English Class Assignment
Paper Assignment #1: Explanatory Synthesis
“What I wanted was for them to have the kind of grand, sweeping narrative that they deserved, the kind of American history that belongs to the Wright Brothers and the astronauts, to Alexander Hamilton and Martin Luther King Jr. Not told as a separate history, but as a part of the story we all know. Not at the margins, but at the very center, the
protagonists of the drama. And not just because they are black, or because they are women, but because they are part of the American epic.” – Margot Lee Shetterly, Hidden Figures
Assignment: For this assignment, you will be be writing a 4-6 page paper of the type called explanatory
synthesis. An explanatory synthesis paper does not offer arguments or personal opinions about a topic. Instead, your job will be to find facts from at least three sources, identify and evaluate connections between them, and present your findings to give as clear and objective a picture of your subject as you can.
As we have discussed in class, many of our Confederate monuments are being taken down. For this assignment, consider what statues and monuments of alternative figures might replace them. You will be choosing a person from American history who is little or not at all represented in the usual history textbooks or in monuments, and you will be explaining that person's contribution and the effect of celebrating that contribution in a memorial. Ask yourself why our history might have neglected to include this person in the curriculum we teach to our children, and how that changes what we understand about ourselves and our country. What issues or events connect to that person? What would it say about our identity and what we value in our society if we chose to make a monument of this person? Your audience for this paper will be a city council or college board of trustees responsible for the space where you want your monument to be. Choose a specific space and try to suit your choice of person to that particular location. Your purpose should be to inform the council or board of an option to fill their monument space, but not to directly argue for that option.
Also, while we will be more strict about what sources you can use later in the semester, for this paper you may choose sources from documentary films or short videos, magazine or newspaper articles, books, or educational databases. Just be careful to check the trustworthiness of your sources, and if you are not sure, talk to me. Do NOT cite Wikipedia as a source, but you may use it as a starting point to find links to useful sources. Also, you must use at least three direct quotes from your sources in your paper.
Remember to use MLA format to write your essay, and be sure to include a Works Cited page; check the Purdue OWL at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/1/ for help with this, and we will also be talking about it further in class.
Sample topics: You may choose any American historical figure who is underrepresented in textbooks and
monuments. Here are some examples of people you might be interested in writing about, each with a source to get you started:
Ida B. Wells, investigative reporter and civil rights crusader: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ip- SEYvRTA
Margaret Sanger, nurse, educator, and founder of the family planning movement and Planned Parenthood: https://www.nwhm.org/education-resources/biography/biographies/margaret-sanger/
Emma Goldman, activist and speaker for labor and women's rights: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=_1IiRssfp4U
Alberta Williams King, Christian civil rights activist and mother of MLK:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/mlk-mother-was-assassinated-forgotten-women-black-history- month
Sojourner Truth, abolitionist and women's rights advocate: https://www.nwhm.org/education- resources/biography/biographies/sojourner-truth/
David Bald Eagle, Lakota chief, musician, dancer, actor, stuntman, veteran, and cowboy (and actual most interesting man in the world): http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo- way/2016/07/27/487651658/david-bald-eagle-lakota-chief-musician-cowboy-and-actor-dies-at-97
C. J. Walker, entrepreneur, philanthropist, political and social activist, and first self-made female American millionaire: http://www.amazingwomeninhistory.com/madam-c-j-walker-self-made- millionaire/
Clara Barton, speaker and founder of the American Red Cross: http://www.amazingwomeninhistory.com/clara-barton-american-red-cross-founder/
Hedy Lamarr, movie star and genius inventor: https://www.nwhm.org/education- resources/biography/biographies/hedy-lamarr/
Ota Benga, human zoo exhibit: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/06/nyregion/thecity/06zoo.html?_r=2
Grace Hopper, Navy admiral and pioneering computer programmer: http://www.amazingwomeninhistory.com/amazing-grace-hopper-computer-programmer/
Gordon Hirabayashi, sociologist and protester against Japanese-American internment camps: http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2012/01/04/144684260/gordon-hirabayashi-has-died-he- refused-to-go-to-wwii-internment-camp?sc=emaf
Hector P. Garcia, surgeon, veteran, civil rights activist, founder of the American G.I. Forum and the Chicano Movement: http://www.humanitiestexas.org/programs/tx-originals/list/hector-p-garcia
Marsha P. Johnson, drag queen, gay and transgender activist, Stonewall rioter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjN9W2KstqE
Anne Bonny or Mary Read, fighters, gender rebels, and pirates: http://rictornorton.co.uk/pirates.htm
Abel Meeropol, poet, social activist, and songwriter: http://www.npr.org/2012/09/05/158933012/the- strange-story-of-the-man-behind-strange-fruit?sc=emaf
Bayard Rustin, socialist, peace activist, and gay and civil rights pioneer: http://www.quakerinfo.com/quak_br.shtml
Caesar Chavez, labor union organizer and civil rights leader: http://www.cesarechavezfoundation.org/_page.php?code=001001000000000