Overview
Professors Instructions:
History is full of uncountable important people, and not just the "winners" or the powerful. For this assignment, you will find a real historical person of your choice and write a biography about them with an argument that tells us why they are important in history. This could be anybody. A king, government official, politician, aristocrat, working-class person, indigenous person, enslaved person, women - anyone! You will conduct your own research to learn about them. There are some resources for you under Pages.
The main purpose of this paper is to create an argument about WHY your chosen person is an important and significant figure in history. This should not be a basic “They were born, they grew up, they died” paper. Yes, tell us about their life BUT tell us what about them makes them an important person to understand a certain area of history. Do you think they changed world history? Did they change the way we can understand a certain group of people? Did they make a significant contribution to society and culture?
The person you select must be someone from the scope (time period and location) of this class. Do not pick anyone from before 1700 and only pick someone from Europe or a country colonized by Europe - United States does not count.
This is due on Sunday, July 26 at 11:59 PM. Late papers will not be accepted. This is 30 points, aka 30% of your grade. Check the Pages page for a rubric so you understand how I grade. I only use full grades; no + or -.
Suggested Outline
Paragraph 1: Introduce us to your person and tell us why they’re important.
Body paragraphs: Examples and details of what makes that person important.
Conclusion: Restate your argument and sum up your paper.