101A Paper Assignment Carr

(due Day 12, May 28, to the dropbox folder on D2!

"his assignment is designed to en#ourage you to exer#ise your $riting s%ills and
to apply the #on#epts about #omplex so#ieties, #ultural diffusion, and religious
empires that you ha&e learned in the #ourse'


(e)read *ared Diamond+s ,"he -orst Mista%e in the .istory of the .uman (a#e,/
Dis#o&er Maga0ine, May 1182, pp' 34)33' 5n doing so, #onsider the histori#al
information from the le#tures, the primary sour#es, and the dis#ussions from the
#lass' "hen, $rite your paper by ans$ering the follo$ing 6uestion7

Do you agree or do you disagree $ith *ared Diamond8

9our basi# ans$er to that 6uestion $ill be your paper+s thesis' .o$e&er, you
must in#lude e&iden#e that pro&es your thesis' Consider the follo$ing $hen
#onstru#ting your paper7

1' 9ou must in#lude e&iden#e from at least t$o #ulture areas'
2' 9ou must in#lude e&iden#e from at least t$o time periods (as
illustrated by the four parts of the syllabus!'
:' 9ou must in#lude e&iden#e from at least t$o primary sour#es, one of
$hi#h must be from outside the list of the readings'
4' 9ou may not in#lude anything from past the pre)1;00 C< time frame
of this #lass'


9our paper must in#lude your thesis statement in an introdu#tion (that ans$ers
the main 6uestion!, a body that gi&es e&iden#e that pro&es your thesis (from the
le#tures, the primary sour#es, and the dis#ussions!, and a #on#lusion that sums
up the thesis statement and your e&iden#e' 5f you use any dire#t 6uotations or
indire#t ideas from the any sour#es, you must #ite the sour#es in parenthesis =ust
after the 6uote or idea'

9our paper should be :)to); pages in length, in "imes (oman, double)spa#ed,
$ith 12 pt' type and 1)in#h margins'

"his assignment is $orth a maximum of :00 points' 5t is $orth :0> of your final
grade'