II. Essays:
General Instructions: Remember, the main goals here are three in number: 1) make sure you identify and then utilize at least one of the primary sources we've covered in class in at least one of your essays (which means in your preparation identifying those sources that would be appropriate); 2) make certain that you develop an argument or overall point that you want to make for each of the questions and 3) make sure that you support each of the points you make in the essay with some kind of evidence, whether from the primary source(s) you choose or from another source (like lecture or the textbook). When I grade the essays, I will be measuring performance based on the above three goals in addition to the particular requirements of each question.

A. Synthetic/Comparative Essay (60 points)
As some of you may know by now, one of the essays on the final examination will be on a topic of your choosing. The themes from which you have to choose are as follows:           1) social order 2) economic structure 3) colonization/colonialism 4) collaborating indigenous elites  5) women's social position. Having chosen your theme, you need to prepare to write an essay by the date of the final examination that does the following things. First, it must be comparative, i.e. explore your chosen topic across different cultures. You must therefore choose three case studies to discuss: one of the cultures must be from the 20th century, one must be from the 18th/19th century and one from the 15th-17th centuries. I will allow you freedom to choose the case studies with which you are most comfortable. Second, the essay must identify the major developments and/or events (which means not everything is of major importance!) for each society that pertain to your chosen topic (I would recommend that you identify three for each case study). Third, the essay must clearly divide those developments and/or events that are common or similar in each era as regards to your topic from those things that are unique to each society as regards your topic. Fourth, the essay must present an original thesis that identifies an overall pattern of change for the developments and events you examine. Let us say, for example, that your topic was the role of intellectuals from 1400-1980. Well, a possible thesis here might run as follows: By 1400 it was common for more complex societies to depend on intellectuals for the running of their governments. Indeed, over time we see an increasing role for this type of person as the strength of societies came to depend less on physical and more on knowledge-based resources. Please be certain that each of the four requirements listed above is met as I don't want to grade people down for not following directions!

B. Analytical/Interpretive Essay (60 points, I will choose one of the questions below)

1. Using what you have learned in this course about late 19th- and 20th-century relations between African and European countries and about life in African societies, write an essay for or against the following statement: While historians and other scholars have paid tremendous attention to decolonization as a political and a macro-economic phenomenon in which men and especially famous figures such as Nelson Mandela have taken a prominent role, in point of fact women and children have borne the brunt of the burdens of decolonization.
   
 
2. Western democratic nations often portray themselves as bastions of freedom and promoters of international welfare, a habit they got into in the course of the 19th century and one which was reinforced by the Cold War after World War II.  Given what you now know about the post-World War II era, write an essay in which you defend or oppose the following statement: Outside their own borders, the policies of Western liberal democracies in the post-World War II era have been no more, but certainly no less, repressive than those enacted by states more often thought of as authoritarian, such as the People's Republic of China.
 
3. Although ostensibly on opposite sides of the Cold War, in reality South Africa and Communist China were actually very similar societies in terms of their approach to organizing social and economic life.  Agree or disagree and explain why.
   

1. You must use a blue-book provided by me.
2. You must bring nothing into the examination except something with which to write, preferably a pen. No book-bags, papers, notes etc.
3. To the extent possible you must sit every other seat on examination day.
4. Anyone not adhering to the above three conditions will not be allowed to sit the examination.