The final exam has two parts: an essay part and a primary source analysis part. For each part, students should choose three of the four possible questions to answer. Students must type their responses and submit them as a text document (i.e., a Microsoft Word document) or a PDF by 11:59pm on Friday, July 29. Exams must be submitted both to the submission portal below and also to the Final Exam TurnItIn portal available in the Week 9 module on Canvas.
PART 1: Essay Questions
Choose THREE of the following four questions and answer them in well-developed essays. Each essay should make an argument and defend that argument using evidence from HIS 101 (i.e., from Voyages, the primary sources in Envisioning World History, etc.). There is no single “correct” length for an essay, but single-paragraph essays are unlikely to incorporate enough evidence to receive high marks. (NB: Please only submit answers to three questions. If a student submits four answers, the instructor will read the first three that appear on the page.) You may use your notes while writing the essays, but not the textbook or the internet.
1. What were the key factors in the development of complex societies in the ancient world?
2. What changed in the Mediterranean world at the beginning of the so-called “Middle Ages?”
3. To what extent were the “Middle Ages” a global phenomenon?
4. Were the Late Middle Ages an era of crisis and collapse?
PART 2: Primary Source Analysis
Choose THREE of the following four primary sources and write short essays (~2 paragraphs) analyzing them. These essays should address the questions recommended by the American Historical Association in ” (Links to an external site.)Understanding How Primary Sources–Visual and Textual–Were Produced” (Links to an external site.): you may consult the hyperlinked article while completing your analysis. Make a particular effort to identify if and when each source moves from description (i.e., saying what happened) to interpretation (i.e., trying to convince the reader that things happened a particular way, or for a particular reason). You should attempt to explain approximately when and where the source was created: you may use your notes for this, but not the textbook or the internet.
1. Excerpt from Al-Ghazali, On the Love of God
The love of God is the highest of all topics, and is the final aim to which we have been tending hitherto. We have spoken of spiritual dangers as they hinder the love of God in a man’s heart, and we have spoken of various good qualities as being the necessary preliminaries to it. Human perfection resides in this, that the love of God should conquer a man’s heart and possess it wholly, and even if it does not possess it wholly it should predominate in the heart over the love of all other things. Nevertheless, rightly to understand the love of God is so difficult a matter that one sect of theologians have altogether denied that man can love a Being who is not of his own species, and they have defined the love of God as consisting merely in obedience. Those who hold such views do not know what real religion is.
All Moslems are agreed that the love of God is a duty. God says concerning the believers, “He loves them and they love Him,” and the Prophet said, “Till a man loves God and His Prophet more than anything else he has not the right faith.” When the angel of death came to take the soul of Abraham the latter said, “Have you ever seen a friend take his friend’s life?” God answered him, “Have you ever seen a friend unwilling to see his friend?” Then Abraham said, “O Azrael! take my soul!” The following prayer was taught by the Prophet to his companions, “O God, grant me to love Thee and to love those who love Thee, and whatsoever brings me nearer to Thy love, and make Thy love more precious to me than cold water to the thirsty.” Hassan Basri used to say, “He who knows God loves Him, and he who knows the world hates it.”
2. Excerpt from Ibn Battuta, “Crossing the Sahara”
Life at Walata
My stay at Iwalatan lasted about fifty days; and I was shown honour and entertained by its inhabitants. It is an excessively hot place, and boasts a few small date-palms, in the shade of which they sow watermelons. Its water comes from underground waterbeds at that point, and there is plenty of mutton to be had. The garments of its inhabitants, most of whom belong to the Massufa tribe, are of fine Egyptian fabrics.
Their women are of surpassing beauty, and are shown more respect than the men. The state of affairs amongst these people is indeed extraordinary. Their men show no signs of jealousy whatever; no one claims descent from his father, but on the contrary from his mother’s brother. A person’s heirs are his sister’s sons, not his own sons. This is a thing which I have seen nowhere in the world except among the Indians of Malabar. But those are heathens; these people are Muslims, punctilious in observing the hours of prayer, studying books of law, and memorizing the Koran. Yet their women show no bashfulness before men and do not veil themselves, though they are assiduous in attending the prayers. Any man who wishes to marry one of them may do so, but they do not travel with their husbands, and even if one desired to do so her family would not allow her to go.
The women there have “friends” and “companions” amongst the men outside their own families, and the men in the same way have “companions” amongst the women of other families. A man may go into his house and find his wife entertaining her “companion” but he takes no objection to it. One day at Iwalatan I went into the qadi’s house, after asking his permission to enter, and found with him a young woman of remarkable beauty. When I saw her I was shocked and turned to go out, but she laughed at me, instead of being overcome by shame, and the qadi said to me “Why are you going out? She is my companion.” I was amazed at their conduct, for he was a theologian and a pilgrim [to Mecca] to boot. I was told that he had asked the sultan’s permission to make the pilgrimage that year with his “companion”–whether this one or not I cannot say–but the sultan would not grant it.
3. Excerpt from the “Code for the Warrior Households”
1. One must wholly devote oneself to the civil and the military arts and to the Way of the bow and the horse.
To have the civil on the left and the military on the right is the ancient practice. One must be equipped with both. The bow and horse are the most important thing for warriors. Weapons are called dismal instruments, but [sometimes] one cannot avoid using them. “In times of order, do not forget turmoil.” How could one not exert oneself in training and perfecting oneself [in the use of arms]?
2. Drinking parties and idle, wanton amusements should be restricted. The rigorous restricts that codes of law placed [on the behavior] are especially strict. States have been lost because their rulers were infatuated with sex or made gambling their chief occupation.
3. Those who have defied the laws shall not be given sanctuary in any of the provinces.
Law is the root of ritual and decorum. Principles can be violated in the name of the law, but the law cannot be violated in the name of principle. Those who defy the laws will not be punished lightly.
4. The greater and lesser lords of all the provinces and all their stipended officials must speedily expel any soldiers in their service who have been accused of rebellion or murder.
Those who harbor untoward ambitions are the sharp instruments that overturn the state, the dart and sword that cut off people [from their livelihood]. How could one condone them?
5. From now on, no one who is not from the province shall be allowed to live there [freely] among [the inhabitants of that province].
Generally speaking, each province has its own, different customs. If someone either reported abroad the secrets of his own province or reported in his own province the streets of other provinces, it would be the beginning of fawning and flattering.
6. Any repairs of the castles in the provinces must certainly be reported [to the bakufu] as well as new construction, which is strictly forbidden!
Walls extending more than one hundred chi [a measure for city walls: thirty feet long by ten feet high] are a peril to the state. High fortresses and well-dredged moats are the origin of great turmoil.
4. Excerpt from Magna Carta
John, by the grace of God, king of England, lord of Ireland, duke of Normandy and of Aquitaine, and count of Anjou, to archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, barons, justiciars, foresters, sheriffs, reeves, ministers, and all his bailiffs and faithful men, greeting. Know that, through the inspiration of God, for the health of our soul…, for the honour of God and the exaltation of Holy Church, and for the betterment of our realm, by the counsel of our venerable fathers…, of our nobles…, and of our faithful men—
1. We have in the first place granted to God and by this our present charter have confirmed, for us and for our heirs forever, that the English Church shall be free and shall have its rights and liberties inviolate.…We have also granted to all freemen of our kingdom, for us and our heirs forever, all the liberties hereinunder written, to be had and held by them and their heirs of us and our heirs…
12. Scutage [payments made in place of military service] or aid shall be levied in our kingdom only by the common counsel of our kingdom, except for ransoming our body, for knighting of our eldest son, and for the once marrying of our eldest daughter; and for these occasions only a reasonable aid shall be taken..…
13. And the city of London shall have all its ancient liberties and free customs, both by land and water. Besides we will and grant that all the other cities, boroughs, towns and ports shall have all their liberties and free customs.
39. No freeman shall be captured or imprisoned or dispossessed or outlawed or exiled or in any way destroyed, nor will we go against him or send against him, except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.
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