Article

The first written assignment of the semester asks you to imagine that you are a former muckraker, who used to write articles for McClure’s Magazine. After the dissolution of Standard Oil in 1911, John D. Rockefeller has hired you to develop a strategy to rehabilitate his public reputation in America by refuting the arguments that Ida Tarbell has made about Standard Oil and his career. Because Rockefeller is 72 and his eyesight has deteriorated, he has mandated that you limit your report to two pages.

As you write your two-page proposal to help Rockefeller refute Tarbell’s accusations and rehabilitate his career, be certain to remember that you are to (a) imagine that you are writing from the viewpoint of a former muckraker living in 1911 and (b) utilize Steve Weinberg’s discussion of Tarbell, Rockefeller, and Standard Oil in his book Taking on the Trust.  Please remember that you are expected in this assignment to demonstrate that you have read Taking on the Trust and understood its arguments.

Papers that are either longer or shorter than two pages or use–in any way, including paraphrasing–a source other than Mr. Weinberg’s book will not be accepted.