Modern Chinese History – Foreign Language Paper Assignment
Question Description
Your final paper will be between 1,500 and 2,000 words in length (5-8 pages). The topic is ofyour choosing, and you should pick a subject that interests you, but it must address an issue inmodern Chinese history relevant to the course. I recommend that you come up with a specificquestion that you are seeking to answer (in general, the more specific you can be, the better). Forinstance, “footbinding” is a bad topic. “Why did footbinding end?” is a somewhat better topic,but still not ideal. And “to what extent was the campaign to end footbinding linked to a broaderfeminist movement and how did it impact the lives of Chinese women?” is a much better topicthat would help you write a solid paper. It may require a bit of research to figure out how toproductively narrow down your topic – do not neglect this step!This paper will require a small amount of outside research, though if you choose your topic well,you should be able to use some material, particularly primary sources, from the assigned coursereading. I will expect you to cite a minimum of 4 primary sources and 4 secondary sources(scholarly books and/or articles. Wikipedia articles, or other encyclopedia articles, do not count,though they can be a good way to find links to sources, and you are certainly welcome to useprimary sources hosted on a site like Wikisource, which will count as primary sources. Thoughyou may cite the textbook and lecture – as little as possible, I hope, since the goal is to getbeyond them – these do not count toward your 4 secondary sources). Primary sources mayinclude visual material as well as written texts. If you can read Chinese or another relevantforeign language, you are welcome to use sources written in it, though this is certainly neitherrequired nor expected (if you are learning Chinese as a foreign language, please make sure thatyou have an accurate understanding of any Chinese-language sources you use – you would bewell-advised to consult either with me or with your Chinese language teacher; sources frombefore the mid-20th century, in particular, are likely to be written in a very different style thanyou are accustomed to).A few good places to start looking for primary sources on Chinese history that have beentranslated into English include (in addition to The Search for Modern China: A DocumentaryCollection, which you will be using regularly in class) Sources in Chinese History: DiversePerspectives from 1644 to the Present (eds. David and Yurong Atwill), Volume 2 of Sources ofChinese Tradition (From 1600 through the Twentieth Century) (eds. William Theodore de Baryand Richard Lufrano) and Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook (ed. Patricia Ebrey). You are freeto peruse these during my office hours – and I will also aim to put them on course reserve atSnell. If extensive portions of a primary source are quoted in a secondary source, you may countthose excerpts as a primary source, though please consult with me first to confirm. Some topics,particularly (but not only) those dealing with China’s interactions with foreigners, will haveprimary sources originally in English, which you should also consider using.As part of the paper writing process, I will ask you to complete three intermediate steps. First,you will need to submit a paper proposal, identifying the topic of your paper (again, as specificas possible) and at least two relevant primary sources and two relevant secondary sources. Theproposal will be worth 5% of your grade on the final paper and is due March 11.Second, I will ask you to write an analysis of one of your primary sources. This should look likethe primary source-response papers that you are asked to do for class (maximum 500 words, butin this case, you may want to keep it a bit shorter if possible). You should be sure that whendiscussing the significance of the source, you connect it directly to your paper topic. The samesource might be important in multiple ways – I want to know how it helps you answer yourquestion. This will be worth 15% of your final paper grade and is due March 25.Third, I will ask you to write an analysis of one of your secondary sources. This should look likethe article-response papers that you are asked to do for class. Here, you will want to be sure toidentify how the argument of the article/book relates to the question you are exploring in yourfinal paper. In addition, your assessment of the article/book should include some consideration ofhow you will use it in your paper. Does it provide evidence for a crucial argument that you wantto make – if so, why do you think that evidence is reliable? Do you disagree entirely with itsconclusions – if so, what do you think is wrong with the argument and how will you challengeit? This will be worth 15% of your final paper grade and is due April 1.Finally, you will submit the paper itself. You should make use of the intermediate