University of Florida Dumb Luck and Modernization Essay
Description
There are no prompts for any of the papers. A significant portion of the intellectual work comes in formulating the question. Consequently, I don’t provide prompts. You should read the texts and examine them in terms of their historical significance — after all, this is not an literature class. What can we learn about the periods considered in the text? What were the author’s concerns? How do these books illuminate larger trends/meanings from the period? Why might they be worth reading in a history class?
Further, the lack of prompt allows each of you to pursue the topics/themes/arguments that strike you as most compelling. There are dozens of possible papers from each of the texts. What interests you in the assigned reading?
Your papers should have an argument, and not simply rehash the general narrative.