Governing Samurai, 1185–1651
By this point in our class, we have explored the rise of three different samurai governments as well as the chaotic periods of “Warring States” and the eventual unification of Japan. In all of these historical periods, we have seen various samurai lords establish laws and precepts in their attempt to control their vassals. For this essay, identify a key issue or theme in these laws that, in your opinion, is especially important for our understanding of how these rulers sought to govern the samurai and how this evolved over time.
As was the case in Essay 1:
- Support your central thesis by citing specific examples from your chosen set of historical sources.
- Back up your analysis and claims about the historical sources by citing specific passages from the Japan Emerging (JE) readings as well as points made during in-class lectures and discussions.
- This essay is designed to be completed with in-class materials; please do not cite outside sources.
A note on why it is critically necessary to cite from both the historical AND scholarly sources (JE, lectures) in order to write a successful piece of historical analysis:
- If you only cite the JE readings or the lecture, your essay is, in the end, only a summary of those scholarly works. You need to directly engage with and cite from the historical sources in order to present your own interpretation of history.
- If you only cite from the historical sources, you are unable to evaluate and validate your personal interpretation of these sources. Citing scholarly sources transforms your interpretation of historical sources from something that is purely subjective into an informed opinion that is backed up by existing scholarship.
- Citing scholarly sources will also help you avoid key errors like selecting historical sources that do not match your arguments, misreading historical texts, and applying anachronistic ideas to historical actors or events.
Tips for Essay 2
- For inspiration, re-read the reading response posts that you and your classmates wrote for Week 4 (“Your Favorite Sengoku Samurai Rule”) as well as the annotations of the Tokugawa codes from Week 5.
- When you’re reading and interpreting these laws, make sure to not only consider the ideas that are stated explicitly in their articles but also the historical contexts and realities that prompted to the rule-givers to write them in the first place. In other words, some of these articles may require you to “read between the lines” in order to recognize their true significance. The scholarly sources are of critical importance in this process.
- If your paper contains less than 10 citations, it is highly likely that you are not citing enough sources.
Essay Format
Your essay should be formatted in the following manner:
- Give the essay a title
- At least 1,250 words, double-spaced
- 12-pt. Times or Times New Roman font
- Double-spaced
- 1-inch margin
- Microsoft Word file
Citations
Cite sources in footnotes in accordance with the Chicago Manual of Style. Your citation should identify the title of the specific document you’re citing, its author (if available), the citation information for the book your document comes from, and, most importantly, the page number of the passage you’re citing.
Additional Essay Tips
Questions to ask before turning in your paper:
- Is the title of my essay informative?
- Do I state my thesis point soon enough, perhaps even in the first sentence, and keep it in view throughout the paper? Is the opening paragraph interesting, and by its end, have I focused on the topic?
- Is my organization clear? Does each point lead into the next, without irrelevancies and without anticlimaxes?
- Is each paragraph unified by a topic sentence or topic idea?
- Are my sentences concise, clear, and emphatic? Are needless words and inflated language eliminated?
- Is the final paragraph conclusive without being repetitive?
Essay 2 is due during session 14 and counts for 20% of the course grade.
