Contents:

Introduction
Research Approaches
Deadlines and Requirements
Some Suggested Areas for Research

There are two purposes in assigning a paper: first, to lead you to a deeper understanding in your own mind of some particular episode (i.e., some event, conflict, or problem) in world history; and second, to develop skills in expressing that understanding, through your own words, in a succinct, lucid, and persuasive essay.

Generally, the most successful papers deal with an explicitly-defined subject and try to resolve some apparent contradiction (or, show how some real-life contradiction was not resolved), rather than attempting a comprehensive narrative history (such as "Buddhism in Japan" or "Reunification in the 16th Century"). In other words, try to focus in on some very narrowly-defined event or decision and use that to illuminate some larger issue (rather than tackling the whole larger issue itself). Exercises in "counterfactual" history (i.e., what if X had -- or had not -- happened...?) almost invariably fall flat. Also, avoid "straw-man" arguments (i.e., stating a position in an extreme or unrealistic form, solely for the purpose of demolishing it).

Your paper should be focused in a manner you have designed yourself, and you have a good deal of latitude in deciding the scope which its content will encompass.  The subjects suggested at the end of this hand-out are by no means exclusive and are meant only to provoke your imagination; each of them is stated in "topic" form and must be focused much more narrowly onto a specific problem.  Also, most of these suggestions pose "what"-type questions; having answered that question through your initial reading, you should go on to analyze the underlying "why."  The only restriction (other than your own imagination) is that your subject must take Japan as its basic focal point and must fall within the timeframe covered during the current semester (i.e., up to the collapse of the Tokugawa Bakufu in 1868).

Research Approaches:

At this introductory level, I do not expect you to be doing original research.  If you can handle sources in a foreign language, so much the better, but I realize that most of you will be working mostly with English-language sources.  But don't handicap yourself any further by using only books that rely completely on English sources; instead, check the notes and bibliography of your readings to see if the author has gone back to original-language documents.  In this sense, you will be highly dependent on others to dig up data.  Likewise, your conclusions do not have to be completely original, but they should be stated in your own words.  More than likely, you will find that an author has assembled a pile of data in order to support a particular argument; you can use the same data as a basis for supporting a different argument.

(1) Due dates for all three parts of your paper assignment are indicated on your syllabus. Also, note well the section on "due dates" in the Class Protocols.

(2) Statement of Topic: This should give a tentative title for your paper and a few lines describing the problem you want to investigate, and then a list of your preliminary bibliography (in proper format). This list should make a clear distinction among:

i. books which you have already consulted;

ii. books which you have obtained but not yet consulted, and

iii. books which you have identified, but have not yet obtained or consulted.

(3) The prospectus:

(a) Your prospectus should include (check out the separate "Introduction to the Prospectus" for details):
 
i. a working title for your paper

ii. a draft of your introductory paragraph, setting forth your thesis -- i.e., a proposed answer to your "animating question"

iii. an numbered outline (no bullet-points) of the whole paper, indicating the structure of your argument, and as much as possible of the nature of its substance; i.e., you don't have to list all your facts, but at least indicate what type of facts you'll be providing

iv. a working bibliography, alphabetized by author

v. all of your previous submissions and my comments, stapled underneath your prospectus; this helps me keep track of your progress


(b) The prospectus will be returned to you, with comments, with all convenient speed. What you submit in your prospectus does not bind you to a particular focus or list of sources for your final paper; it is simply a way of checking that you have made reasonable progress by that time. It's also a way of heading off potential disasters.

(c) If it turns out that your first effort on the prospectus fell short of the mark, you are strongly encouraged to keep revising your prospectus. There is no limit on the number of times you can resubmit it; our goal is to make sure that you end up with a workable focus and structure for your argument.

(d) Keep (all editions of) your corrected prospectus to turn in with the final version of your paper.

Your instructor/s is/are available for consultation, guidance, explication, and encouragement whenever you need it.  In particular, although you are not required to get your subject pre-approved before turning in your Statement of Topic, you may want to get some preliminary feed-back on the feasibility of your chosen focus.  For help in organizing your research and polishing your writing-style, you should also feel free to take advantage of the services offered by the Georgetown Writing Center in Lauinger 217-A (687-4246).

Some Suggested Areas for Research:

1. Japan's early interactions with the Asian mainland
2. impact of the development of agriculture
3. initial state-building efforts
4. significance of Kofun Period architecture
5. introduction of Buddhism
6. what did or did not work in adapting the "Chinese" model?
7. who "owns" the land in the Yamato or Nara/Heian periods?
8. what are the origins of "Japanese origins" as codified in the Nara/Heian period?
9. development of indigenous literature
   
10.  role of Buddhism in Japan's economy or politics
11. consolidation of imperial power
12. development of the sekkan system
13. origins/rise/development of bushidō
14. impact of the Mongol threat
    
15. strengths or weaknesses of shogunal power
16. changes in social relations from the imperial to shogunal periods
17. rise of local political power during the Muromachi period
18. sources of authority during the Warring States (Sengoku) period
19. impacts (trade, politics, religion) of early contact with Europe
20. sources of Tokugawa stability/instabiliity
21. debates between "national" and "Chinese" learning
22. political and social impact(s) of drama or poetry
23. cultivation of an architectural æsthetic
24. "exclusion" and "Western Learning"
25. Japan and "Western imperialism"