History 305

Devine

Spring 2011

Essay Assignment #1 (Option A)

 

INSTRUCTIONS

 

Your first essay is due Sunday, February 13th by 11:59 pm.  If you do not wish to do this paper, you can wait for the next essay assignment (Option B) which will be due on 13 March.  You may email your essay to me as an attachment (the preferred method), turn it in to the History Department office (Sierra Tower 610) during business hours, or hand it to me in person. Late essays will be penalized, so please turn your assignment in on time.

 

If you complete this essay and do not do well, you may then turn in the Option B essay. I will count only the better of the two grades.

 

I prefer you email me the paper since this is the best way to ensure that it does not get lost. Please send a copy to James as well (james.adams.397@my.csun.edu). When you email us, you should also send a copy to yourself on the “cc” line. If you receive the email, it’s likely we 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 SHOULD THE PAPER BE?

 

Papers MUST be 1500 words and no more than 1900 words.

 

HOW SHOULD I FORMAT THE PAPER?

 

• Typed, double-spaced, 12-point font with one-inch margins all around.

 

• Please number your pages by using the “insert page number” feature on your word processor.

 

• Give your essay a title that indicates what the paper is about. (Something more revealing than “Essay #1” or “Tarzan”) Clever titles will be duly noted.

 

• Base your essay entirely on the assigned course reading. You do not have to (nor should you) draw on any outside sources.

 

Don’t forget to put your name at the top of page 1 of the essay before you email it. (People actually forget to do this.)

 

HOW DO I 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. (Erenberg, 47). All direct quotes MUST be in quotation marks and must be cited. Paraphrases of ideas drawn from the book MUST also be cited.

 

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 James via email or in person.

 

HOW WILL I BE GRADED?

 

You will be graded on:

 

1)    focus (do you have a thesis statement and does it answer the question asked?)

 

2)    evidence (do you back up your argument with specific information from the reading?)

 

3)    coherence (is your argument consistent and understandable throughout the piece?)

 

4)    scope (does your paper deal with the question in appropriate depth and breadth?) 

 

 

THE ASSIGNMENT

 

Answer ONE of the following questions:

 

1.    Between 1890 and the 1920s, the United States shifted from a Victorian, genteel, producer-oriented culture to an urban, industrialized, consumerist, and modern culture.  In essence, many Americans were “steppin’ out” from the parlor and into the nightclub. How was this gradual yet profound shift reflected in the popular entertainments of the time – for example, the rise of New York nightlife along Broadway, the emergence of cabarets and “friendly” entertainers like Sophie Tucker, the opening of amusement parks like those on Coney Island, the success of films featuring more open displays of sexuality?

 

[In answering, demonstrate through the use of specific examples from course readings how American culture was changing and how the examples you introduce illustrate these changes. You may want to organize your essay around specific kinds of changes – the shift from producerism to consumerism; changes in gender roles for men and women; the impact that urbanization and industrialization had on American culture, and so on.]

 

2.    Why would the novel Tarzan of the Apes and the character “Tarzan” himself appeal to white middle-class men – like Edgar Rice Burroughs – working within “the system” in 1914?  What had happened to masculinity by the turn of the 20th century?  What had “corrupted” it?  Why was the embrace of “primitivism” a potential remedy? How might various episodes in the novel have – at least vicariously – reassured white male readers of their status in American society?

 

     [Beyond what was said in class, the essay by Higham and Reading Tarzan of the Apes with a Critical Eye handout (both posted on the web syllabus) will be very helpful in giving you the historical context you will need to engage this question.  A persuasive essay will cite specific passages from the novel to support its points and make clear why the historical context of 1914 would help explain the novel’s popularity among men.]

 

3.    Both Tarzan and Rudolph Valentino embodied different notions of “the ideal man.”  Tarzan seemed to appeal more to men, Valentino to women. Write an essay in which you compare and contrast these two idealized versions of masculinity and indicate why men preferred Tarzan and women Valentino.  Taking into account the historical context and shifting cultural values of this period, why would this be so?  What qualities made each figure “ideal” in the eyes of his admirers? What qualities did they share? What qualities made them different? Why did men admire Tarzan but denounce Valentino?

 

     [Beyond what was said in class and the novel itself, the Reading Tarzan of the Apes with a Critical Eye handout the Higham essay posted on the web syllabus will help you in your discussion of Tarzan.  Draw on the essay by Studlar for Valentino.  Sections from Erenberg’s Steppin’ Out may also be helpful in discussing the historical context and changing gender roles of the period.]