Length: 2 pages (double-spaced, 12 pt. font, 1-inch margins =~500 words)
Purpose of the Assignment
A prcis is a concise summary that communicates the central argument, structure, and significance of a scholarly text in your own words. It is something like a reverse-engineered outline of someone elses article; you need to reconstruct the inner structure of the piece from the finished product. This form of writing is an essential tool in academic work: it helps you practice identifying an authors thesis, distilling complex arguments, and articulating them clearly and fairly without inserting your own interpretation or critique. It is also excellent practice as you think about the structure of your final paper for this class.
Task
For this assignment, you will write a 2-page prcis of one assigned secondary reading. You can choose from any of the articles or book chapters assigned for this class. Alternatively, you can also choose your own secondary article, ideally one listed in your annotated bibliography. Your prcis should:
- Identify the authors main thesis or argument.
- Explain how the author develops and supports this argument (e.g., evidence, methodology, structure, key examples).
- Note the works scholarly intervention or contribution to the field.
- Maintain accuracy and neutralityyour goal is not to evaluate the text but to represent it faithfully and concisely.
Requirements
- Your prcis must be written in clear, polished prose. Quoting individual lines or phrases is fine, but avoid excessive quotation; primarily summarize in your own words.
- Write full sentences and paragraphs. Although this is an outline, do not use bullet points.
- Stay within 2 pages. This will require careful selection of what to include and what to omit.
- Structure matters: begin with a statement of the authors thesis, then outline the main steps of their argument, and end with a clear articulation of the works significance.
- Focus on recreating the authors viewpoint. You do not need to bring in your own outside research or even reference other articles from class. The only time you might need to point outside the text is when discussing its contribution to the broader literature.
Assessment Criteria
I will evaluate your prcis based on the following:
- Accuracy: Faithful representation of the authors thesis and supporting points.
- Conciseness: Economy of language; avoiding digression or unnecessary detail.
- Clarity and Coherence: Clear writing and logical flow of ideas.
- Structure: Effective organization that foregrounds thesis, argumentation, and significance.
- Style and Mechanics: Correct grammar, syntax, and citation where necessary.
this assignment is for the same class that you did the annotated bibliography for.I have attached the syllabus for reference to the secondary source that you will choose.
Week One (04/01): Introductions
Reid, Anthony. 1988. Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce, 14501680. Vol. 1: The Lands below the Winds. New Haven: Yale University Press. Introduction, 110.
Hamashita, Takeshi, Linda Grove, and Mark Selden. 2008. China, East Asia and the Global Economy: Regional and Historical Perspectives. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 85-90.
Primary: Ma Huan. 1997. Ying-yai sheng-lan: The Overall Survey of the Ocean Shores. Translated by V. G. Mills. Bangkok: White Lotus. Selections: 6972, 77114. [Skim]
Week Two (04/08): Malacca
Borschberg, Peter. 2010. The Singapore and Melaka Straits: Violence, Security and Diplomacy in the 17th Century. Singapore: NUS Press. 60-84.
Primary: Pires, Tom. Suma Oriental, London: Hakluyt, 1944. 268-289; Sejarah Melayu; or, Malay Annals. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, 1970. 161-166 (the Portuguese conquer Malacca). (Optional sections: 1-6; 30-49)
Recommended: Andaya, Leonard Y. 2008. Leaves of the Same Tree: Trade and Ethnicity in the Straits of Malacca. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. 4981 (focus on 6881).
Presenters: Izzy, Tristan, Kaden
Week Three (04/15): Macao
Fujitani, Jun. 2022. The Viceroy and the Portuguese: The Establishment of Ming Policy toward Macao. In War and Trade in Maritime East Asia, edited by Masaki Oka, 2554. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan.
Primary: Pang Shangpeng and Qu Dajun, selections (Macao Translations file in Modules); Ricci, Matteo. 1953. China in the Sixteenth Century: The Journals of Matteo Ricci, 15831610. New York: Random House. 127-139.
Recommended: Subrahmanyam, Sanjay. 2012. The Portuguese Empire in Asia, 15001700: A Political and Economic History. 2nd ed. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. 87114, 12030.
Presenters: Ethan,
Week Four (04/22): Ryukyu
Hamashita, Takeshi, Linda Grove, and Mark Selden. 2008. China, East Asia and the Global Economy: Regional and Historical Perspectives. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 56-84.
Primary: Chen Kan, Records of the Mission to Ryukyu, selections; “Treasured Records of Various Dynasties” (Lidai Bao’an), selections.
Recommended: Ptak, Roderich. 2002. The Fujianese, Ryukyuans and Portuguese (c. 1511 to 1540s): Allies or Competitors? Anais de Histria de Alm-Mar 3 (December): 44767.
Presenters: Joyce, Sora
Week Five (04/29): Manila **Annotated Bibliography Due**
Flynn, Dennis O., and Arturo Girldez. 1995. Born with a Silver Spoon: The Origin of World Trade in 1571. Journal of World History 6 (2): 20121.
Primary: Morga, Antonio de. History of the Philippines, selections; Huang Fengxiang, Biographies of Exemplary Women of Anping.
Recommended: Chia, Lucille. 2006. The Butcher, the Baker, and the Carpenter: Chinese Sojourners in the Spanish Philippines and Their Impact on Southern Fujian (SixteenthEighteenth Centuries). Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 49 (4): 50934.
Presenters: Holbrook, Kenneth, Alisha
Week Six (05/06): Nagasaki *Prcis Due*
Boscariol, Mariana A., Silvia Z. Mitchell, and Erica Heinsen-Roach. 2025. An Artificial Island, a Restrictive Presence: Nagasaki, the Jesuits, and the Dutch Presence in Japan during the First Half of the Seventeenth Century. In Ibero-Dutch Imperial Entanglements in the Seventeenth Century, 1946. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
Recommended: Iwao, Seiichi. 1958. Li Tan , Chief of the Chinese Residents at Hirado, Japan in the Last Days of the Ming Dynasty. Memoirs of the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko 17: 2783
Primary: Farrington, Anthony, ed. 1991. The English Factory in Japan, 16131623. London: British Library. 65-74; 85-89; 96-102; 541-547.
Presenters: Ofir, Isabella, Kyla
Week Seven (05/13): Batavia
Bluss, Leonard. 1981. Batavia, 16191740: The Rise and Fall of a Chinese Colonial Town. Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 12 (1): 15978.
Recommended: Boxer, C. R. 1979. Jan Compagnie in War and Peace, 16021799: A Short History of the Dutch East India Company. Hong Kong: Heinemann Asia.
Primary: Bluss, Leonard, and Nie Dening, eds. 2018. The Chinese Annals of Batavia, the Kai Ba Lidai Shiji and Other Stories (16101795). Leiden: Brill, pp. 51-69; 118-135.
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