Europe 800-1300

Castle/Cathedral Project and Presentation

• Due on Thursday 18 December or Friday 19 December (sign-up to follow in class)

Directions

1. Purchase either Castle or Cathedral by David Macauley in the bookstore
2. Choose a castle or cathedral of your own to study:
3. Must have been predominantly constructed between 800-1300
   1. Check the following websites for links to possible structures:
      • http://www.castles.org/index.htm
      • http://www.geocities.com/MedievalWorld/LinksCastle.html
      • http://www.geocities.com/MedievalWorld/LinksCathedral.html
   2. Does not need to be intact now
   3. Can be in any western European country
4. Sign-up for your castle/cathedral in class on Monday 1 December
5. Collect information on your structure
6. Choose a method of presentation (website or poster, no power point! If you want to discuss another type of presentation you can negotiate with Dr. Myers…)
7. Once your written material is done, decide how best to teach your classmates about your castle/cathedral in class. You must highlight connections to Macauley, but also show how your structure is unique/significant in its history and what role it plays in the modern world.

Assessment

Intellectual Content (25% of course grade)

• Historic
• Modern
• Integration of Macauley (architectural features as well as the social role of the structure)
• Understanding & connection to class (should refer to either Bishop or Power as well)
• Referencing/Works Cited sheet (see attached sheet for further specifics)

Presentation (15% of course grade)

• Clarity
• Visuals (must be on one surface - you should be able to push print once at a webpage or you can use a more traditional paper method…and you must hand in what you want me to grade.)
• Oral presentation must be 10-15 minutes in length
• Uniqueness

Questions to consider in researching and presenting your castle/cathedral…

• How is your castle/cathedral similar to that presented by Macauley in his book? How is it different?
• What are the modern uses of your structure?
• Have any major events happened at your structure?
• Are there any (in)famous personalities associated with your castle/cathedral?
• If it is a ruin, how did it get that way? How do we know how it looked originally?
• Have there been additions or alterations made to your castle/cathedral since it was originally constructed?
  

Plagiarism

According to The Compass, "Plagiarism is the act of taking the work of another and presenting it as one's own, without acknowledgement of the original source. ...It is always the responsibility of the student to provide precise sources for all ideas, information, or data he or she has borrowed or adapted. Simply listing sources in a bibliography is not sufficient. Students who use information from the World Wide Web are expected to follow these same guidelines for the citation of sources."

Despite the unorthodox format of this research project, it is still important that you provide references for all the information you use in your written and oral presentations of your work. To account for the fact that it may be difficult for you to insert proper footnotes or endnotes within your material, I am requiring you to provide a Works Cited sheet on the day you present your castle/cathedral. While a bibliography lists all the sources you consult when writing your paper, a Works Cited list only includes items you actually USE in writing the paper. The works in your Works Cited should be alphabetized by author's last name, and you may mix the types of materials altogether, or separate by type (books, articles, websites, etc.).

In addition, if you are able to refer to specific page numbers within your presented material, or can indicate "as Macauley points out on page ##…" while you are presenting, it will help you to a higher grade.

Examples of Citations

Bishop, Morris. The Middle Ages. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1968.

Columbia University Media Center for Art History. "Notre Dame de Paris."
< http://www.learn.columbia.edu/notre-dame/index.html>.

Historic Scotland. "Edinburgh Castle." <http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/index/
op_ourproperties/ op_ourpropertiessearch/op_ourproperties_searchdetail.htm?id=90130>.

Macauley, David. Castle. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1977.

Macauley, David. Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction. New York: Houghton Mifflin
Company, 1973.

Power, Eileen. Medieval Women. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1975.

And finally...

• If you need help selecting a castle/cathedral or if you are struggling to find sources, be sure to ask for help.
• If you need assistance with the proper format for citing other types of sources, be sure to ask in class, or ask Dr. Myers during office hours or via e-mail. There is no reason not to have proper referencing in your project.