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HIST 2251: Islam from Mongols to Modernity (Christie)

Assignment 2 (Analysis)

Write an essay analyzing Sa'd al-Din's account of the conquest of Constantinople ("The Ottomans at their Height," pages 289-93, in your courseware). 

Answer the following question: What message is Sa'd al-Din trying to convey to his readers through his account? 

Be sure to provide evidence from both the text and the author's own historical context to support your arguements. 

While this assignment is primarily a text analysis exercise, you should still do backgrund research to help you in sonstructing your arguments. You will find it useful to consult secondary works (scholarly books, journal articles), and possibly other primary sources, on the topics of the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople, Sa'd al-Din ibn Hasan Jan, and his Taj al-Tawarikh (Crown of Histories). 

Cite your sources in Chicago style. 

Assignments 3 & 4 (Proposal, Term Paper)

You are asked to prepare a 300-word proposal and 1,500 word paper on a topic of your choosing related to the course curriculum.

Both assignments should be fully-researched and include a bibliography of at least five sources. At least two of your sources should be academic books and at least the other three should be either books or academic articles. 

Note that the following sources do not count towards this number:

  • Your textbooks and downloaded documents
  • Lecture materials 
  • Encyclopedia articles
  • Websites

However, you should still include these sources in your bibliography if they have been helpful in preparing your work.

Cite your sources according to Chicago Style. See the Citing Your Sources section for more details.