willson: 18
LR: “The Great Rebellion” – Part II
5. Th 9 Sep
Prall & Willson: 19
LR: “Changing Perceptions of Society”
Test 2
6. T 14 Sep
Prall & Willson: 20
Arnstein: 1
Test 3
7. F Th 16 Sep
Prall & Willson: 21
Arnstein: 3
8. T 21 Sep
Prall & Willson: 22
Test 4
9. Th 23 Sep
Prall & Willson: 23
Arnstein: 2 & 4
10. T 28 Sep
Prall & Willson: 24
Arnstein: 5
Test 5
11. Th 30 Sep
Prall & Willson: 25
12. T 5 Oct
Prall & Willson: 27
Test 6
13. Th 7 Oct
Arnstein 6
14. T 12 Oct
MID-TERM EXAMINATION
15. T 19 Oct
Prall & Willson: 27
16. Th 21 Oct
Prall & Willson: 28
Arnstein: 7
Test 7
17. T 26 Oct
Prall & Willson: 29
ESSAY ONE DUE IN CLASS
18. Th 28 Oct
Women & Religion in Victorian England
Arnstein: 8 & 9
Test 8
19. T 2 Nov
Prall & Willson: 30
Arnstein 10
Class meets today at 12:30pm
20. Th 4 Nov
Prall & Willson: 31
Arnstein: 11 & 12
21. T 9 Nov
Prall & Willson: 32
Arnstein: 13
22. Th 11 Nov
Arnstein: 14
Test 9
23. T 16 Nov
Prall & Willson: 33
Arnstein: 15
24. Th 18 Nov
Arnstein: 16