I wrote a paper for my Early Modern Europe Class. This was the prompt: “Write a 5-7 page paper reflecting on the evolution of human rights in early modern Europe. How did different groups acquire rights to be treated as equals and participate fully in society and its institutions? Which groups acquired rights before others, and why? How did people seeking to expand rights go about trying to enact change? What kinds of arguments or actions were most effective in expanding rights to minorities? Based on your understanding of history, what do you expect will happen in the future?
Use at least three primary sources from this semester’s assigned readings. You may use sources that you wrote about for the other paper assignments, but you may not re-use parts of those papers—all of the writing for this paper should be fresh and original. The first time you mention each source, provide the author’s first and last name, the title, and the original date of publication. Be sure to support your claims with evidence, using quotations and specific examples from the primary sources. Include a statement of your argument in your introductory paragraph.” This was the culminating essay.

That was the highest grade I had ever gotten on a paper. I did not know it was possible to score that high on an essay. An almost perfect grade. I do not mean to brag, boast, or anything. I am surprised I received that grade. I am going to reflect on what went right on that essay. The requirement was that we could not use the same quotes from previous essays. We could use the same texts from them, however. I think that made me think more creatively about using other passages. I would interpret as much as I could out of a quote. From a passage, I made several paragraphs.

I think one of my first thoughts was, I hope I can meet at least five pages.

I thought, if I can’t use certain things from previous writing, how can I support my thesis?

I wrote about Laura Cereta, Olaudah Equiano, and Voltaire. The tests I analyzed were: Laura Cereta’s Letter to Bibulus Sempronius (1487), Voltaire’s A Treatise on Toleration (1763), Olaudah Equiano’s The Life of Gustavus Vassa (1789). 

Coming up with a thesis was difficult. Especially for a history class, a thesis is like that for me. In that class, we did not talk much about how a history thesis looks like. So, I was not sure what a history thesis looks like. I think most of us know that a thesis is an argument and that is what the teacher said but what does a history thesis look like? This was my first history class in college as well.

I wish the teacher wrote comments. She wrote a rubric. However, I wish I learned what she actually liked and disliked. What did she like?

My thesis was about how their arguments were effective.

Specifically, Cereta advocates for women’s rights by describing women’s past successes, Voltaire questions how people treat religions and institutions, and Equiano discusses the mistreatment of slaves and advocates for freedom and equality. Cereta advanced women’s status, Voltaire worked towards more religious freedom, and Equiano helped bring about the abolishment of slavery.These are the arguments that were most effective in expanding rights to minorities.

I noticed that with a quote I really had to interpret it to support my thesis the best I could.

I always answer everything in prompts. I answered everything in the prompt. I did not ignore any questions. I think I do this because I do not want the teacher to tell me I did not answer a question or anything. I want to demonstrate that I thoroughly read the questions and made every effort to answer them.

I do not think my ideas on the subject matter changed. I still believe the same items about Cereta, Voltaire and Equiano.  I still think that Cereta advocates for women’s rights by talking about amazing women.

Voltaire speaks for religious freedom by talking about how vast the world is.

Equiano shines a light on slavery by writing about his experience in slavery.

Since this essay, I think I learned that I could write well, or at least decently, especially if I try. I learned perhaps what a professor looks for. This reminds me a lot of Peterson’s writing piece. Would I feel this way if I did not get that praise in a grade? I think it inspired me to write better.

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