Historical paper

You will be required to turn in three 3-page Response Papers about the assigned texts. The prompt for these writing assignments will be given in class a week before they are due. The strongest papers will also address relevant focus questions for the adjacent weeks and connect reading and lecture materials. I am much more interested in reading about your analysis and argument, supported by text evidence, than in reading summaries with fancy words.

Expectations:

-3 pages, double-spaced, reasonable font in size 12, 1” margins. If you turn in 3.25 pages, that’s okay. Do not turn in 4 pages. Do not turn in 2.5 pages.

-No works cited page. Use only materials from class (lecture and book)

-Typical citation style for historians is Chicago, not MLA or APA. In this class we are modifying that. For a book citation, just use (author, page #) like (Edwards, 18).

For citing lecture, use the lecturer’s name and date of the lecture (Cave-LaCoste, 7/28/17)

-The strongest papers will have an introduction paragraph of a few sentences that include an interesting hook (why I should care), introducing the relevant text, and a thesis statement that answers the questions of the prompt. A conclusion paragraph can be a few sentences that remind the reader of your overall argument

-Use body paragraphs to organize evidence that supports your argument. A 3-page paper will likely have 4-6 paragraphs including intro and conclusion.

Edwards sorts her chapters thematically, with topics like “Youth” and “Science” rather than a strict chronological telling. Pick one of these sections (ch. 2-11) for further study. What historical change does Edwards identify in that chapter? Who benefits most and least from that change? If you could add another themed chapter, what would it be about?

-“An Uneasy Peace: Legacies of the Civil War”

-education

-sharecropping

-voting rights

Outline:

Bad Paragraph exercise

*note: this paragraph had some good ideas but makes a few pitfalls. Think about what you could change to make it stronger and avoid these common mistakes in your own introduction!

Countries have always struggled during wars to figure out who they are. The Civil War, when brother fought against brother, was no different. But after the civil war, the country changed rapidly because slavery was over. Edwards says the peace between North and South was “uneasy” because some rights were gained only temporarily or unevenly because of geography. After the Civil War, the same people who benefited from Reconstruction would also suffer because the government wasn’t powerful enough to do what it promised.

Now the same paragraph, with annotations about what could improve (you might find your own things to change and that’s great, writing is partly about personal style!):

Countries have always struggled during wars to figure out who they are. The Civil War, when brother fought against brother, was no different. But after the civil war, the country changed rapidly because slavery was over. Edwards says the peace between North and South is “uneasy” because some rights were gained only temporarily or unevenly because of geography. After the Civil War, the same people who benefited from Reconstruction would also suffer because the government wasn’t powerful enough to do what it promised. Comment by Bristol Cave-LaCoste: Way too general. Starting an essay with something you think has been true forever or around the world is way too big and you won’t be able to prove it. Something specific and surprising will get readers’ attention better Comment by Bristol Cave-LaCoste: It’s always a good idea to root your paragraph in a date range at least once, i.e. the war ending in 1865 or Reconstruction happening from 1865-1877 Comment by Bristol Cave-LaCoste: Avoid clichés. This does not explain the cause for the war very well Comment by Bristol Cave-LaCoste: Civil War should be capitalized Comment by Bristol Cave-LaCoste: Is this the reason it changed? Can I specify a few changes? (this would be a good point to introduce the ideas my evidence will touch on – changes to education, farm labor, and voting rights) Comment by Bristol Cave-LaCoste: Always introduce the work fully. “In New Spirits (italicized), Rebecca Edwards argued…” Comment by Bristol Cave-LaCoste: Was. Historical writing should be past tense, it’s over Comment by Bristol Cave-LaCoste: I should be more specific about which people. We agreed in class that African Americans stood to benefit the most and also the least by Reconstruction Comment by Bristol Cave-LaCoste: Again this is kind of vague – could be stronger by specifying the federal government and the issue of enforcement

So the same paragraph, revised, might read something like this (and could use another round or 2 of revisions). You’ll notice I’m not fundamentally changing the meaning of my paragraph, just how I’m saying things:

After the Civil War ended in 1865, a reunited country faced another crisis of national identity. The South had lost, slavery ended, and the political and economic effects of these changes would influence every area of life. In New Spirits, Rebecca Edwards emphasized the tenuousness of post-war peace, causing inconsistent changes to legal rights, educational access, and employment as various areas of the country experienced Reconstruction differently. African Americans could benefit the most from these changes but some of them would benefit least because of the inconsistent enforcement of the federal vision of equality.