The final exam will be a take-home essay format. On Tuesday, December 6 I will post on the website (in the Final Exam slot under Assignments)a list of essay questions in two categories. You must answer one question in the category of “The Big Picture” (designed for you to demonstrate your engagement with the readings and discussions covered over the whole semester) and one question in the category of “The Scrumptious Details” (which will consist of a detailed analysis of one particular part of the course).

You should answer each of your two chosen questions with a separate essay that makes an argument using historical evidence. You must give citations using either footnotes or parenthetical citations. If you do not give a citation, you will not receive credit for the information. To cite a primary or secondary source, include at least author, title and page number. (publication information is not required for this assignment). To cite a class lecture or discussion, write: (Class lecture, [date of class period]).

Submit your essays via turnitin.com by 11:30 am on Tuesday Dec. 13.
Early submissions are appreciated. Late submissions will be penalized 2% per hour late, including overnight. After Wed, Dec. 14 at 11:30, I will not accept submissions at all.
Your essays should be around 500-1000 words each in length (1-3 typed pgs).
Each essay is worth 50% of the exam total.

Note: The Big Picture questions are intentionally “bird’s-eye-view,” sweeping questions, but your thesis statement should still state one well-defined explanation or observation addressing the broad question, illustrated with refererences to specific times and places described in class materials (with citations). (That is, you should not try to give a “complete” answer to the question, but a worthwhile “slice” or “angle” that addresses the big picture).  Your answers to the Big Picture questions must demonstrate your engagement with the readings and discussions over the whole semester.
The Scrumptious Details questions are intended to be more focused, and need only draw on the relevant materials. Nonetheless, your answer should still have a clear, analytical thesis, and should contain more detailed material so that it is approximately the same length as the Big Picture question.

The Good Wife's Guide (one of the assigned textbooks for the class): excepts only (see case study assignment for details)

Case study due via turnitin.com (details under Assignments).

CHANGE FROM SYLLABUS (different chapter than listed)

P. Grace, Affectionate Authorities, Ch. 6 “Fathers and Mothers” (23 pgs) here under Readings and Handouts

To guide your reading:

Note: During this class discussion, you will have a chance to talk with the author himself (me). This means that you should turn your “B.S. detector” to high; I really want to know what arguments you find unconvincing. Also, if there are passages or sentences that are confusing to you, please let me know. This is also our chance to talk more about how professional academic writing works—if you’re interested, please ask in class.

What is the overall argument of the book?

This chapter begins with the idea of the malleability of children; how did this concept of human nature influence medieval ideas about childrearing? What debates were there about appropriate discipline? How did the image or metaphor of fatherhood function in these debates?

In what ways was discipline gendered as a masculine role? In what ways did women and others “borrow” fatherhood to participate in disciplining children?

The chapter ends with the idea of fathers as examples. How did fathers teach by example?

Felicity Riddy, “Looking Closely: Authority and Intimacy in the Late Medieval Urban Home,” in Gendering the Master Narrative, 212-228.

“How the Goodwife Taught Her Daughter” and “How the Wise Man Taught His Son” (5 pgs)

To guide your reading:

In the “Goodwife” and “Wise man” poems, what behavior is endorsed toward members of one’s own household?

(Note: Riddy quotes sources in Middle English and does not always translate them. If there is a letter that you don’t recognize (like a “p” but with the bump in the middle of the stick), it is a “th” sound. Reading the quotations aloud often makes them easier to understand).

The essay begins by describing the relationship between householders and political authorities in the late middle ages. What developments does she describe?

What does Riddy object to about Georges Duby’s characterization of the relationship? What is her own argument?

What evidence does Riddy offer for the connotations of the words “home” and “homely” (and other bits of literary evidence) and the attitudes toward domestic life it shows?

What “circumstances of everyday living” does Riddy describe (that is, how does she move past word usage to hopefully get at real life)?

How did the “circumstances of everyday living” affect the idea of patriarchal authority (and political authority)?

Wiesner, “Spinning out Capital” in Becoming Visible 203-231 skip “Social Context” (206-7), “Sales” (218-220) (23 pgs) (under Readings and Handouts)

To guide your reading:

What major economic and societal changes in the early modern period does Wiesner emphasize?

We will examine specific types of womens’ work to analyze how the work itself changed or stayed the same, but also how the “patriarchal equilibrium” responded to societal changes. These examples are:

Agricultural work (212-213)

artisans and guilds (214-218)

midwives (222-223)

domestic service (224-225)

What similar trends are visible in different areas of women’s work?

Wiesner argues that “it is in the meaning of work that we can see the most change” during the early modern period. How did attitudes toward work change and how did this affect women’s work?