Basics: Write a 2-3 page paper in a reasonable font and observing all the normal rules of grammar and style. Be sure to base your answer to this question on primary sources that you read for last week. DO NOT rely on textbooks, introductions, lectures, non-primary websites, or any other source. Use specific examples from the sources that you read for last week. BE SURE to use footnotes to indicate where you got your examples!

Remember that the goal of this paper is to practice supporting your answer to the question asked with the primary sources that we have read in this class. Make sure that you have a clear, one sentence answer to the question asked and that you provide primary source evidence for in the body of the essay. Be sure that you explain how your evidence proves your main thesis.

The Question: In the primary source readings for weeks 4, 5, and 6, you have read a variety of sources from the Abbasid period. One of the sources that you read was The Art of Party Crashing by al-Baghdadi. In reading al-Baghdadi, what are the cultural and social values that this work expresses? In comparing al-Baghdadi's work to the other readings for these three weeks, are the values expressed in The Art of Party Crashing representative of Abbasid society more generally, or are they unique to this author?