History 305
Devine
Fall 2006
Primary
Source Assignment
A first draft of this essay is due on Sunday, December 3rd by noon.
No drafts will be accepted after that time. If you do not turn in a complete first draft (not just
topic sentences or a few paragraphs, but a five-page draft), the highest grade
you will be able to receive on the final assignment is an A-. Those who submit a draft will have 4 points
added to their quiz average for the semester.
Those who submit a draft will also have the benefit of feedback and a
second chance to make their essay stronger. (This generally results in the
final product getting a higher grade.) Your first and second drafts will be
graded by the same person.
The second
draft of the essay
is due Monday, December 11th
by
11:59 pm. You may email your essay to me
as an attachment, turn it in to the History Department office (Sierra Tower
610) during business hours, or hand it to me in person.
I
prefer you email me the paper since this is the best
way to ensure that your paper does not get lost. When emailing, send a copy to yourself on the
“cc” line. If you receive the email, it’s likely I did as well. I will send you
a confirmation email when I receive your paper, however, it is YOUR
RESPONSIBILITY (and not the email
server’s) that I get it.
(“But I sent it to you – didn’t you get it?” will not be a
legitimate excuse for a late paper.)
How Long?
To
meet the minimum standard,
you must write a 1750-word essay. This translates to about
five
FULL pages. Please do not extend your essay beyond seven
full pages.
Format?
• Typed,
double-spaced, 12-point font with one-inch margins all around. Margins can be set by using the “File” menu
in MS Word and choosing “Page set up.”
• Please number your
pages (use the “Insert” menu on MS Word and choose “Page numbers…”)
• Give your essay a
title that reflects what the paper is about. (Something more revealing than “Primary
Source Assignment”)
Clever titles will be duly noted.
How to cite?
If
you are quoting directly from a source, cite the author and page number in
parentheses within the body of the text, i.e. (Tarasov, 47). All
direct quotes from sources MUST be in quotation marks and must be cited.
Paraphrases of ideas drawn from sources MUST also be cited.
Bibliography
page
Each paper must also have a bibliography page (not
included in the page # or word count total).
On this page, you will cite each article you reference in the body of
your paper.
Follow this format for citing:
Author, last name first. Article title
in quotation marks. Magazine title underlined. Date (month, year). For example:
Tarasov, Andrei. “The Magical Bip-Bip
of the First Sputnik.” Soviet Life
(October 1964).
If
you have any questions or are in any way unsure about what you are being asked
to do, be sure to speak with me or one of the teaching assistants via email or
in person.
Choose ONE (1) of
these two approaches to the assignment:
1)
Select one article from the Soviet magazine and one
article from the American magazine.
These should be articles that lend themselves to comparison, either
because they address similar issues or focus on similar subject matter. Read each article closely, then
write an essay that compares and contrasts the two articles.
Use the following
questions to guide your analysis: How
can the reader tell one article is written by a Soviet writer (or from a Soviet
point of view) and the other by an American writer (or from an American point of
view)? Do the respective authors tend to
emphasize certain points or take a certain tone? Are either or both articles attempting to
persuade the reader to adopt a particular point of view? In what ways, if at all, have attempts to
appeal to the reader influenced the content of each article (that is what is said, and what is not said)? Do the two articles approach their subject
matter in a similar fashion? Pick at
least one theme or aspect from each article that particularly strikes you or
piques your interest. Does it support or
undermine what we have learned in class?
Ultimately, your essay should indicate whether or not the differences
between the two articles outweigh the similarities.
2)
Skim through an entire issue of each magazine. You do NOT need to read every word of every
single article or advertisement. Simply
browse through the magazines, taking notes about their similarities and
differences. Then, write an essay that
compares and contrasts the content and style of the two magazines. Use the
following questions to guide your analysis: What major differences strike
you? How are the two magazines
similar? How do considerations of
audience appeal influence the content of each magazine? How is the magazine’s point of view (American
or Soviet) reflected in its style and content?
What sorts of attitudes about the