For Prof. MGK

Final Paper Guidelines

The final paper requires a minimum of three primary documents and 5 secondary sources. The assignment is to take topic of history in the 1920s and examine how that topic was interpreted over time. You can begin with primary sources from the decade, and then use your secondary sources to analyze the historiography of the subject.

You can think broadly about your topics and primary sources. Primary sources include letters, personal diaries, and other written material by the person you’re studying. It can also include public records, organizational records, and statistics. In addition to text based sources, in some cases primary documents may include newspapers and photographs, if they are the object of your study. Photographs might include images of fashion and public space (bicycles, cars, roads, or architecture), amusements and violence. Other primary materials might include examples of music, cinema, or art from the 1920s.

Secondary sources are single author books or articles that discuss or interpret your primary sources (or topic) from the 1920s over time. In choosing your secondary sources, try to find books that were written, for example, in the 1940s, 1960s, 1980s, 2010. These differences in era will show you how authors have re-interpreted the 1920s, based on what came before and their own interests.

All papers must include both foot or end notes and bibliography according to the Chicago Manual of Style. http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html

Papers should be between 7 and 10 pages, excluding footnotes and bibliography. As with your midterm, I expect the writing to be careful with regard to spelling, grammar, and punctuation. The final paper should be in traditional essay form: introduction and thesis statement, evidence, conclusion. Use the Benjamin book, A Student’s Guide to History, to review all the aspects of writing an excellent essay.