ESSAY INSTRUCTIONS
ANT310: Prehistory of Complex Societies     
Heather M.-L. Miller

University of Toronto at Mississauga
        
Fall 2005

 

 

Read these instructions before you begin. 

Read them after you begin. 

Read them before you turn the paper in! 

Many students lose marks because they do not follow directions.

 

Your major assignment for this course will be to write a 5-6 page essay based on a theme from one of your assigned readings.  This is not a full-fledged research paper, but a concise, directed essay.  You will choose a section from your readings about a topic that interests you, and extend your information about this topic through finding and reading a journal article (or two).  You will summarize both the in-class and external readings, and then concisely discuss the authors’Äô and your own views about the topic covered.  In other words, you will write two summaries plus an academic ’Äòargument’Äô.  (See Essay Format section below for more information.)

This assignment will consist of several stages of work to be turned in and marked.  ALL SUBMISSIONS MUST BE TYPED, double-spaced, 12 point font with 1 inch margins; the maximum length for the final essay is 6 pages.

 

Topic

You will write a researched essay on a theme from one of the readings assigned for this course.  Begin by looking through all of the readings -- you might want to write on a topic we will not cover till the end of the course.  Chose a topic that interests you!  Thoroughly read any chapter or section of a book that you may want to use.  Once you have chosen a potential topic, take notes on the section dealing with that topic.  Outline the section dealing with the topic.  Make up a list of keywords relating to the topic to help you in the next stage of library research.

If there is a particular topic on ancient states that you wish to research that is NOT covered by any assigned readings, please come to my office hours as soon as possible to discuss possible alternative arrangements.

 

Research

Refer to the lectures presented by Pam King from the UTM Library.

Using the resources available within your texts and through the University of Toronto Library system, locate at least one article published in a scholarly journal (a refereed publication) or in an edited volume that extends your knowledge of your topic.  It should NOT be by the same author as your assigned reading.  You may use a chapter or two from a single-authored book, but this should be cleared with me first.

You are encouraged to use electronic journals, but do not limit yourself to this source.  You may NOT use a website as a major source, although you may find that a search of websites will help you with background material, or provide lists of possible published bibliographic sources (particularly academic websites).

Remember that I will be marking you on your choice of research materials, so please check with me if you are unsure of the suitability of an article.

 

You may choose to extend your knowledge about your topic in one of two ways.

(1) You may look for an article on the same topic (e.g., trade as an aspect of state formation, or environmental disaster as a contribution to the collapse of a state, or the role of religion in an ancient state), but for a different state.

(2) Or you may look for an article on the same topic for the same state (e.g., the palace economy in Uruk Mesopotamia or the role of the military in the Inka state), but from a different perspective, perhaps disagreeing with your first author.

Consider your own interests, and try to think of multiple options for topics -- you may not find an appropriate article for your first choice.

 

You may use two or three other minor sources, such as introductory textbooks, encyclopedias or atlases, especially if you need a map, definition, or illustration.  Use archaeological sources for definitions of archaeological terms, such as the texts used in class or a basic archaeology textbook.  Do not use general dictionaries or encyclopedias -- although the use of an archaeological or anthropological encyclopedia or atlas is fine.  Check the library for such sources, which should be used as supplemental sources, not your main outside article.

 

This assignment is NOT intended to result in a full-scale research paper; be sure to keep this in mind.  Limit yourself to one or two major source(s) in addition to the assigned reading.  Please come to my office hours if you have any questions or hesitations.  SHORT questions may be sent by email, but I may ask you to come to my office hours to discuss your question, so don't wait until the last minute.

 


 

Assignments & Deadlines

You are strongly encouraged to have your choice of outside article approved by Dr. Miller BEFORE the Thesis & Outline is due.

 

ESSAY THESIS & OUTLINE --  DUE IN CLASS Thursday October 27

This assignment is intended to make certain that you have thought out your entire paper BEFORE you begin writing it.  That is the purpose of the Outline.  The Thesis Statement is intended to clarify (for you as well as me) exactly what topic you are focused upon for this short paper.  The more precise your thesis statement, the better your essay will be, if your outline faithfully follows and supports this thesis statement.

 

(1) Finding a Topic & Outside Articles.  First, select two or three possible topics.  Then search for possible outside articles in the references given in your texts and using the Library search resources.  You might also try looking up your state or topic in an archaeological encyclopedia or atlas for additional information and sources.  Be sure to have one good outside article before making your choice of topic; check the article with me ahead of time if you have any questions.  Once you have a topic, you are ready to begin.

 

(2) Thesis Statement.  Now write a short, one-paragraph explanation of what your paper will be about. Summarize the thesis you will address in two or three sentences.  Be sure to include the name of the state, region of the world, and approximate time period, as well as the essentials of the thesis you wish to investigate.

 

So what is a Thesis?  Your thesis (topic) statement expresses succinctly and specifically what you intend to accomplish in your paper or what interesting insight you will support with your evidence.  It is the main point of your essay, the one thing you want your reader to understand and remember.   It DOES NOT include vague generalizations such as "to learn more about...", "to gain a greater understanding of...", etc.  In the final essay, the thesis statement should be located in your essay introduction, and should be referred to in the body of the essay, and re-stated in the conclusion (see ’ÄúFinal Essay’Äù section below for more information).  For this assignment, you should just turn in the thesis statement itself.

 

Here is a clearly stated thesis for a paper on the role of religion in the Indus Civilization:  "I will show that a shared religion or philosophy focusing on communal unity is the best explanation for the cultural uniformity of the Indus Civilization across its large region and long time depth."

And a thesis for an essay on the importance of population density in the rise of Mesoamerican states: "The debates presented in this essay between Blanton, Feinman, and associates, working in the Valley of Oaxaca, and Sanders and associates, working in the Valley of Mexico, are centred on whether a rise in population density was essential to the development of Mesoamerican states.  I present both sides of the debate and my own conclusions as to which argument is more convincing."

 

Note that the thesis statement can be more than one sentence!  It is best to have a single sentence thesis, but do not try to present a long complex statement in one sentence, if two are needed.

 

(3) Outline.  Next, provide an outline of what you plan to write in your final essay.

Be sure to follow the instructions below under Organization of Essay for your outline.   In other words, don't turn just in an outline of the topic, or a summary of the articles - you will lose substantial marks for this.   Your outline should be hierarchically arranged, with each section labelled as to its function and content.  Any section that is subdivided should have at least two sub-parts. You may use words and phrases instead of complete sentences, but the information to be covered in each section of the outline must be clear!  This outline should allow me to follow the basic structure and argument of your essay. 

If you do not know how to write an outline, be sure to get outside help on this ahead of time!

 

 (4) List of References.  Your list of references should be included as the last section of this assignment, using the format given below (References Cited) and in the American Antiquity Style Guide (http://www.saa.org/Publications/Styleguide/styframe.html).  You will lose 2 marks if the references are not in the proper format.

         Your list of References must include the following:

(a) the section of the course readings you will use for this paper; be sure to give exact page numbers; and
(b) the outside article or edited book reference you will use.  If you have not previously had your outside article approved, I suggest that you list several articles so I can recommend which one might be best for your essay.

 **You MUST also submit a photocopy of the abstract for your primary outside article(s), or lose 2 marks (out of a possible 5).   If the article does not have an abstract, submit a photocopy of the introduction AND conclusion.  (It is NOT necessary to submit this information for additional sources or for the assigned course material.)

        You may also list any additional references (encyclopedia entries, websites, etc.) that you will use for supporting material (definitions, dates, etc.)

 

***Be sure to give the full citations for the source(s), using the American Antiquity format required for the final essay (see below).  2 marks will be deduced if you do not use this format -- no exceptions!

 

(5) Other Requirements.  You must type this assignment, paying attention to spelling, grammar and clarity of writing for the topic paragraph.  The outline portion can be in point form, but it should be checked for spelling.

 

The Thesis Statement and Outline will be worth a total of 5 marks (5%).  This assignment will allow me to give you feedback on your essay topic and structure, before you turn in the final essay, and to prevent any of you from starting down the wrong track.  It is to your advantage to summit a well thought out, well-researched thesis statement & outline.

 


 

EDITING / CRITIQUE EXERCISE ’Äì CONDUCTED in TUTORIAL Thursday, November 17

You must bring your own final draft to participate ’Äì no exceptions!

 

In tutorial on Nov. 17, each student will edit and critique another student’Äôs final essay draft.  This exercise will give you helpful feedback on your paper from a fresh perspective, and will help you learn how to edit and critique your own writing in the future. 

Your mark for this exercise will be based on your editing skills, not on your own essay.

 

      In tutorial on Nov. 3, a representative from Academic Skills will talk about how to read your articles, summarize them, and create an argument.  This lecture will help you write your own draft.

      In tutorial on Nov. 10, we will discuss how to edit papers for grammar, content, analytical clarity, and the structure required (summarizing the two articles and creating an argument).  This lecture will help you improve your own draft, and also will help you edit another student’Äôs essay the following week.

 

      You will turn in your essay draft at the beginning of class on Nov. 17.  See the next section (WRITTING YOUR ESSAY) for a description of the required content and format of your draft essay.

DO NOT put your name on this draft; it must be anonymous.  Only write the identifying number assigned to you by the instructor in tutorial on Nov. 10.

You must turn in a reasonable draft.  If your draft is too rough, so that your student editor cannot follow your essay at all, you will be heavily penalized in your mark for this exercise.

 

      In tutorial on Nov. 17, you will edit and critique the final draft of another student’Äôs essay, or as much of it as you can get through in 45 minutes.  You will not be allowed to participate if you do not submit your own final draft, and so will lose 12%. 

You will be marked on how thoroughly, thoughtfully, and constructively you edit the other student’Äôs essay. The instructor will mark your edits/critiques, and will hand the comments back to the original student on Nov. 24, for incorporation in the final polishing of their own essay before submission on Dec. 8.

The student will not know who edited their paper, but the instructor will heavily penalize any editor who writes rude or insensitive remarks.  You must be honestly critical, so you will be penalized if you are ’Äútoo easy’Äù on the original essay writer (that doesn’Äôt help either!), but you can do this tactfully.

 

WRITING YOUR  ESSAY

 

Organization of the Essay

The essay must be written in the following way, or significant marks will be deducted.

(1) Write a short summary of the topic you will discuss in the essay.  It should be no more than a few sentences.  This thesis statement should be located in your essay introduction, and should be referred to in the body of the essay, and re-stated in the conclusion.

(2) Write a summary in more detail of the treatment of your topic in the assigned reading.  Establish why it is interesting and/or significant.

(3) Write a summary in more detail of the treatment of your topic in your outside article.

(4) Explicitly discuss the two perspectives on your topic--the one in the assigned article and the one from the outside article(s).  The exact questions you address will depend on your topic.  Some possibilities: Does your outside article explain in greater detail or present an alternative interpretation?  Why do two authors disagree?  What might make them agree?  Do you see similarities in the development of states in two different regions?  Do you see contrasts, and are these attributable to environment, culture, time, contact, or some other variable?  Try to define whatever questions you plan to address BEFORE you begin writing!

(5) Write a summary/conclusion.  This should simply reiterate your main points and restate the topic.  The conclusion is NOT the place to introduce new information, facts, perspectives, sources, etc. -- if you think of things now, insert them in the proper place above.  This closing statement should not be a broad generalization or sweeping statement, but a precise summary of your main topic and conclusion.

 

Re-read this first draft to be sure that it will be clear to anyone who has not read the texts or articles.  Ask your roommate or your family to read it.  In other words, do not "write for the instructor", but expect that your reader will need basic explanations and information ’Äì your student editor will also edit you for this.  This essay must convince me that you read the material cited. 

Be sure to: 

 

Writing Style

Now that you have a draft of your paper, you can focus on writing style.

Please carefully review the logical flow of your ideas, from your introduction, through the body of the paper, to the conclusion.  This is often the main difference between an excellent (A) paper and a good (B) paper.  You will be marked on writing style, grammar and spelling as well as content.

 

NOTE:  Final Essays must be double-spaced, 12 point font with 1 inch margins, maximum 6 pages

 

Citations

Be sure to say where your information comes from.  You must cite your source whether or not you directly quote the words of that source.  In academic writing, anything that is not general knowledge, but rather comes from your reading (in this course or outside of it), and everything/idea that is distinctively the work of a particular person gets a citation.

 

The citation is placed in the text immediately after the material used. This is the case whether an actual quote is given, or whether you are just giving credit to an author for information or an idea.  The citation should include the author and date, and in many cases, a page number.  You always need the page number if you are using a quote or specific data. You can use just the author and date if you are referring to a general idea that occurs throughout the work.

 

The citation is part of the sentence, so the punctuation comes after, like this (Smith 2001:370). Or you can move the author's name to the front and just enclose date and page in parentheses.  For the Style Guide we will use, always put the date & page immediately after the author's name.  Do not use a comma.  For example:        Smith (2001:370) provides new data about the origins of agriculture in Ontario.

If you actually quote material from a source, be sure to use quotation marks.  Quotes longer than two lines must be block indented and single spaced, and in that case no quotation marks are used.

 

Use quotes sparingly, limiting their use to particularly apt statements that are ideal for the point you wish to make.  For the most part, you should be paraphrasing the materials you read; that is, you should re-state the points in your own words.  This involves more than just changing a few words or omitting portions of a sentence.  Such changes are tantamount to plagiarism -- see the guide to plagiarism at http://www.utoronto.ca/writing/plagsep.html.  However, even well-paraphrased material should be cited, as indicated above.  Here's an example of a quote: 

"Digging these tombs would have required massive co-ordinated labor, and since many of the individuals buried in the tombs are elites bedecked with exotic ornaments and surrounded by fineware ceramics and figurines, it seems clear that these were built to house elites who were capable of amassing and controlling a large labor pool" (Peregrine 2003:230-231).

And a paraphrase:  These tombs were likely built for elites who controlled a large labour pool, as a great deal of labour would have been needed to dig the tombs, and to supply the exotic ornaments and fineware ceramics and figurines found in them (Peregrine 2003:230-231).

 

I still cite Peregrine, even though I don't quote him directly, because this was not my own conclusion -- I got this idea from reading his textbook.  I provide the page numbers so that it will be easy for the reader to find this reference, if desired.  Note that when I directly quote Peregrine, I leave the American spelling (labor), but when I paraphrase, I use the Canadian spelling (labour).  Also note that quotes that are 2 lines or longer are indented, while paraphrases are not.

 

References Cited

It is very important to provide the necessary information so that other people can find the sources of your information.  This usually includes the authors, dates, titles, publishers, and places of publication.   For this paper, I only want you to provide a list of References Cited; that is, only the references you actually cite in your paper, not all of the materials you may have found or consulted.

 

Many conventions exist for the way references are formatted, and most publishers specify the model they want. In North American archaeology, the format developed by the journal American Antiquity is frequently used.  I provide some examples below, and you can look at the American Antiquity Style Guide (http://www.saa.org/Publications/Styleguide/styframe.html) for more details.  If you have trouble with particular sources and don't know what to do with them, ASK ME!

 

References Cited

Kamp, Kathryn  

     1998  Life in the Pueblo:  Understanding the Past Through Archaeology. Waveland Press, Inc., Prospect

      Heights, Illinois.

 

Thomas, David Hurst

     1999  Archaeology. Down to Earth.  Second Edition. Harcourt Brace & Company, Orlando, Florida.

 

Smith, Robin

     1998  Citing Sources in Anthropology Papers. Journal of Academic Skills 27(4):20-29.

 

Miller, Heather M.-L.

     1997  Pottery Firing Structures (Kilns) of the Indus Civilization During the Third Millennium B.C. In

     Prehistory & History of Ceramic Kilns, edited by Prudence Rice and W. David Kingery, pp. 41-71.

     Ceramics & Civilization Series, Volume VII.  American Ceramic Society, Inc., Columbus, Ohio.

 

Tamakoshi, Laura Zimmer

      1997  Fieldwork: The Anthropologist in the Field. Electronic document,

       http://www.truman.edu/academics/ss/faculty/tamakoshil/index.html, accessed March 8.

(Ask the instructor or a librarian for help with the citation of web sites.)

 

Checklist:     I will look for the following strengths in your essay (note that these are NOT of equal weight in marking!):

______    Topic is clearly defined

______    Incorporates a relevant article published in a scholarly archaeology or anthropology journal

______    Reflects a thoughtful & complete reading of articles

______    Discussion/analysis uses archaeological concepts and insights

______    Includes definitions of terms and examples in support of major points

______    Work of others is cited appropriately in text

______    Carefully organized and written, spell-checked, and edited; pages numbered

______    Conclusion restates main points and reiterates topic or thesis

______    Interesting, convincing, worthwhile, insightful, and/or moving

______    References Cited contains complete information in American Antiquity form

 

 


 

FINAL ESSAY -- DUE IN CLASS Thursday, December 8

 

See above (’ÄúWriting Your Essay’Äù) for the exact format and content of the essay, citations, and references.  This final essay is worth 25 marks (25%). I will be grading on style (spelling, grammar, clarity of expression) as well as content, so give yourself time to re-write the essay after you receive the edits/critiques.

 

I will accept your complete paper in class on December 8 ONLY.  You may not bring it by my office later, and you may NOT email it.  Of course you may give it to me earlier, and I urge you to do so, for no late papers will be accepted without penalty except with a doctor's excuse, etc.  (See "Late Assignments" on the main Syllabus.)  

 

Many thanks to Dr. Robin Smith, Anthropology, Western Oregon University, for the use of a modified version of her essay instructions.