Assignment: The Struggle to Bring Order

Chapter 7 of your textbook, “The Struggle to Bring Order,” describes the reign of the Carolingian king Charles (known to history as Charlemagne). You will use this newfound understanding to write a short essay answering the following question:

Under what circumstances did the Carolingians take power, and how did they build their empire? In an essay of approximately 600 words, assess the strategies (military, political, ideological) that Charlemagne used in his attempt to create a unified Carolingian empire.

Your paper must be at least 600 words but no more than 700 words.

You may only use the following approved sources in your paper (please note that any use of external internet sources is prohibited):

*The West in the World by Dennis Sherman and Joyce Salisbury

Important notes on this assignment:

*Please refer to the rubric located on Blackboard. Review it carefully as your paper will be graded using the rubric.

*Please note that you must use at least 3 examples/quotes from The West to support your argument. *Your introduction should address the overarching themes of your answer to the question.

*Your thesis statement is extremely important and worth a significant portion of your overall paper grade. Make sure you take a position and have an argument. Be decisive!

A Note on Plagiarism:

All papers will go be run through SafeAssign, which checks for plagiarism, please note that if you commit plagiarism, you will be caught and this is an issue I take very seriously. If you have questions please contact me and refer to the Mercy College Academic Integrity Policy, located on the course Blackboard site.

Paper Formatting

• All papers should be double-spaced, 12 point Times New Roman, and have 1-inch margins.
• You must have a title page. Please see example in this packet or on Blackboard. The best idea is to download the sample title page and type directly in it to create your own title page.
• You must have a header that is on every page except the title page it should have the course number and your name. Example: HIST 101/Jane Doe.
• Indent every paragraph and remember a paragraph is at least 3 sentences long.
• You must cite your sources.

Paper Guidelines

A) A formal history paper must have a strong introduction and clear thesis. Your introduction must concisely and clearly explain what your paper is about. The thesis is the stated central argument around which your paper is based. The goal of the paper will be to convince the reader of the truth of your argument, so it is absolutely necessary that the reader knows what that argument is.

B) A historical paper must provide clear analysis of its evidence, revealing and explaining to the reader the information that proves its point(s). Once you have decided on an argument (which will likely come to you after you have read a good deal of the book), you must then go about proving it. You cannot merely tell the reader that what you argue is true; you must show your reader what you argue is true. Make sure that every assertion is backed by evidence. Leave out material that does not matter with regards to your thesis. Use judiciously selected quotes from your source(s) to show exactly why you are arguing your points.

C) An essay should be logical in its organization at every level. Make sure that sentences make sense and contribute to the overall argument of the paper. Make sure that adjacent sentences relate to one another. Each paragraph should focus on one idea or topic. Like sentences, paragraphs should flow from one to the next with meaningful transitions. The entire construction of the paper should be working in an orderly fashion to build support for your thesis.