History 477

Spring 2013

Devine

Essay Assignment #2

 

INSTRUCTIONS

 

Your second essay is due Saturday, May 4th by 11:59 pm.  If you plan to work with a writing tutor on this essay, you must email your complete 5-page draft to the tutor at time you email me your paper. The final draft will be due on May 12th.

 

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.

 

 

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 #2” or “Disney”) 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.)

 

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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. (Watts, 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.    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.]

 

2.    Both Tarzan and Rudolph Valentino embodied different notions of “the ideal man.”  Tarzan appealed 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 Gaynlyn Studlar in your discussion of Valentino.]

 

3.    Pick TWO of the following themes from The Maltese Falcon study guide – loyalty; truth and deception; masculinity; femininity; authority – and, referring back to the questions raised on the study guide under each theme, compose an essay that engages these questions and draws some overall conclusions about Hammett’s approach to these themes.

[In the essay’s first paragraph you should make clear to the reader which two themes your paper will discuss and indicate what basic arguments you will make regarding both themes. Refer to specific moments or incidents in the novel to illustrate the points. Whenever you make an assertion, be sure you introduce evidence from the novel to show the reader what you’re saying is true.]

 

4.    Some critics have dismissed Elvis Presley as “the white boy who stole the blues.”  Why is this characterization overly simplistic, misleading, and, if one believes Robert Pielke and Michael Bertrand, fundamentally wrong?  Why do Pielke and Bertrand think that Elvis was a far more significant figure in both the history of music and of race relations?

 

[In answering, be sure to describe the specific evidence that these two authors introduce to make their respective cases. Also, be sure to address Elvis’s significance to music and race relations.]

 

 

5.    Why did many young Americans – black and white – find rock’n’roll music and musicians – particularly figures like Elvis Presley – so fascinating while their parents considered Presley and his new brand of music a threat to deeply held values – particularly with regard to race, sex, and the Protestant work ethic?

 

[A thorough answer will not simply describe the music and behavior of Elvis and others, but explain why they were both fascinating and threatening.  In answering, you should explain how Presley and others’ brand of music challenged specific values and prejudices of the time.]