Assignment #2 Detail Purpose: To deepen knowledge and understanding of the history of American history and to build skills in the following areas: synthesis of readings, assessment and verification of evidence, and expression of a reasoned point-of-view on a topic. Assignment: Choose one of the three options described in detail below. Those options are: Role play essay – if I were . . . Looking back – if I could speak to . . . Counter-factual hypothesis Choose a specific subject in that option. Some are suggested – if you would like to pursue a subject that is not suggested, request permission from the instructor. Re-read the sections of The Enduring Vision that apply to your specific topic. Conduct more research on the topic. Use only high-quality sources. The TMCC library site provides free access to many high-quality sources, especially EBSCO (accessible through the TMCC library site. USER ID: truckee Password: fall) and JSTOR In addition to Enduring Vision, you must utilize and site three additional research sources. Write the essay. Be sure to cite your sources using MLA, APA, or CMS style. http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/how-we-cite/ (Links to an external site.) At the end of the essay, provide a list of works cited. Submit the essay to the Canvas drop box before the deadline. See the Canvas calendar for the due date. Details: This essay must be a minimum of 750 words, and it must be typed, double-spaced with a 12pt font and one-inch margins. Use MLA, APA, or Chicago style. The paper must be submitted in Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx) through the Canvas drop box. Late papers will be penalized at the rate of a 10-point deduction for each 24-hour period late. The essay must be completed in order to receive a passing grade in the course. Avoid Plagiarism: Plagiarism is defined as using someone else’s ideas or words as your own. Some examples of plagiarism are: 1) copying a phrase or sentence from a source without giving credit to the author; 2) summarizing or paraphrasing someone else’s ideas without giving credit to the author; and 3) handing a paper written by someone else or containing sections written by someone else. Plagiarism is a form of cheating and will result in an automatic grade of F for the class. The instructor will use www.turnitin.com (Links to an external site.) to uncover plagiarism. Essay Option # 1 – Role playing: If I were . . . The life circumstances of individual men and women are as much the ingredients of history as are constitutions and treaties. What was it like to be a sailor in the War of 1812? A mid-wife on the Ohio frontier? A free African American in antebellum Baltimore? Your assignment is to write an autobiographical account of yourself, in the role and occupation designated, at the end of the year indicated. The essential elements are to describe the nature and character of the occupation and role assigned to you and to place it as carefully and fully as possible in historical context. If, for example, you are an Aztec nobleman in 1519, you would describe the nature and character of the life of an Aztec noble and, most likely, your (invented) role in the invasion by the Spanish. You are invited to create a name for yourself and an age, a family, a religion, an ethnicity (where these are not implicit in the given role). What you must do is describe adequately the person and that person’s relationship with the events and circumstances of the day. In addition to consulting the best available historical sources, you may also consider novels and short stories that will help you better understand the nature of your character’s life. Some suggestions: A House slave, Alabama, 1863 Wampanoag Indian, Massachusetts, 1675 Female Abolitionist, Pennsylvania, 1850s Loyalist in New York colony, 1770s Mill worker, Lowell, Massachusetts, 1850 Irish Immigrant, Boston, 1850s You may write on one of these, or you may create your (although the instructor must approve your alternative). Essay Option # 2 – Looking Back: If I could speak to . . . Here is your opportunity to make your opinion heard. You are going to give advice based on common sense and historical hindsight. Your advice, you must assume, will be taken seriously. Your preparation for giving the advice will be developed from a study of materials dealing with the issues, from your course readings and from your additional research. Your advice can be in the form of a personal letter, a letter to the editor, a magazine article, or any other appropriate format that is used to convey advice. The quality of your paper will depend on the degree to which it reasons logically and demonstrates an understanding of the historical circumstances. Some suggestions: To an Illinois woman about to travel west to Oregon, 1843 To Nat Turner on the eve of the 1831 rebellion To Robert E. Lee, just before accepting Confederate military command To John Brown, just before Harpers Ferry To Opechancanough, Powhatan chief, in 1621 You may write on one of these, or you may create your own (although the instructor must approve your alternative). Essay Option # 3 – Explore a counterfactual hypothesis Lies. Counterfactual hypotheses are not true. In this essay option, you are being asked to write about a lie. But there are rules that you must follow and objectives to keep in mind in dealing with this “game” of counterfactual hypothesis. One purpose is to enhance your understanding of the historical material that you are examining. Another is to increase our ability to write skillfully. We will take history as it really happened, or at least as we think it really happened, and make just one change contrary to fact. All else up to that point must be considered to have been as it really was – except for changes that the counterfact makes possible. Take an illustration from outside the scope of this course. Suppose that in 1588 the Spanish Armada had conducted a successful invasion of England. Your objective would be to write an essay on the history of what might have happened subsequently. The success of the invasion is the counterfact. To write of everything that might have changed is impossible. You need to select one, two, or three elements around which to build your essay. For example, would England have become Spanish-speaking? Mexico did, when conquered by Spain. But the French-speaking Normans had invaded England five centuries earlier without that result. Would England have become Roman Catholic? Around these questions an answer can be built, an answer that requires a careful reading of this history of the time and thoughtful consideration of what might have been the result of a change in one major element. What other changes would necessarily have had to take place? What might have taken place? The process, then, is to establish the counterfactual hypothesis and to develop a good idea of the size of the change. Read widely on the subject and focus on a few threads or historical themes that you wish to develop. Write an essay about the history of what follows after the counterfact, emphasizing the historical themes you have chosen. Reread your essay with a particular eye for anachronism or historical impossibility and, of course, proofread. Below are a few suggestions for counterfactual hypotheses. Some are broad, some are narrow – different kinds of challenges would be encountered in developing each essay. The American rebellion was successfully suppressed by the British in 1779. In other words, the British won the Revolutionary War. The constitution proposed by the Philadelphia convention of 1787 was never ratified The election of 1860 was won by Stephen Douglas The U. S. Constitution prohibited slavery Henry Clay was successful in his efforts to work out a compromise in 1850 The British overthrew the U.S. government in 1812 and re-established colonial rule over English-speaking North America John Wilkes Booth failed in his assassination attempt: Lincoln lived and oversaw Reconstruction You may write on one of these, or you may create your own counterfactual hypothesis (although the instructor must approve your alternative)
