For this assignment, take in ALL of the material and time-periods we have looked at in our course. See the Big Picture — and it’s a truly BIG picture!
For this assignment you will be finding Three Newspaper Articles from Three Different Periods in U.S. History that deal with Three Items of Interest that interest you. (read that again)
We will define an “item of interest” as a person, group, event, place, or organization. For each item that you choose from the material covered in our course —
- Find one newspaper article from the period from 1865 to 1900.
- Find a second newspaper article from the period from 1901 to 1945.
- Find a third newspaper article from the period from 1946 to the 2010
I strongly suggest that you start this assignment by choosing three items that interest you and that correspond to the three time periods noted above. Follow what interests you.
As you research your articles on these three items that correspond to the three periods above, please find three articles that focus on each your chosen items — one article per item. The total number of articles you will analyze for this assignment is THREE.
Again, an “item” is a theme, event, or person that catches your interest and inspires research.
Be sure that you choose ONE item of interest for each of the THREE time periods noted above. That’s important. Remember, this assignment requires that you take in the Big Picture of our course and the history we’ve covered in it.
For each item you’ve chosen, research one newspaper article that significantly discusses it. It must significantly deal with it.
HINT: As you explore, trying using different search terms if little comes up, using different spellings, different search terms. At its best, research is problem-solving. For instance, look for an ‘advanced search’ option for the database you’re using and learn how to work it.
Browse your results and, if you don’t succeed at first, keep trying. Research is a key part of this assignment, not a secondary matter. Persistence is essential in all research and sets the good researcher apart from his peers. Part of what I will be grading for in this assignment is your research skills.
After you’ve chosen your three newspaper articles on three items that correspond to the three time-periods noted above, read each article — each primary source — carefully and then answer the following questions for each article.
Answer these questions FOR EACH OF YOUR THREE ARTICLES. This is the heart of this assignment.
- State what your item of interest is — the topic/search-term you did your research on. Then source your item. That is, give us the name of the newspaper, the title of the article, its author, and the date it was published. Include in this information a web address so that others, curious about your discovery, can easily and quickly find what you found. (five pieces of information)
- Summarize your article in 250 words or more. (Falling below that minimum word requirement will lose you points.) Use your own words throughout: quote nothing. Be sure to get at the heart of what the article is about in the order in which the key points appear in the source. Summarizing well is a skill: do a good job here. Find a balance between length, accuracy, fairness.
- How does the content of your item article link significantly to the Principal Themes in our Course? Spend yourself here and make important connections. This question is critical. It is asking you to show us your knowledge of both the article and the material we’ve examined in our course. Impress and instruct. (HINT: If you are not using the assigned reading in your answer, you are not answering this question correctly.)
THEMES:
Defining America and Americans / National Identity
What does it mean to be an ‘American’? Are there distinctly American values — and if so, what are they? Are Americans bound by these values? How do Americans differ from other peoples and how are they similar to them? Is there the myth of America and a reality?
Rights (What is owed to you? What are your obligations as a citizen?)
What is a ‘right’? Whose rights? According to whom? And what happens when rights collide? Whose rights come first — and why?
Equality
Equality for all? Legal equality? Racial equality? Equality of opportunities? (and by the way, are we all born with equal capacities to reason and think and communicate?)
Race / Ethnicity
What is a race (define it)? Are all races equal in the U.S.? How have racial differences been exploited? By whom? Why? Is the history of the color line (i.e. race) the history of the U.S.?
Progress / Decline
What does progress look like? Progress for whom? For some? For all? Measured by what standard?
City vs. Country
Is there a cultural divide between urban and rural America? What is the relationship between the two? Are they unalterably opposed? Why or why not?
Multiculturalism / Diversity
Are all cultures equally valuable? According to whom? And why? Is Cultural Appropriation a good, bad, or inevitable process? Why or why not? What is diversity and is it always a good or bad feature of the U.S.?
Immigration / Citizenship
Do immigrants have rights in the U.S.? When and how far? Who is a citizen and what “rights” does that confer on them?
Religion / Secularism
What does “freedom of worship” mean? What can the state do or not do in regulating religion and religious worship? Is belief in god an American value? Can a person be an American and not be Christian? How far? And where?
Patriachy / Sexism
Do women have the same rights as men in the U.S.? Think of the LGBT. How has discrimination based on a person’s sex, sexual orientation, or gender shaped U.S. history? (Is the “Me Too” movement about sex, rights, power or all three?)
The Community v. the Individual
When do communal rights outrank the rights of individuals? And vice versa? Do we succeed or fail because of our efforts and choices or because of the “system” and long-term structural realities?
The Proper Role of the U.S. Government / The Proper Role of the Citizen
What IS the proper role of government? What does the Government owe its citizens, and what does its citizens owe their government? For instance, can it force you to buy health insurance?
U.S. Exceptionalism
Is the U.S. exceptional in the world? If so, in what way? If not, why the claim of exceptionalism?
The Proper Role of the U.S. in the World
What is the proper role of the U.S. in the World? As a city on a hill? Should it promote American values abroad? How far? When do those values contradict the interests of the U.S.? – or is that possible?
Technology
What has been the impact of technology on the U.S. and its history? Is technology generally good or bad? Why or why not? Do we control IT or does IT control U.S.?
Democracy
What does democracy mean in the U.S.? According to whom? What promotes democracy? What hinders it?
Freedom (see “Rights” above)
How do Americans define ‘Freedom’? Whose freedom? Under what conditions is democracy possible? When does “your freedom” violate “my rights”?
Environment / Climate
Who owns the water, minerals, and other natural resources of the U.S.? For always? And shared by all equally — or just some? According to what right or rule? “This is your land; this is my land” — but is it?
Capitalism
What is it? Has it made the U.S. great? At what cost? To whose profit? Is there a better system? If so, what is it?
Cult of the Celebrity
What function do celebrities serve in U.S. culture?
- Historians are not machines. They choose their topics according to their personal interests — though they may not see this at the time. Tell us what interested you about your item of interest and the article that discusses it. Get down to specifics and give a brief quote or two of that part of your article that is most meaningful to YOU.
But How Will I Find The Articles For My Items of Interest?
(Some Newspaper Databases)
We live in the midst of an information revolution. You have at your fingertips the most powerful and comprehensive information repository in the history of mankind.
Below are three free newspaper database websites that allow you to search for newspaper articles over several centuries. Each has a different interface and all have strengths and weaknesses. I’ll leave it to you to find out what these are. This “figuring out” how databases work is a part of the challenge of doing good research: finding the best sources.
Do not be limited by the three newspaper datebases below. But they offer you a solid start:
Google News Archive Search
https://news.google.com/newspapers#M
Library of Congress – Chronicling America
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/
Elephind.com
USE THOSE LINKS TO FIND THE ARTICLES
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