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I am explaining and stating these policies now, in the clearest possible terms, so there can be no dispute over what I expect. If you have questions about my expectations, please raise them. But whenever you ask me to modify expectations because you failed to plan and use your time efficiently, you put me in the ethically difficult position of applying different standards to different people. I ask that you accept responsibility for your actions rather than put us all in an uncomfortable position.
The requirements for the course are as follows: (1) Class Assignments (100 pts); (2) four essays (400 pts); 3) Class Attendance & Preparation (125 pts); and 4) a self-evaluation (1 page, typed, single-spaced) assessing your performance in the course (not graded but required).
The following paragraphs describe the writing assignments and the dates on which the assignments are due
Assgnment #1:
Indenture in the Chesapeake (1683)
Write a 3-4-page essay in which you write a narrative of the testimony given at the examination and, in your conclusion, explain what the document tells the reader about the nature of indenture in the Chesapeake in the seventeenth century. (A narrative is the “orderly, continuous account of an even or series of events;” exposition is the “explanation of” or “commentary on“ an event, series of events, or issue. Most historical writing combines both narrative and exposition; it tells a story and explains its significance.) For historians, the first step is getting the story that right. Sometimes this task is straightforward; sometimes it is not. (If all else fails, you might begin your second paragraph with, “In September 1681, Katherine Watkins came before the justices in Virginia and....”)
DUE: February 14, 2002
Assgnment #2:
Tower Falls (1872)
Write a 3-4-page essay comparing William Henry Jackson’s photograph of Tower Falls and Thomas’ Moran’s painting of the same and, in your conclusion, discuss the “objectivity” of both the painting and the photograph as historical evidence. (Comparison involves determining how two or more items are similar and how they are different. Historians are constantly gauging both differences and similarities between events, series of events, or issues. In other words, they are in the business of calculating continuity and discontinuity over time. Historians are also always weighing the reliability of the evidence as they go.)
DUE: March 7, 2002
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Assgnment #3:
State v. Rehberg (1885)
Write a 5-6-page essay in which you write a narrative summarizing the testimony contained in the court transcript. In your conclusion, discuss the influence of gender and social class on the court proceedings and verdict. (Historians take pains to describe how their interpretations fit into a historical context and, further, into the work of historians who have written on the same subject. In short, they analyze their documents and apply others’ insights and techniques to their own work. Although our reading has focused on race, some of the same thinking can be applied to the Rehberg case.)
Due: April 11, 2002
Assgnment #4:
Vietnam Era Films (1970-1990)
Write a 5-6 page essay discussing four Viet Nam War films. The key question you should address is: what does your discussion tell you about discontinuity and continuity in Americans’ view of the Viet Nam War between 1970 and the present? In your conclusion, assess the extent to which the films reflected their historical periods. (Two of the most difficult tasks that historians undertake are synthesis and evaluation. In synthesis, historians draw together the different threads from different sources and so forth in order to arrive at some general elucidation. Evaluation involves judging or appraising. For example, historians will assess the degree to which a series of events culminated in a significant incident or the contribution of an individual to an episode in the past or the degree to which a film reflects the historical record.)
DUE: May 2, 2002 |
