10% (100 Points)
DUE: March 24, 2025 (11:59pm, EST)
GENERAL ESSAY DIRECTIONS:
- You must write and submit your paper as a KSU Google Document via KSU Google Drive; however, be sure to save a copy of it on your home computer.
- You must label the document with your last name and the assignment, for example: Smith’s Essay One.
- You must send me email notification when the paper is ready for me to evaluate:
- click on the SHARE button and share the document with me (clrobins@kent.edu)
- make sure that I have permission to EDIT
- make sure that the NOTIFY PEOPLE box is checked, or if that’s not available, send me an email with a link to the document.
- This essay is to be typed in 12 point font, double-spaced, with one-inch margins, and with citations, references, and other formatting all done in a standard style—such as APA Style.
- This essay is to be roughly 3-4 pages long (roughly 1000 words) long.* This means that it must be at least three complete pages of written text, not counting the References Page!
ESSAY TWO DIRECTIONS:
In addition to the above requirements, this essay must make use (quote or paraphrase) of the following:
- At least two sources from the Readily Available Materials of any Case Study or Supplemental Materials.
- At least two sources from Find it in KSU Libraries of any Case Study or Supplemental Materials.
- At least two of the Required Readings thus far examined.
This essay is focused upon the following Case Studies (and any relevant Supplemental Materials pages):
This assignment is similar to the focus of Essay One, but not at all identical. Consider the ways that the European Middle Ages still exist today, and/or consider how far we’ve come since those times. Leslie Workman used to argue that we’ve never actually left the Middle Ages, implying that there’s no such thing as “post-medieval” times. Do you agree or disagree? (Note: there has been fierce arguing in either agreement or disagreement among scholars since he made that statement.) This time, narrow your focus to either the sciences or the arts. Write your claim as a thesis statement and support it.
Suggestions:
- Adaptation, Adoption, and/or Appropriation of the medieval in any art form; choose
one or two items for your example(s) - The continued existence of a craft from medieval times into today: is it still a much needed craft or is it now more of a hobby?
- Medieval elements in contemporary arts or crafts.
- Adaptation, Adoption, and/or Appropriation of the medieval into contemporary medicine
- Adaptation, Adoption, and/or Appropriation of the medieval into science
- Adaptation, Adoption, and/or Appropriation of the medieval into science fiction
- The concept of the “patient”: medieval times vs. today
- Medicine: medieval times vs. today
- Witches and witchcraft: medieval times vs. today
- Climate Change: medieval times vs. today
- The medieval spectacle, today
- Disney medievalism
NOTE: You may use additional quality sources, but if they are not available on either the Case Studies or Supplemental Materials, you must email me for approval (at least 72 hours prior to the due date for this assignment).
EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITY: Watch a medievalist movie, or a documentary about medieval times, and incorporate this viewing into your essay (such as for a particular point being made in the essay). 5 points extra credit
*A page of 12 point font text, double-spaced, with 1 inch margins is roughly 325 words.
Grading Rubric
A paper may fall between the below described levels of quality—it may, for example, have a clearly stated central claim (thesis) but lack sufficient support, or it may be tightly organized and well supported, but full of grammatical and/or mechanical errors. In such instances, the paper will be evaluated in terms of its strongest qualities as set against its weakest qualities.
A Level Work
The essay demonstrates a full understanding and respect for the directions and stays on the chosen topic. If the assignment has an “open-topic” element, the essay follows the requirements for its content. The essay is properly formatted and was obviously composed using KSU Google Docs. The essay’s thesis (main point) is clearly stated. The essay is tightly organized, well developed, and coherent. The essay is well supported by reasoning and by at least the minimum required number of documented sources—including cited quotes, facts, and/or paraphrases (see requirements above). The essay has a professional 
tone, avoiding second person (“you” or “we”) completely and using first person singular (“I”) sparingly. The essay is virtually free of grammatical and mechanical errors.
B Level Work
The essay demonstrates a full understanding and respect for the directions and stays on the chosen topic. If the assignment has an “open-topic” element, the essay follows the requirements for its content. The essay is mostly properly formatted and was obviously composed using KSU Google Docs. The essay’s thesis (main point) is clearly stated. The essay is mostly organized, well developed, and mostly coherent. The essay is supported by reasoning and by at least the minimum required number of documented sources—including cited quotes, facts, and/or paraphrases (see requirements above). The essay has a professional tone, avoiding second person (“you” or “we”) completely and using first person singular (“I”) sparingly. The essay is mostly free of grammatical and mechanical errors.
C Level Work
The essay demonstrates an understanding and respect for the directions and stays on the chosen topic. If the assignment has an “open-topic” element, the essay follows the requirements for its content. The essay is mostly properly formatted and was obviously composed using KSU Google Docs. The essay’s thesis (main point) is stated, but is a little vague. The essay has some sense of organization, development, and coherence. The essay is supported by reasoning and by at least the minimum required number of documented sources—including cited quotes, facts, and/or paraphrases—but perhaps not supported enough (see requirements above). The essay has a mostly professional tone, avoiding second person (“you” or “we”) completely and using first person singular (“I”) sparingly. The essay is mostly free of grammatical and mechanical errors.
D Level Work
The essay does not demonstrate a full understanding and respect for the directions and stays on the chosen topic. If the assignment has an “open-topic” element, the essay does not fully follow the requirements for its content. The essay is not really properly formatted and/or was obviously not composed using KSU Google Docs. The essay’s thesis (main point) is stated, but is a little vague. The essay has some sense of organization, development, and coherence. The essay is supported by reasoning and by at least the minimum required number of documented sources—including cited quotes, facts, and/or paraphrases—but not supported enough (see requirements above). The essay has a mostly professional tone, avoiding second person (“you” or “we”) completely and using first person singular (“I”) sparingly. The essay has a lot of grammatical and mechanical errors.
F Level Work
The essay does not demonstrate a full understanding or respect for the directions, and/or the paper fails to stay on the chosen topic and/or to closely follow the requirements of an “open topic” assignment. The essay does not demonstrate an attempt to be properly formatted (APA Style) and was obviously not composed using KSU Google Docs. The essay’s thesis (main point) may or may not be stated, but if it is stated, it has not been done so very clearly. The essay is unorganized, under- developed, and/or incoherent. The essay is weakly supported by reasoning and documented sources (cited quotes, facts, and/or paraphrases), if supported at all. The essay has an unprofessional tone, significantly failing to avoid second person (“you” or “we”) completely and using first person singular (“I”) too much. The essay is cluttered by grammatical and mechanical errors.
Sample Point Deductions:
Submitted late: 3% grade point subtraction
Vague or missing thesis statement: 5% grade point subtraction
Unprofessional tone: 5% grade point subtraction
Improperly formatted: 5% grade point subtraction
Unprofessional use and citation of references: 5% grade point subtraction
Sentence coherence: 5-10% grade point subtraction
Weak essay organization and/or essay unity: 10% grade point subtraction
Not composed using KSU Google Docs: 10% grade point subtraction
1% of a 50 point essay = 0.5 point
1% of a 100 point essay = 1 point
1% of a 200 point essay = 2 points
