Wiki+Page+Instructions

Wiki Page Instructions

 // Your Goal: // Your objective is to create a wiki entry for a topic on some aspect of the European Reformations that interests you. Your goal is to pose a question and to answer it, based on solid, scholarly research, clearly enough that someone who knows nothing about the Reformations can understand your argument, your evidence, and the context.

 // CHECKLIST: WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO!! // There are SEVERAL PARTS to this assignment, and you must complete ALL of them to get a passing grade! PLEASE SEE THE SYLLABUS FOR DUE DATES.


 * You must set up a page in the class wiki.
 * That means that you have to
 * Join Wikispaces (it is free, click here)
 * Browse back to this wiki page (http://digitalreformation.wikispaces.com), and click "Join this wiki" (in the upper left corner). //Please set up your page in the class wiki//, not a personal wiki.
 * Here's a link to a page on which I have put some instructional screencasts.
 * Here's a demo page of what I want your first page to look like.


 * You must choose a topic and post it on your page.
 * Put your name by your topic on the Potential Topics page.
 * Here is a sample student page with the topic posted.


 *  You must f ind and read **at least three** __scholarly articles or book chapters (from different books!__) on some aspect of your chosen topic. //These articles should be all roughly on the same topic and they should be coherent (i.e same time, or location, etc).// Your question will help guide you to articles. If you are comparing Calvin and Luther on some aspect of their theology, you would need articles on each man's theology. If you are trying to figure out why the religious wars in France happened, please do not refer to an article on religious warfare in modern Iran. __ You must also post your l __ __ist of the articles you read, **in full bibliographic format**, on your wiki page (or a sub-page)__. You may copy the format from the books listed on your syllabus, or certainly check your style manual. Be consistent. You may link to the stable URL of the article, but do not cut and paste the full text of the article to this wiki.
 * You may include more than three articles and / or book chapters, if you wish.
 * By preference these should be dated from 1970 or later.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">By preference these should be articles from scholarly history journals, although scholarly literature or religious journals will work as well.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">While you might begin with Wikipedia for an overview, you may NOT use material from Wikipedia or any other encyclopedia / nonscholarly website, nor may you use Wikipedia as a source.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> If you are having trouble finding sources, please see Ms. Julie Poole's excellent videos. You can find them on the screencast page. If you are still having trouble, talk to me!
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">If you wind up using different scholarly sources for your final paper (so long as you have checked with me), just update your page.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">You can see a sample student page with the sources posted.


 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">You must post the question you are asking AND your (admittedly tentative) argument -- your answer-in-a-nutshell. You should write roughly 100 words **minimum.**
 * Here is an example of a page with the sources and argument posted.


 * You must post two article analyses, on two of the three scholarly articles you read. If you read more than three articles, you should post analyses of the initial two articles you listed.
 * You may post these directly on your page or you may upload them and link to them.


 * Your final product should be a wiki page due at the end of the seventh week of class containing well-written, proofread original text in standard grammar that includes:
 * The equivalent of 4 typewritten pages of text written by you (roughly 1500 words). Article analyses, supporting videos, linked text, and any other elements do not count toward your word count.
 * An argument placed somewhere in the first paragraph that informs and structures your entire paper
 * A definition of your topic.
 * Solid evidence supporting your argument
 * Brief discussion of why other interpretations of your topic are less satisfactory than yours, if applicable.
 * A conclusion
 * Anything else you think would be relevant to your topic.
 * Be creative! Find appropriate music, Reformation images (try to keep these in the same time frame). If you are analyzing Luther's social attitudes, you might want to add a link to some of his relevant work. If you are discussing the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, there are many sources on the web, from primary sources, contemporary art, and clips of modern movies.
 * You can see samples of past student work here. Their requirement was for three analyses and a shorter page, however.


 * You should post comments and critiques on THREE OTHER students' wiki pages, posted on Blackboard, due the last night of class. The criteria for the critiques is posted on the discussion post.


 * FORMAT: Flexible; see the format page.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> **WHAT NOT TO DO!** Doing any of these things will lose you points or __even cause you to fail the assignment__.
 * Using fewer than three scholarly sources. You may use other sources, but three must be scholarly. You may use more than three scholarly sources.
 * Not turning in one article analysis for two of the three articles you use.
 * Not citing your work appropriately. Yes, even on the wiki page! PUT QUOTATIONS IN QUOTATION MARKS AND CITE THEM.
 * You may use [|Chicago] style, [|MLA,] or [|APA.] [|Here is Diana Hacker's definitive guide] to all three styles (Chicago = History, MLA = Humanities and APA = social sciences. There is even a generator so you can plug in your information and be given a correct citation.
 * I__f you use APA, you MUST add a page number to your citation__. I need to be able to go to the exact page you used.
 * I will take off 10% of your total grade if you do not use consistent and correct style for your citations. (I am not talking about the occasional typo or genuine mistake, but consistent disregard for the style manual.)
 * Merely reporting on your topic without having an argument or answering HOW and WHY questions.
 * Not using your scholarly sources and instead using only generic webpage information.
 * Having too short an essay. 1488 words or 1520 words will not cause you pain. 300 words only will cause you a world of grade hurt.
 * Not proofreading and spell-checking your text; using inappropriate grammar.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> **Plagiarism saddens and offends me, and in particular the form of cutting and pasting from websites, books, articles, or any source you did not write.** //**YOU WILL FAIL THE ENTIRE CLASS IF I FIND ANY TEXT, EVEN SO MUCH AS A SENTENCE, THAT YOU HAVE CUT AND PASTED WITHOUT BOTH QUOTING AND CITING IT**//.
 * Quotations are good--they show that you are reading, understanding, and __crediting__ other scholars. However, they should be no longer than two sentences. Otherwise, in such a short paper, you are relying on someone else to do the thinking for you. Therefore, if your essay consists of more than 1/4 quotations from other sources, **__you will fail the course__**, even if you cited the quotations correctly. WRITE YOUR OWN TEXT.
 * You're welcome to try to slip text past me, of course. Ask other students about what happened when they tried.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> //The header is a digital copy of a painting of Martin Luther in 1533 by Lucas Kranach the Elder.//