History 1123
Reaction Paper #2
Lieutenant Nun: Identity and Social Position
in a
New World
General Standards: Your essay should be two pages in length,
typed and double-spaced with 1-inch margins all around. You should
also use standard margins, and 12 pt. Times New Roman font.
In addition, you must document what you write with footnotes. For
more on footnoting (a
25% reduction on your paper will occur if you fail to document your
work properly)
and some tips on writing historical essays, see the general guidelines
for writing section of the course syllabus.
Specific Guidelines: Having read Lieutenant Nun, by
Catalina de Erauso, choose one of the following topics and address it
in a well-argued and well-supported paper. Remember you must document
what you say using De Erauso's memoir and, if you wish, additional
sources assigned for this course. Do not use any other sources for
the paper.
Select a Topic from the 3 Below
- Catalina de Erauso claims many different statuses (including
that of gender) and occupies a number of different positions in the
social order as she makes her way from northern Spain to the Americas
and back. Write a paper in which you identify the different statuses
and positions she
claims and explain why she claims them and which one of them is most
central
to her self-definition.
- Although Catalina de Erauso's narrative does not make many
explicit references to the different roles played by men and women in
Spain and the Americas, her story refers to the differences with
regularity.
Identify the roles allotted to men and to women in the Spanish world
and
explain the importance of gender in determining one's position in the
social
order in the Spanish world.
- Using the information you glean from the Catalina de
Erauso's memoir, describe the social order in the Spanish Americas and
explain
its guiding principles. Remember to include ethnicity/race, gender, and
social rank in your discussion.
Write your essay with the following four sections:
1. An introduction in which you state which topic you are dealing
with and give some sense of your conclusions from secion 4.
2. An explanatory description of the phenomenon you are examining.
3. An analysis of the phenomenon.
4. A conclusion in which you indicate in some way how this phenomenon
was significant to its historical context.
Good Luck!
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