Advanced Placement European History
Summer Assignment (2015-2016)
Students enrolled in the Advanced Placement European History Course for the 2015 – 2016 school year must complete a 1500 word report on life during the Middle Ages.
Medieval topics that can be written about include:
1. Peasant life during the Middle Ages;
2. Warfare during the Middle Ages;
3. Life of the nobility during the Middle Ages;
4. The role of guilds during the Middle Ages;
5. The quality of life in a medieval town;;
6. Feudal justice during the Middle Ages.
Students must include a bibliography that includes at least five sources from approved databases. Students may use the following databases:
1) eLibrary;
2) KY Virtual Library;
3) and The Library (a website sponsored by the Boyd County Library)
The attached documents explain:
1) How to access the approved databases from your home computer;
2) Rules about the type setting of your essay;
3) Rules about heading your essay;
4) How to format your essay bibliography page;
5) How to cite your sources within the essay using intext (parenthetical) citations;
Follow these basic rules closely. Even the most informative and well researched essays will be down-graded for a student’s failure to follow these essay parameters. If an essay question arises that is not answered by the basic rules, the student should use his/her best judgement in the researching / writing / typing of the essay. Students will ONLY be penalized if the student violates a specifically stated rule.
By limiting a student’s research to only three databases, I can more easily detect any instances of plagiarism. The copying of referenced information is a major breech of academic etiquette and will not be allowed. Students must give credit for an author’s direct quotations and for an author’s idea, even if the student rewords or paraphrases the information. There is a difference between blatant plagiarism and grey areas of plagiarism, where even distinguished college professors might disagree as to whether a literary violation has occurred. My goal is for all of my AP students to make a good faith effort to avoid plagiarism. A student that can confidently justify a lack of citation within his/her essay should not be threatened by a teacher who questions the essay.
The bottom line - Plagiarized material will prevent student enrollment in AP European History. I will not hesitate to question a student about a possible incident of plagiarism
This assignment is due on the first day of class. Students who do not have this assignment completed at the beginning of the first AP European Class, or have not completed the assignment to the teacher’s satisfaction, will not be taking AP European History. No exceptions!!!!!!
And lastly, a few words of caution. The AP European History class is not an easy course. It is entirely different than my Accelerated World Civilizations Class. Students can earn college credit for taking this course, so it will be taught like a college class. Out-of-class readings and lengthy note-taking sessions (without the aid of powerpoint presentations) will be the norm. If this 1500 word summer essay makes a student hesitate in his/her decision to take this course…this student may want to reconsider his/her decision to take the course.
If there are any questions, Mr. Wittich can be reached at 606-326-0052 or e-mailed at