Assignments and Grades
Assignments for the class – and how they will be assessed.
Participation
Your participation in class is essential for learning – not just for you, but also for your peers. The class promotes active learning and often includes work in pairs or small groups.
Movie Review
We will watch three movies on Chinese history during the term. They are:
| Movie title | Review due date |
|---|---|
| Hero | Sunday, Oct 5 |
| Chang’an | Sunday, Oct 19 |
| New Dragon Gate Inn | Sunday, Nov 9 |
In this assignment, you will have the opportunity to write on a film of your choice. In conducting a close and critical reading (800-1000 words), you should consider how the film of your choice inspires us to rethink some dimension of Chinese history, politics, or society.
Remember: You are not doing a general summary or review of the movie; you are not doing a formal film critique of the movie, either. Rather, you are focusing on the historical qualities of the film. Some questions you may consider:
- What did you learn from the movie that you did not already know? What parts of the film struck you as historically accurate and what parts fictional to enhance the story plot?
- Is the film making a historical argument? Which are the major scenes that were historically significant in the movie?
- How does your own history and perspective affect how you perceive the film?
- How was the film received when it came out? Has our interpretation changed overtime, and if so, why?
You may choose any film, but you must submit your review by the appropriate deadline. If you miss one, just move onto the next one.
Class Exhibition: Chinese History in Objects
In this assignment, you will have the opportunity to practice storytelling with historical objects. Begin by first identifying a historical artifact – text, object, image. You may choose any item that is broadly related to Chinese history before 1800. It may come from Dartmouth’s own collections, such as the Hood Art Museum and the Rauner Special Collections Library, from an external museum and private collection, or somewhere else, as long as you could clarify its provenance.
You may present a standard essay with illustrations, a podcast, an interactive 3D tour, or any format that best suits the story you wish to tell. If you are looking for ideas, here are some examples:
- BBC (in collaboration with the British Museum): A History of the World in 100 Objects
- Cyrus Tang Hall of China at the Field Museum
- Hear from Me series at the National Palace Museum (Taipei)
- Sogdian Art & Culture in 25 Objects
Whatever you choose, the final product should be 800-1000 words (excluding footnotes) in length, or approximately 10 minutes in audio or video. It should:
- Historically situate the image/object in temporal and spatial context
- Clarify why you chose this particular image/object
- Elaborate the connections between the image/object and course themes
- Provide list of references you consulted and/or for future research
The object biography assignment is due at noon on Sunday, Nov 16.
Mid-term and Final Exams
In the mid-term and final exams, you will apply historical knowledge and reasoning skills that you have developed in the class to a new set of documents. The exams will be available on Canvas during the following periods:
| Assessment | Optional review session | Start date | End date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mid-term | Tuesday X-hour, Oct 14 | Friday, Oct 17 | Sunday, Oct 26 |
| Final exam | Tuesday X-hour, Nov 11 | Friday, Nov 14 | Tuesday, Nov 25 |
Once you begin the written exam, you will have 120 minutes to write an essay based on ONE extract from the following selection of materials:
- Primary sources: texts that were written in the time period you are asked about;
- Secondary sources: texts written by later historians that explain the time period;
- Multimedia sources: typically artworks – cartoons, posters, paintings, videos – from the time period.
While the documents will be new, their genre and context should be familiar to you through our class readings, lectures, and discussions. During the exam, you may consult your notes, our course readings, and the Internet (including AI tools), but you should cite them properly if you do so.
Final Grade
Your final grade will be calculated based on the following weighting and scale:
| Item | Weight |
|---|---|
| Attendance and Participation | 10 % |
| Film review | 20 % |
| Object biography | 25 % |
| Mid-term exam | 20 % |
| Final exam | 25 % |
| Grade | Range | Grade | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 93 - 100% | C | 73 - 76.9% |
| A- | 90 - 92.9% | C- | 70 - 72.9% |
| B+ | 87 - 89.9% | D+ | 67 - 69.9% |
| B | 83 - 86.9% | D | 63 - 66.9% |
| B- | 80 - 82.9% | D- | 60 - 62.9% |
| C+ | 77 - 79.9% | F | < 60% |