FEUDALISM
Today’s society often romanticizes feudalism. Modern restaurants hold medieval feasts; in some urban areas, themed festivals with knights and vassals are a yearly occurrence. Even multimillion-dollar hotels base their entire theme on the Middle Ages. Many television shows and novels have focused on the time period. In your English classes, you might have studied the idea of courtly love. But, what was it really like to live in that time period? Do we accurately remember the hardships faced by the lower classes?
Research can help you organize material and acquire details often overlooked. Often, the research can lead to a strong opinion about the topic. With an argument paper, we analyze a debatable subject, and then assign it a publishable form.
Picture the difference between simply riding a bicycle and examining its parts to discover what makes the wheels turn. When we analyze history, we are essentially examining the many philosophies concerning our responsibility to the current era. Once your reader is educated, they can make informed decisions about their part in the system.
Today, you will use research to inform a reader. Use details from your investigation to support a central idea. Remember, your purpose is to inform your reader. Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, and rewriting. Develop the topic thoroughly by selecting the most significant and relevant facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples. You will need to follow the rules of grammar by using correct punctuation, spelling, and capitalization.
Before you begin any writing assignment, look closely at the prompt and determine what information you have been asked to find. You may want to make a checklist that includes the subject, a list of requirements, and any open-ended questions that the prompt expects you to answer.
Write a four-paragraph argument for or against the usefulness of the feudalist structure. Your assigned audience is a modern business leader. You may choose to create a slide show or other piece of media to accompany your paper. For your research, choose one of the following countries:
France
England
Germany
Make a claim as to whether feudalism helped or hindered your Western European country. Offer the reader strong points supporting your answer.
Address the counter claim to your argument. Offer the reader the specific facts from your research that shows the flaws within the counter claim.
As support for either your claim or counter claim, include how feudalism finished its course in the country you selected.
Include the approximate years when feudalism began and ended in that country.
In addition, explain whether the national leader at the time of feudalism played a part in encouraging or harming feudalism within their country.
