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Term Paper Topics
Why am I writing the term paper?
The term paper is expected to be a minimum of 2,000 words and is due in draft form on 10
Nov 2011 and revised form on 5 Dec 2011. You will receive more detailed instructions in
your tutorials on how to: come up with ideas for the paper, do research, organize your
findings, structure your essay, cite sources, and write clearly. The main reason you are
writing the term paper is that it will provide you with opportunities to develop important
skills that will serve you well in all your future writing, including how to...
• use the reading strategies you have learned in tutorial to approach the primary and
secondary source materials required for the paper
• gain a deeper understanding of a particular topic that goes beyond simply reading
about it or hearing about it in a lecture
• organize, relate and synthesize information from a variety of sources
• make generalizations about, and draw conclusions from, a range of specific information
• clearly articulate a thesis (a main statement to be proved) and maintain focus on the
thesis throughout the paper
• develop an argument (a set of reasons) to prove a thesis
• properly cite primary and secondary sources as evidence in support of an argument
• write clearly in a well-structured format
What are the TAs and the Professor looking for in the term paper?
In evaluating your term papers, we will be looking for evidence that you are employing all
the skills mentioned above to ensure that your paper has:
• an easily identifiable, plausible, clearly stated thesis related directly to the topic
• an apparent, organized structure that is appropriate for the thesis with logical
transitions from section to section
• an identifiable, sound argument (with multiple points) that develops and supports the
main thesis statement
• proper citations from primary and secondary sources to support each point of the
argument, with balance between your own ideas and those cited from other sources
• good sentence and paragraph structure, grammar, word choice, punctuation and
citation style with minimal spelling errors
We are not looking for a certain thesis as the right answer; we are looking for the presence
of a thesis, an argument to demonstrate it, evidence to support the points of the argument,
and clear, well-organized writing.
Premodern East Asian History EAS 103H1F – 2011
What primary and secondary sources can I use?
To research and write this paper, you should only use the Ebrey textbook, the de Bary
source book (any part of it, not just the assigned readings), supplemental readings posted on
Blackboard, and your notes from lectures. You will learn the proper ways to cite these
sources in your tutorial. You may use websites such as Wikipedia to simply remind yourself#p#分页标题#e#
of basic information (which is also covered in your textbook), but you should not rely upon
it as a final authority, nor should you include any text from any website in your paper. All
the language in your paper should either be completely your own or properly cited
from the textbook, source book and lectures. Failure to do this (either deliberately or
inadvertently) will leave you open to charges of plagiarism that could have serious
consequences for your university career.
How do I approach the term paper topics?
Each of the topics below (in boldface font) is followed by a statement in one sentence (in
sans serif font). In your paper, you should agree, disagree, or partially agree and disagree,
with the statement and state your position in your thesis. Then you need to develop an
argument with multiple points to support that thesis and demonstrate each of the points
with evidence from primary and secondary sources. Remember, there are no right or wrong
answers here, just ones that are supported well and ones that are not. Keep the following
guidelines in mind:
• your answer must touch on at least two of the three major regions of East Asia that we
now refer to as China, Korea and Japan, and you must compare your findings for each
region to one another
• this is a short paper, so you should restrict yourself to just one or two relevant time
periods for each region that you discuss
• give some thought as to how you want to organize your paper: will you deal with each
region separately and only relate them in your introduction and conclusion? or will you
jump back and forth between regions as you develop your argument? will your
argument follow a chronological progression? or will you organize it by subtopics and
jump around in time? (You will have a chance to discuss these approaches in your
tutorial.)
There are several questions (in serif font) following each of the statements. These are
brainstorming questions to help you get started. Feel free to answer these questions in your
paper as part of your argument, but do not feel that you need to answer all of them as they
are written here. You are encouraged to adapt these questions as you see fit and to come up
with additional questions related to the topic on your own.
Finally, you may come up with an entirely different topic on your own provided it is relevant
to the course and you can answer it using the sources mentioned above. You will need to
write the topic in the same format as the ones below (topic/statement/questions) and submit
it directly to me via email by 10pm on Thu 13 Oct 2011 for my approval. Do not proceed
with writing the paper until you have received explicit approval from me via email.
Premodern East Asian History EAS 103H1F – 2011
Warfare in East Asia
Warfare did more to foster cultural, economic and technological developments#p#分页标题#e#
than hinder them.
Use some of the following questions to help you form an argument: Did warfare bring about
political stability or threaten it? How did it affect developments in economy, technology, and
culture? How did it affect relations between regions and/or with border peoples? How did the
relationship between the military and non-military elites in each society change over time?
How do the victors and the defeated in a war develop differently?
Geography of East Asia
The historical development of a country can be explained primarily in terms of
its geography (the physical features of a place and the distribution of
populations and resources across it).
Use some of the following questions to help you form an argument: How does geography affect
trade, warfare, linguistic and cultural development, a sense of unity, relations with other
regions? What major aspects of a civilization can be attributed to its geography? Are there
other aspects of a civilization that can overcome the influence of geography?
Women in East Asia
The steady decline in the social status of women throughout East Asia can be
directly attributed to the rise of Confucianism as a state doctrine.
Use some of the following questions to help you form an argument: Did women in East Asia
lose power and autonomy over time? If so, what were the major turning points and causes of
this loss of power? How were women’s social, political, cultural and familial roles defined
differently in different regions? Is this a statement that only applies to women among the
ruling elites? what about peasant women? or women of the merchant and artisanal classes in
urban centres?
Confucianism in East Asia
Confucianism is the only truly pan-Asian (present in China, Korea and Japan)
system of thought, political organization, and ritual practice.
Use some of the following questions to help you form an argument: How and when did
Confucian thought spread from China to Korea and Japan? How did different regions adapt it
differently over time? for what purposes? Was it equally important among the ruling elites and
general population? How much of society was actually affected by it? Was it more important
than other thought systems and ritual practices in a region (either indigenous or imported)?
Ethnicity in East Asia
Chinese, Korean and Japanese racial identities are cultural constructs
developed over time and have no stable definition.
Use some of the following questions to help you form an argument: Is the idea of a race
biological or cultural? At what point in their histories do the people of East Asia start to think
of themselves as distinct peoples identified with a particular region? What about “other”
peoples who may occupy these regions? How do the educated elite and the illiterate general
population participate differently in the idea of a common culture?#p#分页标题#e#指导essay termpaper
Premodern East Asian History EAS 103H1F – 2011
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