Annotated Bibliography & Historical Newspaper Assignment
Historical Newspaper Assignment:
Overview:
For this assignment you will need to write a 4-5 page paper based, in part, on
primary source materials you collect by using the database Chronicling America: Historic
American Newspapers (it’s listed as Historic American Newspapers on the MTC Library
web site). Either look up a particular event or issue, or start by searching for your
birthday during any year from 1860 to 1963 and then select a topic by reading about the
events during that period. In addition to using at least one newspaper article, you will also
need to incorporate at least two additional scholarly books or academic journal articles
(not including your textbook) as sources in your paper.
Annotated Bibliography/Citation Practice:
In preparation for the newspaper project,
you will be required to submit an annotated bibliography including a brief description (at
least 3 sentences) and full citation of each of your sources (your news article(s) plus the
two secondary sources). For each source, you should include its bibliographical citation
as well as a footnote citation.
Your sources should be second line indented and listed in
alphabetical order (see the sample bibliography on D2L).
Citations:
Use Chicago style for your notes and bibliography. Please refer to this quick
guide (https://owl.english.purdue.
citations for books and articles. Feel free to use either footnotes or endnotes, but in
general they should look like this for a book with one author:
1.
Robert Gilmer,
Awesome Book About History
(Columbia, SC: Midlands Tech
Press, 2013), 23.
Or this for a journal article:
2. Robert Gilmer, “Awesome Article About History,”
History Journal
82, no. 3
(2013): 782-782.
Bibliographical citations are also listed on the quick guide and are slightly different, so
careful to follow the correct method for each.
Format:
Your paper should be
4-5 full pages of double-spaced text
(3.5 pages is not 4
pages) in
size twelve font, Times New Roman
. Your margins should be 1” at the top and
bottom, and 1” on the left and right (these are the defaults in Microsoft Word, as long as
you don’t mess with them yours should be fine).
The heading for your paper should be aligned to the upper left hand corner of your paper
and be formatted like:
{Title}
{First & Last Name}
HIS 202
{Date}
For example: Historical Newspaper Project
Rob Gilmer
HIS 202
7/10/12
It should be in the same font and size as the rest of your text, and should not include any
unnecessary spaces or more than one space between the end of your heading and the
beginning of your paper.
What your paper should do:
You should start off with a clear introductory paragraph
that briefly explains the topic of your paper. You need to use the newspapers to help you
identify a topic, but your paper itself should focus on making an argument about that
topic (rather than about the day itself—so pick one thing and run with it, rather than
writing about everything that happened that day). You should end your
first paragraph
with an underlined thesis statement
that lays out your argument for the rest of your paper.
In the main body of your paper you should lay out an argument about how your
topic can be used to tell us about what life was like during the times discussed in the
news articles. As much as possible, you should center this on tying your topic to major
themes we’ve discussed: race, class issues, gender relations, working conditions,
environmental changes, etc. Keep this in mind when selecting articles and a topic, you
want one that will give you enough to write at least a few of pages, so be sure to pick a
good one!
This is also where you’ll want to bring in your secondary sources. Does the
evidence you’ve found conform to or conflict with what you’re reading in your secondary
sources? What can those sources tell you about the “big picture” that your newspaper
articles fit into? What can you learn from them about the event or issue in question that
isn’t apparent in the newspaper article itself (or that might be there, but that’s better
explained by the secondary sources)?
Finally, you should end your paper with a clear conclusion that summarizes your
argument (without repeating it verbatim) and suggests why your topic, and your
arguments about it, are important to understanding this period in history.
You will need to submit both an electronic copy (in the dropbox on D2L) and a
hard copy of your paper.
What I’ll be looking for in terms of grading:
#1. Following directions!
#2. A clear argument
#3. Creatively using evidence to support your argument
#4. Logical organization
#5. Spelling, grammar, and sty
Solution Preview
Introduction
The role of women in society is an important topic to tackle and understand following the predominance of the male figure in society and the unending gender inequality in society today. Women have always been considered of a lower caliber as compared to their male counterparts. Back in the days, women were restricted to serving from their households while men, on the other hand, were pondered with other important duties in the society such as governing, provision and protection both domestically and nationally. However, in the later past, women have benefited from women empowerment programs such as the International Development Exchange (IDEX), programs that have aided in elevating the position of women in society.
(1,538 words)