Unit 2: History

One of the most important tenets of the modern academy’s approach to history is the idea that we should not limit ourselves to writing about famous people who did important things. In this unit, your own life and history will be the focus of your study. Rather than mere self-reflection, however, we will use the tools of the modern historian to understand and appreciate the value of both our lives and the lives of the people close to us.

Feeder 2.1

As we begin Unit 2, we will spend much of our class time looking at modern historical research and asking many of the same questions of it that we asked of literary research in Unit 1. What kinds of arguments do historians pose? What kinds of evidence serve to prove these arguments? As we formulate answers to these questions, each of you will compose a historical biography of one of your group members. Most of you are young, so these biographies will be short—4-6 substantial paragraphs, or the equivalent of 2-3 typed pages—but in them you will use the tools and methods of the modern historian. Also like a modern historian, your biography must contain a substantial argument in which you will explain why this person’s life should matter to your readers. You must support this argument with the use of primary evidence such as documents, photographs, interviews, and other materials. A successful essay will not simply be a “puff piece” that relates facts about the subject; instead, it will make the reader feel as though learning about this person was a valuable use of their time.

Feeder 2.2

For your second Feeder assignment you will begin gathering information for the family history you will compose for your Unit 2 Project. For this assignment, choose the city or town that was most important to your family’s development; it may be the city your family has lived in all your life, it might be where your parents met, or if you moved around a lot it might be somewhere an important life event happened. Once you have chosen your city, find an academic journal article, book chapter, or other scholarly resource about your town and summarize it for your blog’s audience. Like your Feeder 1.2 assignment, you will need to explain to your readers how this research relates to them and why it matters to them. For those of you who come from larger or better documented cities, you may want to narrow your research to one historical moment or period. For those of you who come from smaller towns, don’t worry; it might take a little work, but you will be able to find a scholar who has studied your town. Your finished essay should be 4-6 substantial paragraphs, or the equivalent of 2-3 typed pages.

Unit 2 Project (DUE DATE: Friday, November 4)

For your Unit 2 Project, each of you will compose a family history that poses an argument about your family’s relationship to the place you studied in your Feeder 2.2 assignment. Like your Feeder 2.2 assignment, a successful essay will not simply be of interest to your family members. Rather, the argument you pose will be of interest and valuable to your blog’s wider audience. Remember, you are not simply collecting your family history, you are critiquing that history and explaining why it matters. You can choose how far back you want to go; some of you may only talk about your immediate family, while others may go back a few generations. However, your essay should 1. explain how the current generation of your family relates to the place in question, and 2. support your argument(s) with the kinds of primary (photographs, documents, interviews, etc.) and secondary (academic resources like the ones you looked at for Feeder 2.2) resources used by modern historians.

A successful essay will:

·      Present an original and surprising thesis that shows the influence of place on the author’s family history.

·      Use both scholarly research and primary evidence to support the author’s claims about the history of both the author’s family and the place associated with them.

·      Include thoughtful, sustained analysis of the primary sources.

·      Cite all sources in a manner appropriate for the blog and its audience.

·      Be written in a lively, engaging and authoritative style.

·      Be free of errors in spelling and grammar as well as visual formatting.