Professor Rees

History 304

Spring 2008

Paper Assignment

20% of your grade will be an 8-12 page research paper on some topic in American history pertaining to the years 1945 to the present. You should accomplish two tasks in this paper. First, present research about an event, phenomenon or person from American history that interests you. If you are interested in Madonna, write more about her life than you'll hear in lecture. Your second objective is to explain why your subject is historically significant. The My Lai Massacre, for instance, was an important event during the Vietnam War. If you choose this for a topic, don't just talk about military issue. Place the incident in the context of the wider war.

In order to help you choose a topic and find books, we will be spending an entire class period in the library examining their resources. At present, that day is scheduled on the syllabus(but may change). Like all classes, your attendance is required. One advance note of warning: You will not be able to complete this assignment with distinction unless you go outside the library to find your information.

No matter which option you select, you must consult at least four sources for your paper. Magazine articles and newspapers are fine, but not encyclopedias. Also, you may not use more than one internet source. Both footnotes (for direct quotations and/or statistics cited) and a bibliography (listing the sources you consulted in your research) are required. If you do not include these things your paper will not be accepted. However, the format which you use to document your research is up to you (as long as it fully documents your research so that I can trace it if I want too. That means page numbers!). For a guide to the most common footnote and bibliography format, the Chicago Style (a.k.a. Turabian), click here. If you do not know what footnotes and bibliography are, come see me immediately.

Before February 29th, you must hand a single page that lists your topic and at least two of the five sources you will be using. If I do not receive the sheet describing your topic, the paper will not be accepted. Also, you cannot change topics after that date. If you have trouble choosing a topic, visit me during my office hours and I'll try to help. I might also be able to help you locate sources if your topic is something I know a bit about.

By April 14th, you must hand in a draft of your paper for review.  E-mail me one copy for my comments and bring two other copies to class that day.  These will go to other students who will comment on your paper (you will take two different ones home to generate your own comments).  Those comments should be e-mailed to the student and cc'ed to me by April 18th.  The point of these comments is not to nitpick or to correct grammar, but to point out to the authors where there are arguments are unclear and ask questions or give comments that will help them clarify their thinking.  Good critiquing takes thought and as in all assignments, amount of thought is the criteria I'll use when grading those comments.  The draft paper you bring that day should demonstrate substantial progress on the assignment. Footnotes and a tentative bibliography are required as part of your drafts. After all, you have to assemble them by the end. Why not do it as you go?

The final paper will be due during the final exam period.  Only typewritten papers will be accepted.

Should you miss any of these deadlines along the way (particularly the last one), I reserve the right to fail you for the entire assignment.

For advice on how to write good papers, click here.

If you have any questions about these instructions or the content of this paper, drop me an e-mail, come see me in my office hours or make an appointment.

Jonathan Rees
Associate Professor of History
Colorado State University - Pueblo
2200 Bonforte Boulevard
Pueblo, CO 81001
(719) 549-2541

E-Mail: Jonathan [dot] Rees [at] colostate-pueblo [dot] edu

This page viewed times.