History paper about researching a particular historical event or episode in the twentieth century (1900-1990s) through contemporary newspapers.

History 110 / Spring 2016

Prof. Yeh

Research Paper Assignment

The paper assignment for this course involves researching a particular historical event or episode in the twentieth century (1900-1990s) through contemporary newspapers. First, you are to choose a topic (see list below) and find and use at least 12-15 articles or editorials on your topic in the Los Angeles Times or New York Times newspapers from the period you are researching. From these you are to analyze and discuss the attitudes, beliefs, or response of Americans during that period to the event you are examining. Depending on your topic, you should try to explore it for a week or so after the initial episode, though some may require research up to a month after. Be sure to use ideas or quotes from the articles to support your claims. Rather than simply describing the response or attitudes you find, try to construct some form of an argument which will help give your paper some coherent direction. A word of caution: The paper is not about how the press or media reported the event, but rather you should use the media as your window into how people, officials, etc reacted or responded to the particular event you have chosen.

The paper is to be at least 5 pages in length, double spaced, and with normal font and margins and is due April 12th. You will be graded on content, organization, clarity of thought, and writing style so you should proofread your work carefully. Consult the SDSU Department of History website for guides to writing and proper reference style (Chicago style endnotes only). [http://history.sdsu.edu/writing_guides.htm] Be aware that you should use and cite at least 10-12 of your articles in your paper. You must allot the bulk of your paper to examining and analyzing the sources, allowing no more than 1 page to background and introduction.

You may use only the NY Times or LA Times ProQuest Research Historical Newspaper online source for your research. This means Google or Lexis-Nexis searches are not appropriate for this assignment. Please see videos in Blackboard Assignment section for detailed explanation of how to find proper sources.

FDR’s Election (1932)

LBJ’s Decision not to run again

Reagan's 1980 election

Execution of Sacco/Vanzetti

Brown v. Bd. of Education

Love Canal (Aug-Dec 1978)

Beatles Invasion (Feb. 1964) .

Cuban Missile Crisis (10/22/62)

Bonus Army (7/28/32)

Shuttle Challenger accident

Boston School busing (9/8/74)

Nixon's Resignation

Pattie Hearst Kidnapping

O. North Iran-Contra testimony

End of WWII

1948 Truman election

Charles Manson conviction

Three Mile Island Accident

Fall of Saigon (1975)

1947 Hollywood Hearing Clinton election (1992)

US Iraq Invasion (3/22/03)

Hurricane Katrina (8/30/05)

Birmingham Riot (May 1963)

Sputnik Launch (Oct. 1957)

Stock Market Crash (10/29/29)

Start of Desert Storm (1/16/91)

Sinking of Lusitania

Clinton impeachment (12/19/98)

Branch Davidian Siege (4/19/93) Kent State killings (5/4/70)

Seattle WTO Protests (11/30/99)

JFK’s Election

Apollo 11 landing on moon Rosenbergs Execution (6/19/53) Hippies/SF (4/67-8/67)

Michigan Affirmative Action Cases (6/23/03)

Tips on Writing Papers and Grading Guidelines

1. A THESIS: You need to formulate a thesis. A thesis tells the reader what you are going to prove. It is an answer, not an agenda. This should be very clear and explicit. For example if your topic is on working-class women in urban areas during the turn of the century, a good thesis might be: "despite the economic difficulties faced by working-class women in urban areas during the turn of the century, this group of women experienced social freedoms their middle-class sisters could not due to the richness of working-class culture." The following thesis, while acceptable, is not as good as the above: "my paper will describe the culture of working-class women during the turn of the century urban areas."

2. ORGANIZATION: After you have worked out your thesis, you can begin organizing your paper. If your thesis is well-developed, this should not be difficult. The good thesis above, for example, suggests three major sections, one on the economic conditions of working-class women, one of the social restrictions of middle-class women, one on working-women's culture and its advantages. A historical essay must contain three essential elements: an introductory paragraph, (which must contain your thesis), a body, and a conclusion. The above three sections would probably be several paragraphs each in the body of the paper.

3. REVISIONS: Most students benefit tremendously from revising their work. Most good writers need to do through several drafts before the product is acceptable. I would strongly encourage you to plan to let the first draft of your paper rest for a few days and then revise it. When revising, it often helps to read the paper out loud because serious problems will often be more apparent to your ears than to your eyes. Here are some guidelines to help you edit the paper.

a. Compare your conclusion with your opening. If they do not agree, you have a problem.

b. Check your paper for consistency. Do your ideas follow each other in a logical progression?

c. Proofread the draft. Check for spelling, punctuation, and typographical errors.

d. Have someone else proofread the draft.

4. Paper format

a. Staple the pages together.

b. Use 12 point font, printed in black.

c. Paginate your paper.

d. Doubled-space.

5. GENERAL TIPS ON WRITING: SOME DOS AND DON'TS.

1. Do not write one-sentence paragraphs, ever. Every paragraph must contain a topic sentence, lots of supporting evidence (all cited) and a conclusion and transition to the next point. You simply cannot accomplish all of this in one sentence.

2. Write clear, concise, simple sentences, and avoid using complicated words unless you are comfortable with using them. The best writing uses the clearest, most accurate language, in the fewest words possible, to express a thought or convey an idea.

3. When you write about something that occurred in the past, use past tenses.

4. Make sure your verb tenses agree with the subject of the sentence.

5. Make sure pronouns are all modified. In other words, make sure the reader knows who, “they,” “she,” or “it” refers to.

6. Do not use contractions in formal essays.

7. Do not tell the reader what you are going to do, (Next, I will be focusing on how George Creel used propaganda to mobilize the American public for the war effort.) just do it.

8. You must use transitional phrases, words, and sentences between paragraphs to ease the flow of your writing.

9. You must write in complete sentences. That means, you need to have a subject and a verb in each sentence.

10. Make sure you know the difference between “affect” and “effect”; between “it's” and “its”; between “there”, “their” and “they're”.

11. Try to use gender-neutral language in your writing. Do not use the universal “he” or his.” Use he/she or he and she. Do not use mankind when humankind or humanity will do just as well.

PAPER GRADING GUIDELINES

An "A" PAPER develops a theme in an organized, controlled manner; it has a clearly defined thesis and argues this thesis effectively without extraneous discussion. An "A" paper should have an original insight into materials presented in class. It should also effectively analyze primary documents. In terms of structure, the essay should 1) recognize appropriate opposition to the theme of the paper, 2) develop each paragraph as an extension or elaboration of the thesis sentence of the essay, and 3) clearly mark the development of logic through appropriate transitions, reiterations of the theme, explicit justification for the use of data, explanations, evidence, logical constructs and through the use of proper conclusions. An "A" paper tackles a problem at a significant level of analysis, i.e., deals with problems on as specific and complex a level as possible, given the nature of materials presented to the class.

A "B" ESSAY develops a theme in an organized manner, has a well-defined thesis, and supports this thesis with examples, evidence and logic. The materials presented are factually correct and consistently support a theme outlined at the beginning of the essay. A "B" essay should have a recognizable line of argument/explanation, a justification for all subtopics discussed, a conclusion that answers all or part of the original essay question.

A "C" ESSAY organizes class materials and primary documents into a coherent and consistent essay which demonstrates an understanding of both materials. Organization of the paper is such that the major theme can be followed and subtopics relate to this theme.

A "D" ESSAY does none of the above effectively.

A "F" ESSAY is really bad!