History 101

Interview 

When an old man dies, a library burns down. —African Proverb This assignment is meant to help you develop your writing skills as well as your ability to think critically. We all have pictures in our minds of noted individuals from American history — the dedicated Christopher Columbus, the stoic George Washington, the idealistic Thomas Paine, the crazed John Brown; some we admire while others we despise. By the same token, we all have burning questions we would like to ask these people. In this assignment choose a famous or infamous person from American history before 1877 and conduct a fictitious interview with him or her. Ask that individual those burning questions that have nagged you for so long and then give detailed responses on the person's part. For instance, you could ask King George III of England why he treated the American colonies so poorly. In response, His Most Royal Majesty would contest the term poorly, and then enumerate several reasons for his colonial policy — economic concerns, military necessity, as well as political and constitutional issues. (For obvious reasons, you cannot use George III for this assignment.) Pick anyone, male or female, European American, African American, or Native American — just make sure there is something written on or by the person in question, such as a biography or diary. Research your topic and think carefully before you write. Include in your paper a mini-biography of the person and make sure to explain why he or she is important to American history. You need four sources: two reliable Internet sources (no Wikipedia or videos) and two hard sources such as books and periodicals (you cannot use the textbook as one of these). The paper (not including the title page or bibliography) should be at least five (5) pages in length (typed, 12-point font, double spaced). It must be printed; no electronic version will be accepted. The paper must have parenthetical citations for all facts and quotes. It must also have a bibliography using The Chicago Manual of Style, the latest edition of which is in the MTC library and a quick guide at http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html.