Medieval Moot Court

Author
McSweeney, Thomas
Description
A winner of the James F. Slevin Assignment Sequence Prize, the sequence originates from the Department of History, Hist 1115, Magna Carta: Defender of Individual Rights? This sequence asks students to imagine they are lawyers arguing an appeal based on Magna Carta. Structured after moot court competitions in law school, the sequence requires that each student write a brief and then present an oral argument as part of a team of three lawyers. Producing writing based on essentially the same material, but in different genres (a legal brief, an oral argument, and a case report) helps students learn that different audiences have different expectations. The legal brief reinforces what students learn about developing a thesis, crafting topic sentences, and using evidence. The sequence synthesizes what students have learned in the first half of the course about Magna Carta and the process by which it became wedded to the classical liberal tradition. 24 page pdf
Date Issued
2009
Keywords
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Type
learning object