Students must write a 900 word essay on one of the three topics below. Students should articulate why their topic is important, demonstrating awareness of their audience. Students should seek to organize their research and demonstrate a mastery of the content in question.

Students are required to cite five sources including at least one book and at least two journal articles for this assignment. Students may also use any other resource found on Blackboard. Students should write a five-seven paragraph essay that includes an introduction paragraph with a thesis statement, three to five body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Students are expected to provide a works cited with at least five sources and have at least 5 in text citations. Internet websites are not accepted sources for this assignment unless approved by the professor beforehand. This assignment fulfills the Core Competencies requirement for the course. This assignment is worth 150 points of the final grade.

Please note that there is no maximum word limit, but the paper must be at least 900 words. Thus the paper should run as follows:

Introduction + Thesis Statement: (Introduce the paper and describe clearly what you are arguing in the paper).

Body Paragraphs: (3-5) Structure your paper into 3 to 5 topics and spend at least one paragraph on each topic describing it and its importance.

Conclusion: Summarize what you have discussed and pose further questions for research or implications of your study. Then go back and rewrite your introduction and thesis statement to match your content and conclusions.

Formatting: This paper must be written in times new Romans, 12pt font, be double spaced, and have justified margins.

Please submit this assignment as a pdf or word document file: .Pdf, .Doc, .Docx

The options are as follows. Students must choose ONE topic to complete for grade.

1. Analyze the complex issues that deal with the formation of the state of Israel and its complex history in the Middle East in the late twentieth century.
2. Appraise the differences between Sunni and Shi’a Islam with attention to historical origins and divisions within Islam, and their theological or practical differences
3. Analyze the complex relationship between Islam in Modernity and its relationship with the West in the twenty-first century.