HI 375 A2 – Renaissance and Reformation – Summer 2018
Essay Assignment #2: The Reformation
Directions
For the second half of the course this summer you will write a well-developed essay using the primary source documents about the Reformation available on Canvas. Your essay assignment will be divided into two sections:
1) Topic and Outline (5pts)
You will submit a Topic/Outline of your writing project a few days before your final paper. This assignment will require you to identify the topic you are working on and to present a detailed plan of your essay, and its basic organization. Include a section for the introduction with a possible thesis, body paragraphs with arguments you plant to make, and concluding points. (See Canvas for examples)
Requirements for Topic and Outline: 1 – 3 pages, 1-inch margins, double-spaced, 11 or 12 font size
2) Essay (20 pts)
Develop a well-written argumentative essay based on the prompt below using the primary sources from the Reformation section. You may also choose to use you Merriman textbook and/or lecture notes. Make sure you have a clear thesis statement, relevant supporting evidence from the documents, and a strong conclusion. Cite all your sources as footnotes or parenthetical citations, and make sure to answer the topic question thoroughly. Don’t forget to come up with a creative title for your essay that embodies the argument of your paper.
Requirements for Essay: 6 – 8 pages, 1-inch margins, double-spaced, 11 or 12 font size.
Essay Topic: The radicalism of The Reformation
· The Reformation movements of the 16th century drastically reshaped the lives of Catholic Europeans creating new churches, imposing new methods of worship, redefining social structures, and creating strife at the local and international levels. For your essay re-read Martin Luther’s “95 Theses” and “Treatise on Marriage”, John Calvin’s “Institutes of the Christian Religion”, and Jeanne de Jussie’s “The Short Chronicle”, and develop an argument discussing at least 3 ways in which the Reformation was a radical movement. Explain in your arguments why these 3 aspects would have been considered radical during the 16th century using your Merriman textbook and your lecture notes for background information. You may focus on aspects like ideology, practices, or events described in the sources.
· Abstain from using online sources! Use your own critical thinking skills to examine the primary sources about the Reformation and come up with your own ideas.
· Make sure to cite ALL your information including quotes from the primary sources, and historical context information from lectures or the Merriman textbook.
· Successful historical arguments are those that focus on more than just 1 primary source, so make sure to draw your evidence from more than just 1 of the documents assigned. \