Final Exam Essay
In this brief two-page essay, you shall use the materials that we read during this course as well as any outside sources you feel may enhance your argument. Keep in mind, however, you should make use of specific examples and/or references in your essay to Carl Becker’s ‘Everyman His Own Historian, Tacitus’s Annals, and Steven Pinker’s ‘The Intellectual War On Science.’ You should not ignore these three readings.In our first discussion we addressed the very nature of what we call ‘History’ – both historiographical and epistemological issues, while in our second discussion we used our knowledge of those issues to analyze the persuasiveness of a particular book. Now add what you have learned from Steven Pinker’s defense of science, data, the enlightenment and western civilization (e.g. there are real truths, we have made real discoveries, made improvements and ‘progressed’). Do you agree with Pinker or not? Explain?
I want to read your voice in this and you should take a stance. Your essay will be run through Turnitin so if you use verbatim language from a source it should be in quotes
