Comparing spirituality, religion, and philosophy during the era of The Gothic Age to The Italian Renaissance

The first part of the essay, which will earn its own grade, involves researching and writing the first half of 

the essay, including the introduction and the discussion of the first era being compared. This essay portion MUST contain the following:

a) A title that effectively draws attention AND connects to the chosen idea and historical eras

b) A clear introduction to set up the thesis and the ages to be examined

c) A thesis that gives the insight to be gained from the analysis and comparison

d) Thorough discussion of the complexities of the first era’s development of a particular idea

e) Two reputable sources (minimum) detailing elements not to be found in our textbook, and

f) Few or no errors to interfere with understanding.

Reputable sources exclude general knowledge sources (such as the textbook, Wikipedia, a dictionary or encyclopedia, or other less specific or reliable sources), as well as sources with obvious bias or without scholarly merit. The sources must be cited according to MLA documentation (which we will cover to some extent in class). More importantly, the student’s discussion of the source material and historical evidence needs to comprise at least 70% of the essay, so that readers can see not only that the writer has examined sufficient material, but also that the writer has analyzed, examined, and synthesized the material back together in a meaningful way.