Paper 1:
Must be 3 pages.
Among the biggest problems with U.S history (and history in
general) is the resurgence and viral spread of long-discredited, simplistic
national myths. These are often uncomplicated tales of “great men doing great
things” and expanding nations or limited stories that ignore the range of diverse
peoples and places across North America. Most of these mythic histories reach
back centuries and have demonstrated phenomenal staying power. These myths have
both been perpetuated and debunked by historians.
In each paper, you will choose one distorted claim made
about the United States before 1800. Then, you will select a set of primary
sources from the given sources to analyze to disprove that myth.
Source Requirements
· Sources must be from a file
given
· No
quotes longer than 3 lines, unless exceptional.
· Descriptions of
sources/captions on them are NOT primary sources
Secondary source tips
· Explain how historians
have disproven your chosen myth, if applicable.
· No more than one quote
from a secondary source. Put the rest in your own words.
o For example, describe the historical event or summarize the author’s point.
Paper 1:
Primary sources
· Use 2-3 primary sources
from the list given.
o You do not have to quote or summarize them all!
· Use sources from at least
2 modules
Secondary sources:
Use must use Alan Taylor’s American Colonies, chapter 1,2,3,6, and or 8 to explain
the who, what, when, and where you are writing about.
(I only have the physical copy of this required source so this would need to be found online, I could find it for you if necessary)
· Paper 1 must feature at
least 2 mentions of Taylor, including one paraphrase, from
the scholarly secondary source
Tips for success on these assignments
Be sure your myth is clear in your introductory paragraph or two
Deciding on a topic
Choose a myth you that you can think of a few primary sources to talk about.
2 · Depending on the type of
source (and how rich and long it is, and how much analysis you
can pull from it), this might mean anywhere from 3 to 4 primary sources.
Read the set of related sources together.
· Consider: How do these
sources come together to debunk your chosen myth?
· How do these documents
speak to one another?
o comparisons, contrasts/differing perspectives, cause-effect.
o Think about authorship, historical context, when created, tone, rhetoric
& word
choice, audience, significance
Writing tips
Each essay should feature:
· an introduction with a
thesis statement
· multiple body paragraphs
that each include a primary source in some way (5-6 sentences)
· A 1 paragraph conclusion
that summarizes your paper and explains why the myth you
chose is an important myth to bust to understand US history to 1800
Tips for Introduction
· Your introduction/thesis
statement should summarize the myth you are addressing and
how it is false.
· Briefly describe the time
you are writing about and what kinds of sources you are using
to debunk that myth.
· Be specific, clear, and
concise, particularly in the final sentences of this paragraph where
you state your thesis and main parts of your paper.
Tips for body paragraphs
· Good topic sentences and
analytical concluding sentences for each paragraph help your
reader understand why the information in the paragraph is important and how it
relates to
the points you make in other paragraphs
· Topic sentences should
explain how the paragraph, especially how it relates to
the overall point of your paper.
· Analytical sentences
should explain why the sources you summarized relates to
your thesis and what its significance is in your own words.
· Each primary source
quotation/paraphrase you use should relate to the main point you are
trying to make.
o For example, if your point is to show that slavery did not only exist in what
became the U.S. south, the primary sources you quote from the book or article
should be statements from enslavers, government officials, traders, plantation
owners, or other observers and describe slavery in other regions. (You can
quote
an historian-author saying that slavery was definitively the cause–and that’s a
great idea for your essay–but it doesn’t count as one of your primary sources
quotations)