HIST 3110
Fall 2023
Midterm Exam Essay Question
Essay Prompt Options
Instructions:
Please select and respond to one
(1)
of the following prompts with a well-organized, multi-paragraph
response. Your essay should be typed, double-spaced, and edited for correct spelling and grammar. It
should be long enough to completely answer the prompt – probably 4-5 paragraphs, depending on your
writing style. You may quote from the textbook or primary sources like the
Decameron
, but you must use
quotation marks and some form of citation (footnote, endnote, parenthetical reference), and you must
include a Works Cited list of any additional sources used.
You will submit your completed essay through
a TurnitIn link on Moodle.
Prompt (Option 1)
Much of our course this semester has focused on the theme of order and disorder in the late medieval
era. Your essay should address this theme. What achievements or characteristics were representative of
the orderly civilization of the High Middle Ages? What challenges introduced disorder in the Late Middle
Ages (c. 1200-1450)? Identify and discuss at least three challenges to late Medieval order. Be sure to
incorporate important individuals (by name), events (by date), or key themes/terms as part of your
response. Conclude with a few remarks (your own opinion) about how you think these crises and
challenges might have contributed to the emergence of a new, early modern Europe in subsequent
centuries.
Prompt (Option 2)
Giovanni Boccaccio’s
Decameron
provides a unique literary perspective of fourteenth century Italy and
the consequences of the Black Death.
Your essay should address this theme.
Who was Boccaccio, and
why did he write the
Decameron
?
How does he describe the experience of plague in fourteenth century
Italy?
How do the stories included in the
Decameron
reflect the moral and social disruption of the Black
Death?
Make reference to the assigned stories or to any other stories from the
Decameron
that you feel
support your arguments.
Conclude with a few remarks (your own opinion) about why you think the
Decameron
has been such an influential work of literature in Western Civilization.
