BLACK ROBE ESSAYS
(assignment 11)


Notes:

1) You MUST use blackboard' to submit this homework;


2) BE SURE TO FOLLOW THE FILE-NAMING CONVENTIONS FOR THIS COURSE.

All files should be saved on your computer as: your last name, followed by an underscore ("_"), followed by the first two letters of your first name, followed by an underscore ("_"), followed by the assignment number. So if a student named Saddam Hussein were to submit assignment number 11, the file name would be:

hussein_sa_11.doc

THIS IS ASSIGNMENT 11


3) Remember, there will be two versions of this essay: one a short version if you are on the less writing-intensive track and a longer version for those on the writing-intensive track

 

Long Paper Option for Writing-intensive track

Your essay should be between 360 and 580 words; you should identify your cl/ev/wa structures, or you will receive no credit.



Popular understandings of the encounter between Europeans and the indigenous peoples of the Americas often fall into one of two broad parables:

(Parable A) capitalism and civilization forcibly pushing aside what had been societies of lazy natives uninterested in (or incapable of) commerce and industry.

Or

(Parable B) racist whites destroying native societies for whom living harmony with both their environment and with each other was an inherent and unchangeable part of their cultures.



In this paper, answer the following question:

 

How well (and why) does the evidence from the Alan Taylor readings and the film Black Robe support or dispute these parables?

 

Be specific and use direct quotations from both the film and the text to support your argument.

Some important writing instructions:

1) The evidence might support both parables, one but not the other, neither, or parts but not all of both.

2) Notice that in both parables, Euro-Americans destroyed the cultures of indigenous peoples of the Americas.

3) Don't address only one aspect of a particular parable while ignoring others. Be sure, accordingly, that your analysis addresses the entirety of both Parable A and Parable B.

4) Be sure to organize your paper around a thesis expressed near the beginning of your essay. This thesis must be a concise answer to the question asked above and it must explain to your reader HOW and the WHY your argument is a valid interpretation of the evidence.

5) Because you have the transcript available to you, it make sense to provide (accurate) direct quotations from it for your paper. Transcripts for all films are available on our blackboard site under "course documents"

6) You must have at least 12 pieces of evidence for this paper; 6 from the from Alan Taylor and 6 from the film. Your thesis, however, might easily require more.

7) Your quotations from the sources should be no more than 10 words and preferably
MUCH shorter -- if you are unsure how to omit unnecessary information from a quotation, see here. (very useful)

8) Finally, no outside research is necessary, desirable, or even permitted for this paper. DO NOT USE OUTSIDE SOURCES IN WRITING THIS PAPER. Papers that use outside sources as the basis either a direct and indirect quotation will receive an "F".

Short Paper Option for less-writing intensive track


In a paragraph or two, answer the following question:

How well (and why) does the evidence from the Alan Taylor readings and the film Black Robe support or dispute either Parable A or Parable B (choose one)?


Be specific and use direct quotations from both the film and the text to support your argument.

Some important writing instructions:

1) The evidence might support both parables, one but not the other, neither, or parts but not all of both. Again, you only have to choose one parable to write about.

2) Notice that in both parables, Euro-Americans destroyed the cultures of indigenous peoples of the Americas.

3) Don't address only one aspect of a particular parable while ignoring others. Be sure, accordingly, that your analysis addresses the entirety of either Parable A and Parable B.


4) Because you have the transcript available to you, it make sense to provide (accurate) direct quotations from it for your paper. Transcripts for all films are available on our blackboard site under "course documents"

5) You must have at least 5 pieces of evidence for this paper; 3 from the from Alan Taylor and 2 from the film. Your argument, however, might easily require more.

6) Your quotations from the sources should be no more than 10 words and preferably
MUCH shorter -- if you are unsure how to omit unnecessary information from a quotation, see here. (very useful)

7) Finally, no outside research is necessary, desirable, or even permitted for this paper. DO NOT USE OUTSIDE SOURCES IN WRITING THIS PAPER. Papers that use outside sources as the basis either a direct and indirect quotation will receive an "F".