Topic
The Abbasids’ era was considered the golden age for the sophistication of Arabic Culture.
Discuss the topic tracing the growth of the Arabic Culture from the Pre-Islamic to the Umayyads then the Abbasids, focusing on Arts, literature and poetry, woman’s rights, Arabic language and Arabic society.
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS
Length: paper should be 4 pages (excluding cover page and bibliography).
Format: Paper should be double space, calibre, 12.
Three sources of reference are required.
Sources of reference include scholarly books and articles. You can also use Hourani and Halim Barakat for reference.
Footnotes are needed whenever you have a citation. Use APA style;
Add a bibliography (or a list of references) at the end of your paper on a separate page.
CRITERIA OF EVALUATION
Papers will be marked using the following system:
Style, grammar and composition: 5 over 30
Structure of the paper: 5 over 30
Content: 20 over 30
Style, grammar and composition: unless you write your paper using the right words, in the right context, the content of your paper might not be delivered properly. Please pay special attention to your writing.
Make transitions between paragraphs, build your arguments on facts and compare between facts. Do not generalize. Do not give a personal opinion unless based on a strong argumentation.
Content: from all the information collected by, choose only what is pertinent to your argument. Specify this argument very clearly in your introduction. Do not state facts without citation. To avoid too many footnotes, you can use an expression such as: According to (name of the author)…Originality, rigor and strong argumentation are highly appreciated.
STRUCTURE YOUR PAPER
The paper should be divided into THREE Sections:
Introduction: (1 pages) where you will expose your argument, explain the reason why you choose to write about the topic, in a specific period of time, and why you wish to study a specific cultural practice (or cultural figure) in this specific time and place; you can formulate questions and promise to answer them during the course of your paper.
Topic: (2 pages) describe in the beginning of this section the historical/political events, or the cultural practices you want to analyse (literature, music, theatre, visual arts, pop culture, etc.); define it briefly and explain why it is central to our understanding of Arab culture; explain how the specific period of time and the historical background of had an effect on the sophistication of the Arabic culture during the Abbasids’ era;
Conclusion (1 page): DO NOT summarize what you’ve said in the paper; rather answer the few questions you asked in the beginning and open up the discussion to elements that you could not cover but might have been interesting to your analysis.