For the purposes of this assignment, you are a high-school history teacher just about to start your first official job after graduation. One of the courses that you will be teaching during the spring semester is the U. S. history survey course, covering the pre-contact period through the Civil War. Your principal, who acts as your teaching mentor, has asked you for a 6-8 page proposal that outlines the most important theme that you will be focusing on in your course. This theme is absolutely crucial to understanding American history.
Your proposal should be a formal, professional essay (after all, you want to impress your principal!), and it must include four main parts. First, your introduction must state your chosen theme and define it. Think carefully and choose a theme that is not too broad (e.g. “racism”), but at the same time, not too specific (e.g. “black abolitionists”). There is not necessarily one correct answer, since we all know that there are many important themes that should be addressed in every U.S. history course. It may difficult to choose the MOST important, but for an assignment of this length you simply cannot cover everything.
Second, you should devote approximately two pages to the historical background of this theme. For instance, if you choose a theme like “ethnocentrism,” what are the historical events that illustrate how ethnocentrism has shaped American society? You will have to be concise—there is not room to write about everything—but you should still provide some specific examples to ensure that your proposal does not sound vague.
The third part of your proposal must highlight the key primary sources that you will assign in your course (stick to 2 or 3). Give a brief description of each source and then analyze it in the same way that we have been practicing all semester. Be sure to tie these sources to your main theme so your principal understands how these readings will benefit your students.
The fourth—and final—part of your proposal is the conclusion. This should be one or two paragraphs that reiterate why this theme is so important and why your students will benefit from a deeper understanding of our nation’s history. In other words, address the significance of this theme.
In preparing your proposal you can use our textbook, lecture notes, any available PowerPoints, primary and secondary sources, and discussion notes. A synthetic essay, by nature, will have you drawing from various sources to support your conclusions. However, no outside research is required for this assignment; simply use the sources assigned in this course. That includes the primary sources that are excerpted in the Henretta textbook (called “American Voices”). This paper must follow the normal style guidelines: double spaced, 12 pt. Times New Roman font, page numbers, footnote citations, a title, etc…. If you go slightly over the page limit (say, onto the 9th page) that is fine.
It will be due in the Blackboard Assignment Dropbox by 12:00 noon on Wednesday, December 17th. If possible, please drop a hard copy by my office (Wescoe 4045) as well. Be aware that the normal late-paper policy will not apply to this essay; late essays will receive a 0. No exceptions. Give yourself plenty of time to upload your file to Blackboard; if you are having difficulty, email it to me as an attachment.
