History Essay
Essay Prompt
On page 4 of the Introduction to A Different Mirror, Ronald Takaki includes a
quote from the celebrated Black author, Toni MorrisonLinks to an external site., noting “‘Race,’
observed Toni Morrison, has functioned as a ‘metaphor’ necessary to the
‘construction of Americanness’: in the creation of our national identity,
‘American’ has been defined as ‘white.’ Not to be ‘white’ is to be designated
as the ‘Other’ – different, inferior, and unassimilable.”
Choose TWO of the following
groups (African-Americans, Native-Americans, the Chinese,
Mexicans, the Irish, and Eastern and Southern Europeans) we examined in Module
2 and discuss how
each of those two groups was “designated as the Other” by the
native-born, Anglo, Protestant, white majority in the nineteenth century
and analyze how
this “Othering” affected the two groups. Were there ways that they
fought this designation? Did this designation change over the 19th century for
your groups, or not?
I would prefer choosing Native American
and the Chinese. But writer can choose freely what is convenient
depending on primary and secondary sources provided.
Please
read the instruction very carefully before writing.
DO
NOT USE ANY OTHER SOURCES APART FROM THE ONE I HAVE PROVIDED.
MAKE
SURE TO USE QUOTE
THESIS
STATEMENT NEED TO BE STRONG
MUST
HAVE A HOOK IN THE BEGINNING
Tips
· There were many ways that
groups were designated as “Others” in nineteenth-century America and
how that might have affected them. You may want to consider some of the
following areas and issues
·
o Laws, justice, civil rights,
citizenship opportunities, voting, and political activism
·
o Education, marriage, housing,
access to public life, and cultural institutions and practices (like religion,
language, clothing, and culture, etc.
o Wages and pay, job
opportunities (types of jobs open to them), working conditions, and land
ownership
·
Don’t choose your groups randomly. There should be a logic behind
your choices and you should make that clear in your
thesis and
in your analysis. You
don’t want me to wonder why you chose those groups. Tell me in the thesis at the
end of the Introduction.
Formatting and Instructions
Sources and Length
· Essay must use in total at
least 3 relevant PRIMARY sources
from the assigned Canvas readings.
Once you’ve used 3 primary sources, you can use another one or two more. And 2
secondary sources You should also be using information from the course
secondary sources (in addition to these sources).
· You should include quotes from
the course readings (primary AND secondary) in the essay to illustrate your
analysis and the points you’re making. Try to quote just from the sources
themselves (not the introductions to the sources). Cite quotes with
basic parenthetical citation after the quote. For example, (Takaki, 38). Or
(Franklin, 2). If it’s not clear who the specific author was, then put the
document title instead of the author’s last name. If it’s a very like document
title, it’s fine to shorten it. If you have an e-book that doesn’t have page
numbers, then put the location number or put the chapter, section, and
sub-section.
· Essay must primarily draw on information from the
course materials (lectures, required readings,
supplemental videos). The purpose of the assignment is to test your knowledge
of the course materials, not what’s on the Internet, social media, or
AI-generated content. I will take points off if information from outside the
course is primarily relied upon.
· Be sure to include historical specifics in
your essay, referencing specific events and developments, which demonstrates
your knowledge of the content. The essay should not just summarize the primary
sources. It should primarily discuss the historical content from the lectures,
videos, and readings, and then use the primary sources for support.
· Essay should be 4 pages long (1/2 page over or under ok).
The grade will be affected if the length doesn’t follow this guideline.
· Use Times New Roman 12-point
font, 1-inch margins, and double-spacing. Put a single spaced header in the top
left corner with your name, my name, the class, and date on separate lines. Skip
a space, put the title of your essay and center it. When double-spacing, you
should indent your new paragraphs with one stroke of the “Tab” key,
but you don’t need to add an extra line.
Grading and Example of a History Essay
·
Example of a well-written
college-level History essay Download Example of a well-written
college-level History essay. This is a high-scoring essay written for the
AP US History exam. your essay needs to have quotes from the primary and
secondary sources that this example is missing because it was a closed-book
exam. But the overall idea and mechanics are the same.
