1. In-Class Essay Review
Introduction- Be specific, answer the question, introduce your main point
Support your points with specific and detailed examples
(careful with value judgments and unsupported statements)
Topkapı: relics and library; pavillions and conquests; muqarnas decoration and ionic capitals
Mosque-Complex: plan of Ayasofya, location Church of Holy Apostles, tombs of Byzantine rulers; Islamic imaret system, “new” idiom symetrical Italian plan
careful: Do not confuse “Aya Sofya complex” with “Fatih complex”i Aya sofya ıs not being influenced from renaissance!
Artists: Sinan Bey, Baba Nakkaş, Bellini, Ferrara medal
careful: medals are not coins
`kul`- if you want to use this exaple, discuss directly how it is related to the question (and avoid giving a summary of the reading)
Discuss `how` these traditions are combined
Ferrara medal, Bellini portrait, banners in vavassore map
Answer the second part of the question directly- discuss what you found interesting and why
Careful with our modern conceptions and attributing “reasons”
Integrity, unification, smooth transition, bridge

2. From Student Essays- Introductions
In the article Gülru Necipoğlu shows us various levels of how the idea of new Ottoman identity, based on heterogeneity of elements, was embodied in Istanbul at the time of Mehmed II. Obvious and still visible are objects of arts-buildings, paintings etc but what is also stressed is the presence of the people behind that-artists as well as administrators
Mehmed II had a global vision of the world.
After the conquest of Constantinople, Mehmed II repopulated his city.
Mehmed II when he conquered Constantinople had a dream to...

3. FROM STUDENT ESSAYS- DETAILED EXAMPLES
Sinan Bey who was trained by European maestro Pavli transferred his knowledge of Italian arts into the Ottoman tradition. He could also speak Italian and he was a translator of the Sultan. Mehmed II appointed him as Venetian ambassador because of his ability to easily navigate between two cultures.
The principal architectural commissions of Mehmed II, the Topkapi Palace and the New Mosque, were the symbols of re-founding of new Constantinople since they bridge the past with the Ottoman present. ... The new mosque complex was built on the ancient place of the Church of Holy Apostles that belonged to the Byzantines. The mosque’s plan was base don Hagia Sophia which was converted to a mosque... In addition, the New Mosque’s symmetrical layout is an Italianate feature combining with Perso-Islamic decorations.

4. From Student Examples- What you found interesting and why
For me, it is very interesting that Mehmed II was not only the “angry Ottoman conqueror” ... But he had a universal approach, a broad interest in different cultures and deep education in Latin, Greek and Arabic. He also wanted to be accepted among other western rulers. The often repeated dichotomies of eastern-western, ottoman-european, educated-barbarian, which the humanists made us believe in, do not fit here, as soon as we take a closer look at history.
Mehmed II was the conqueror of Constantinople and he had imperial plans to rebuild Roman empire on the Ottoman dynasty. We know from Gülru Necipoğlu, he tried to initiate what Alexander the Great did in ancient history. I think he was mostly successful in this endeavor, when we observe his works, we can clearly see the combination of west-east, or Byzantine-Roman,Turco-Mongol and Perso-Islamic manners.
In this article, I found it interesting that it was the emperor’s desire to have different cultures in the city. I always thought that the foreign culture already existed but I new thought an Islamic emperor would want to have so much of European culture in an Islamic empire such as Ottoman empire. Here we see that Mehmed II preserved the Greco-Roman heritage of the city.