Writing Assignment
Option: Byzantine Empireimage of a computer.
A series of problems including political and social turmoil as well as military threats from outside forces, brought an end to the classical societies in the centuries after 200 C.E. The lone exception was the Byzantine empire. After the collapse of the western half of the Roman empire the Byzantine eastern section survived for another millennium.
Despite its early connection to Rome, the Byzantine empire developed into a dramatically different society than its Roman predecessor. It was most strongly influenced by Greek culture, and the Greek language was favored over Latin. However, the differences between East and West were not just linguistic. By the eleventh century differences in dogma between the Roman Catholic Church in the West and the Orthodox Church in the East, had resulted in the permanent division of Christendom. Throughout this period the two halves of the Roman empire will go in different directions, each producing very distinct societies, and each exerting a great deal of influence on its surrounding areas. For this essay: Analyze and discuss the material that has been assigned, in order to compare and contrast (similarities and differences) Medieval Europe and the Byzantine Empire.
INSTRUCTIONS
Identify and review the sections in chapters 12 and 13 of Module 3 for your analysis and discussion.
Read Chapter 13, Politics and Government: A Western View of the Byzantine Empire, on pg 335, and The Achievements of Basil II, on pg 337.
Identify relevant videos located in Chapter assignments and within the READing Enrichment folder, which can be used as reference sources. These can be used as outside sources since they are not contained within the textbook.
Identify at least two outside sources to support your discussion. Please keep in mind that Wikipedia is not an acceptable reference.
PREPARE AND SUBMIT
Write a well organized essay, a minimum of 700 words, including supporting details from the documents/textbook/other sources, in which you address the following:
Analyze and discuss the material that has been assigned, in order to compare and contrast (similarities and differences) Medieval Europe and the Byzantine Empire.
REMINDERS
Paragraphs in an essay are not numbered. Any questions that are associated with an assigned reading are there to serve as a guide for your discussion.
Your discussion should incorporate all of the information from the documents and or textbook, and outside sources as one essay.
Students are required to research and incorporate into their discussions additional sources that relate to the content. Recommendations can be found in at the end of textbook chapter in Additional Reading. Wikipedia is not an acceptable reference.
All statements must be supported, and all sources including your textbook and assigned readings must be cited in the essay, and included in your reference list. Failure to do so constitutes Plagiarism, and the college has strict policies and penalties for failure to comply. Under the Student Writing Resources tab you will find links to sites that review how to format a paper or essay. I recommend that students use APA to format their essay. If you use APA, you do not have to include an Abstract. Students should ask their instructor which format style they prefer you to use.
Proofread your work. Make sure that you have looked for all of the spelling and grammatical errors and corrected them, and that you have organized your work into coherent paragraphs.
Prepare the assignment as a Word Document, double-spaced and using a standard font of 12 points.