Assignment Title: Comparing Three Key Thinkers

Assignment Title: Comparing Three Key Thinkers

Note: Check in the title heading at the very top to see if this assignment is Required or Extra Credit. If it is required, do this assignment. I have very carefully curated the required assignments to meet the student learning outcomes for this course. If this assignment is extra credit, consider doing it. You can bank the points in case you need them later.

Purpose
This writing assignment applies to the following student learning outcomes:
Apply appropriate methods of inquiry when analyzing and synthesizing historical evidence and interpretations of United States History since 1900.

Examine artistic and cultural traditions in their historical context in the history of the United States since 1900.
Explain the impact of industrialization, urbanization, unionism, immigration, and the intellectual, cultural, racial, gender, and class underpinnings of American society in the late 1890s and early twentieth and twenty-first centuries in the United States.
Interpret primary and secondary sources to be integrated as support in a written analysis of United States History since 1900.
General Assignment Remember that this is a closed universe. Limit yourself to the materials provided in this course. Before you write, review the grading rubric and take note of each criteria that you will be scored on. Make sure you meet those criteria.

Do not use AI, or any other form of writing aid (such as Grammarly or translation software), in this particular learning environment. You are strengthening your critical thinking skills by crafting this response on your own. The feedback you receive from me will be more helpful.

A well-organized analytical response includes the following:
Introduction: One or two sentences that describe the historical context.
Thesis: One sentence that answers the prompt.
Body Paragraphs: Each body paragraph describes one element of the complete answer. It includes direct evidence from the assigned reading materials and, if you directly quote a short phrase, informal citations of where you found that evidence.
Conclusion: One sentence restatement of the thesis. A description of why it is important to understand this analysis (how does it help us be better public citizens?)

We build analyses by starting with the evidence:
Look closely at the writing prompt, make sure you understand what you are being asked. Then take notes as you read, gathering evidence related to the writing prompt.
Evaluate the evidence you gathered and group your evidence into two or three separate points that you feel confident you can support.
For each group of evidence, create a topic sentence that describes how they help answer the writing prompt.
Create your body paragraphs: Start with one of your topic sentences, then list out the supporting evidence for each point.
Devise a complete thesis statement that combines your two or three separate points.
With your thesis in mind, write a one or two sentence introductory statement that puts your response into historical context.
Think about why understanding these historical points is important and craft that relevance into a brief conclusion.
Then organize what you just created into a standard essay format.

How to informally cite your evidence:
You can identify where you found information by adding in parens some basic information such as (Chap. 3 pg. 27) or (“Title of Primary Source,” paragraph 4). We are not using formal citations in our course, but we need enough details to find the information ourselves.
If you get stuck:

Make use of available academic tutoring. There is an online tutoring link in the left margin. Even if they say that there is not a history tutor available, you can get help from any tutor on academic writing. Here are some good discussion points to review with a tutor:

Good strategies for directly addressing the prompt.
How to use quotes.
Strong thesis statements (Social Sciences style!)
Use of evidence to support points.
Strengthening academic essay formats.
Come to office hours and talk to me.
Interpreting primary sources within an historical context (If you are evaluating a primary source)

These primary source writing assignments are challenging. You are often being asked to read between the lines to find information conveyed by the source that may not be the author’s primary purpose. This is what Historians so. It is very helpful to have a good understanding of the era in which the source was written. You need to know what was happening at that time, what the author would have known, seen, understood, wanted, expected, etc. This is called the historical context. This is provided by the textbook chapters. Your written analysis needs to demonstrate an understanding of the primary source within the historical context.

Note: Writing assignments will be graded more strictly as the semester progresses. Be sure to focus on always improving both your knowledge and your ability to articulate yourself with evidence.

Remember: You have help! You can post questions in the Q&A: About this course and ask questions. Ask early – Do not wait until the last minute. If you see a classmate with a question, reach out and start a conversation about how to handle the assignment.
This assignment should be a minimum of 500 words.
Specific Assignment Description

Writing Prompt: Based on the selection of writings from Elizabeth Cady-Stanton, Booker T. Washington, and W.E.B. Du Bois, describe the key similarities and differences between the goals of these three important thinkers. Why do these differences exist?
Some considerations that might help guide your thinking:

You have already written about each of these three authors. Go back to your analyses and determine if they will help you with this assignment.
The best responses will focus on the similarities and differences, avoiding giving a summary of their ideas.
The best responses will include short phrases from each of the writers that illustrate the key points being made.

The best responses will focus on all three parts of the prompt: One body paragraph on the similarities, one body paragraph on the differences, one body paragraph describing why these differences exist (hint: think about the different historical circumstances of each thinker).
Submission Instructions (Turn it in twice!)

Your submission must be your own original work. Each response will be checked using multiple methods for originality. Be sure you are aware of how to correctly format the quote marks and spacing for any short quotations, “like this.” The TurnItIn similarity report should be 10% or less. If your similarity report is above 10%, your submission will not be graded. You will receive a zero. You will also receive a message from me with advice on how to proceed. You will not be able to resubmit the assignment, instead, you have the opportunity to turn in extra credit to make up for lost points.

First, the written response will be turned in as a writing assignment. Second, the exact same response will be pasted in as a discussion post in the discussion that follows this assignment. The discussion post will allow for other students to read and respond to your written response. Both submissions, the writing assignment post and the original discussion post are due on the same day. Responses to peers are due a few days later. Check all due dates. You will receive a score for your writing assignment in this posting. You will receive a score for your peer engagement in the discussion post that follows this assignment.

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