Essay Outline and Annotated Bibliography

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CHST 118: The City in History Essay Outline and Annotated Bibliography Instructions

Length: Essay Outline (approximately 1 page); Annotated Bibliography (approximately 2 pages). Due Date: Tuesday, May 25 @1:00pm, on D2L. Grade: This assignment is worth 15% of your final grade. The thesis statement and essay outline is worth 5% and the annotated bibliography is worth 10%; Late assignments will be penalized 3% per day. I will not accept your essay if you have not submitted this assignment in advance. The purpose of this assignment is to choose a topic, and write a tentative thesis statement and essay outline, and annotated bibliography that relate to the city. The subject must be historical in nature and have taken place prior to 2001. Here are the steps you must take in writing this assignment: 1. Review the “Choosing a Topic” handout provided on Desire 2 Learn (D2L), and choose a city and theme from the list. My approval is not necessary. However, if you choose a theme that is not on the list, you must obtain my approval. Please try to choose a city and theme that you will enjoy writing on, as this will become the topic of your essay for this course. 2. You will then need to conduct research in order to make sure your topic is feasible. A good starting point is the Ryerson University Library and Archives (RULA) Website. If you are unfamiliar with this process, please follow the instructions on the “Choosing a Topic” handout. 3. Remember that this is an history paper. When conducting research into your city and theme, you will start with a broad topic and narrow it down, first by developing it into a research question, and finally, a thesis statement. Below is an example of the evolution of a topic into a thesis statement. General city and topic/theme: Poverty in New York City More specific: Poverty among New York City’s immigrants, 1890-1910 Research question(s): Between 1890 and 1910, what types of living and working conditions did New York City’s immigrants experience and how did they respond to them? Thesis statement: Between 1890 and 1910, New York City’s newly arrived immigrant population experienced poor living and working conditions, often the result of ineffective or non-existent workplace and government regulations. They responded by creating thriving communities, unionizing and becoming involved in local politics. 4. Once you have chosen your topic and developed a thesis statement, you must develop an essay outline. Choose 3-4 pieces of evidence to support your argument. Clearly list each piece of evidence and underneath briefly discuss how each will support your argument. Convey to me that you have an understanding of your topic, sufficient evidence to support your thesis and that your essay will be feasible. You may elaborate on your evidence in order to obtain additional feedback, but please limit your outline to approximately one page.

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5. Once you have developed your thesis statement and outline, it is time to work on your annotated bibliography. An annotated bibliography lists the sources that you will be using to write your paper. In addition to this information, it provides a concise summary (4-5 sentences) of each source and states its value or relevance (not just a summary) to your topic and essay. For your essay you will need a minimum of 5 secondary sources, so you must list 5 in this annotated bibliography. However, if you find other secondary sources at a later date and would also like to use them for your essay, that is acceptable. Secondary sources are scholarly interpretations (peer reviewed journal articles or books) produced after the time of study. Your secondary sources should be published recently, after 1990. This is especially important in the study of history, as new and updated interpretations are constantly being released. You can use scholarly sources discussed in class. You may not use encyclopedias or textbooks. 6. Once you have chosen your sources, you will need to list them properly, in alphabetical order, with your summaries. Historians use Chicago Style to cite and format their resources. For information on how to do this, please refer to the online version of the Chicago Manual of Style at http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html or the Purdue University website at https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/717/01/ Example of an annotated bibliography Binder, Frederick and David Reimers. All the Nations Under Heaven: An Ethnic and Racial History of New York City. New York: Columbia University Press, 1996. This study provides the first overarching account of immigration to New York City from the colonial period to the present day. This book includes two chapters useful to my essay: “Old and New Immigrants in Greater New York City, 1880 to World War I” and “Jews and Italians in Greater New York City, 1880 to World War I.” Here, Binder and Reimers describe how turn of the century immigration, dominated by large Italian and Jewish populations, contributed to the creation of one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the world. They discuss the hardships of these newcomers, including their struggles to simultaneously retain their cultures and identities, while assimilating into their adopted homeland. These chapters lend themselves to my essay because they provide background information on the rate and extent of immigration and settlement patterns in New York, and they discuss the attempts of immigrants to both unionize, and strengthen their political influence, in the face of difficult circumstances. 7. Ensure that your assignment is in complete sentences, in 12-point font and single spaced. Once you have completed everything, your topic, thesis statement, essay outline, and annotated bibliography, submit your assignment in one Word file, to the appropriate folder on D2L. Include a cover page with a brief title (i.e. your subject/topic and city), your name and student number, the course title, my name and the date. Please save your assignment under your name (i.e. Joe_Smith_Assignment.docx).

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