For the exam, students must turn in organized, polished work of not more than six (6) pages.  Students are expected to refer to the textbook and other sources that we have read for the exam; references to additional (outside) sources are welcome, but not required. BOTH ESSAYS MUST INCLUDE CITATIONS. All references to the literature must be properly cited (in whatever citation form students prefer). Your responses must reflect an understanding of the readings from the textbook and a presence at the lectures. Your responses must be based on the relevant readings, lectures, films, class discussions, and hand-outs. The goal is to demonstrate that you have read the assigned material and understand key concepts. Remember to use specific evidence and/or examples to support your arguments. You should cite your sources and include a Works Cited page in MLA or Chicago format. (Opinions without evidence, however interesting, are not sufficient.)

Please DO NOT use materials from the Internet without clear identification of the source. DO NOT cite texts without using inverted commas and appropriate attribution. Copying of texts from the Internet is considered plagiarism.

Be sure to have a clear argument that you defend with relevant evidence. Please underline your THESIS. Organize your paper with a logical structure and use clear topic sentences and transitions to help your reader understand the logic of your organization. Edit your essays thoroughly to avoid errors and to improve readability. Give each of your essays a title that reflects your argument.

Grading criteria:

Argument: 25% Does your paper have a clear, singular, specific argument that answers the question?
Evidence: 25% Do you use all of the relevant evidence to defend your argument?
Organization: 25% Does your paper have a logical structure and use clear topic sentences and transitions?
Clarity: 25% Is your prose efficient, crisp and polished, free of excessive passive voice or distracting spelling or grammatical errors?

Each essay is worth up to 50 points.

Formatting for each essay:

12-pt., Times New Roman font, double-spaced
1 margins
1000-1200 words (3-4 full, double-spaced pages)
Both Part 1 and Part 2 need to be included in a single document (Word, Pdf, Txt, etc).

Questions:

Part 1:

How did the New Deal reorient Americans relationship to government?

How did World War II transform Americas standing in the world?

How did decolonization shape post-World War II American life?

In what ways was the Cold War similar to previous wars in the United States? In what ways did it differ? How was this war fought? Use specific examples.

What were the contradictions of the Affluent Society? And how did American life fundamentally change in the 1950s?

What communities were not helped by the new affluency of the 1950s? What led to these disparities?

Part 2:

What characterized the energy and activism of the 1960s? What happened to the idealism of the 1960s?

Discuss the Civil Rights Movement and its connection to decolonization and post-war affluency. Use specific examples.

Describe the Power Movements and their goals and tactics. How did the goals differ for different groups, and what were their tactics? Use specific examples.

How did the New Right shift political discourse in the United States? Use specific examples.

How has globalization and international economic growth changed recent American history? Discuss using specific arguments.

Historical analysis is a method of the examination of evidence in coming to an understanding of the past. It is particularly applied to evidence contained in documents, although it can be applied to all artifacts. The historian is, first, seeking to gain some certainty as to the facts of the past.

A historical analysis essay is a paper written to table arguments proving a particular thesis. The arguments are based on history and should prove insight by using both primary and secondary historical sources to prove the essay’s thesis statement.

For this assignment, you are a budding historian, trying to make sense of some aspect of the history we cover in this course.

You should survey your textbooks primary sources. They are typically included at the end of the chapters, though you will also find some included in the chapter text.

For your assignment, you will include at least two (2) but no more than three (3) primary sources from the textbook for class.

Instructions:

Please choose at least two (2) but no more than three (3) primary sources from your textbook to write a historical analysis paper.

You can use any material that we have read/watched in class as secondary source material. If you do use any of that material, you must cite the ideas or quotations using footnotes.

Before writing the analysis of the sources, come up with a research question that the sources will address. Include the research question in your essay.

CAUTION: The goal is to write a cohesive essay – not  individual source analysis paragraphs. Make the sources speak to each other. Put them together to draw a larger conclusion.

Write a three to four-page (1,000-1,250 word) historical analysis that CAN INCLUDE the following:

– Describe the document/source. Who wrote it, when, where? Do you know who the author is by name? Do you know the race, age, or gender of the author?

– Why do you think the author wrote the document? What was the author’s motivation for writing? Did s/he have an intended audience? Can you discern any particular characteristics about the audience?

– What kinds of conclusions can you draw from the sources?

– What do we learn about the time period in which the documents were written?

– Do the experiences that are described in the documents relate to history that we will discuss in class? Please use the  course textbook American Yawp as secondary sources to help with this question.

THESE QUESTIONS CAN HELP YOU BEGIN TO ORGANIZE YOUR PAPER. THEY ARE NOT REQUIRED.

You must include references for material taken from primary and secondary sources. All references should follow MLA guidelines.