4 Short Essay: The short essay will ask you to draw upon the discussion readings to answer a particular question. You will not have to write all of the small details of the reading; the intention is to get you to comment broadly on the reading. So, for example, if asked to discuss the reading on Madeleine, you would be expected to know that the letters were written by Madeleine in pursuit of financial gain; that she related different stories of her defense of the fort; and that she framed it in a particular way that reflected the importance of gender, and be able to discuss some examples related to that last point). You would not be expected to provide every detail of the reading (how many people were in the fort, how many days did it last, how far she ran to the fort, etc.).

Here are the topics questions

–     1. Cartier Journal: comment on the strengths and weaknesses of the source, providing broad examples

–     2. Madeleine de Verscheres Letters: comment on the discrepancies between the two letters, and the importance of gender in how she wrote them or presented her story

–     3. Keough (Peggy Mountain): comment on how the author explores the relationship between gender, social class, ethnicity and power [again, being able to comment with broad examples but not tiny, minute details]

–     4. Wamsley (this week’s upcoming reading): similar issues to Keough

The short essay is 4 pages long and meant to be high-level analysis, with less detail than the longer essay –

The short essay on Secondary Sources should follow this model:

 Paragraph One (1 page long): Summarize the contents of the article

 Paragraph Two (half page long): Identify the central argument/thesis of the article

 Paragraphs Three (half page long): Provide a brief analysis of how effective you thought the argument was (you are free to comment on whatever elements of the article you think are most important – use specific examples

 Paragraph four (2 page long): answer the topic question

The short essay on Primary Sources should follow this model:

 Paragraph One (1 page long): Summarize the contents of the source – what information does the source provide?

 Paragraph Two (half page long): Discuss the strengths of the document as a source for understanding history.

 Paragraph Three (half page long): Discuss the weaknesses of the document as a source for understanding history.

   Paragraph four(2 page long): answer the topic question

Please forcus more on paragraph one and four

Long Essay( 5 pages long): the larger essay will focus on the broad themes and issues that we have looked at in the course.

In the first class, I identified four (imperialism/colonialism; natural resource exploitation/commodification of nature; agricultural settlement; and intersection of First Nations and European systems [political, social, economic]).

As you review the lecture slides, think in those terms and organize the material along those lines – there is some material defining what these themes are. You will have a choice of three themes to pick from for the large essay (meaning that at least three of these four themes will appear at the essay). As you review the material, think of it in those terms – how do these events fit into these four larger themes?

In terms of detail, the more detail you can provide, the better, as it demonstrates full command over the material

The long essay should follow the lecture PowerPoint in class and your own understanding after you learning these themes. There is no research need to be done for this essay. (no bibliography needs)

Please look through all photos and powerpoints, find the parts that relate to the themes, and organize the material and own thinking in the essay. No more 4 words are exactly same as the ones appeared in the photos and powerpoints.