History Assignment | Custom Assignment Help

I would like it if the story is something with Colorado or General Collin Powell or another war hero it has to be a first-person account of historical significance

Online Historical Writing Assignment Instructions
Critical Analysis of a Primary Source Document
D. Gore, Instructor
For your writing assignment for this course, you will critically analyze a primary source with the specific goal and thesis of proving or disproving whether said primary source is a historically relevant document for the purposes of historical research. This assignment is worth 160 points towards your final grade in this course.
To successfully complete this assignment, YOU MUST READ AND FOLLOW the instructions contained in this document. Let’s be honest, this is a long document and is not a particularly exciting read. These instructions contain no car chases, no explosions. However, these instructions are your ticket to a high score on this assignment. If you want to earn a passing score on this assignment, the single most important thing you can do is READ THE ENTIRE DOCUMENT. Many students do not read this document in its entirety. This decision generally results in a failing grade for this assignment.
So, with that said, let me be very clear: YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR READING AND UNDERSTANDING ALL THE INFORMATION AND EXPECTATIONS SET FORTH IN THIS DOCUMENT. Failure to read and adhere to the information and expectations contained in this document WILL result in a low, if not failing, grade for this assignment.
I do not require that you formally propose or submit to me your choice of the primary source you wish to analyze. However, I DO strongly recommend you do so and, further, that you do so EARLY IN THE SEMESTER just to make sure you and I are on the same page. By doing so early, we can work out any problems with your primary source selection with plenty of time remaining in the semester to resolve the issue. This is a far better scenario than figuring out your choice was not what I am looking for at a point in the semester when it is too late to fix the problem.
This assignment requires you to use five of the twenty analytical questions provided in the assignment instructions (below) to analyze a primary source in order to determine whether it is a historically relevant document. Failure to accomplish this task in its entirety in the final version of your submission will result in an automatic zero (0) as a final grade on this assignment. When making your primary source selection, you may choose a primary source from ANY time period – not just the era covered in this course. Feel free to choose from any time you like. When in doubt, check with me first.
Moreover, you must cite any and all sources that appear in the text of your paper. Employing citations provides readers with the ability to research the topic further and, even more importantly, provides the proper credit to the individuals whose work you used in the creation of this paper. Failure to cite sources in an academic document constitutes plagiarism, a serious violation of academic ethics. If you fail to correctly cite all sources contained in your paper, I will automatically assign a 0/400 on this assignment and also open an investigation for violations to the Student Honor Code of Conduct.
For this course, your paper must accurately adhere to the Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) method of source citations. An excellent example of a historical writing manual is Mary Lynn Rampolla’s A Pocket Guide to Writing in History, 9th Edition, copyright 2017, ISBN: 978-1319113025. This manual, along with these instructions, provides all the information you will need to properly complete this assignment and is one of the required texts for this course.
Lastly, I do not tolerate plagiarism of any sort. You will receive a zero on the assignment as well as a referral to the Student Ethics Board for review of the incident. Also, I do NOT accept late work on this or any other assignment.
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Specific Guidelines:
Your paper MUST:
1. Analyze an actual primary source document. Analyzation of a secondary source document, will result in an automatic ZERO (0) on this assignment. Please see the additional pages below in this document beginning on page five (5) that provide copious assistance in locating an actual primary source document. When in doubt, email the instructor at Daniel.Gore@arapahoe.edu to verify your selected source is, in fact, a primary source BEFORE you begin writing this assignment.
2. Be typed and double spaced. Be typed and double spaced. Failure to fully and completely meet this requirement will result in an automatic ZERO (0) on this assignment.
3. Include a separate cover page that has the paper’s title, your first and last name, and the course details. The cover page does not count toward to minimum page length requirement. All identification data appears on this over page, not in the text of the paper. The content portion of the paper begins on the first line of the first page after the title page. Your failure to meet this requirement will result in an automatic deduction of 50 points from your overall grade on the assignment.
4. Have exactly 1-inch margins on all four sides of the paper. Each page that fails to meet this requirement will result in an automatic deduction of 20 points per page from your overall grade on the assignment.
5. Employ Times New Roman Font. Each page that fails to meet this requirement will result in an automatic deduction of 20 points per page from your overall grade on the assignment.
6. Employ exactly 12-point font. Each page that fails to meet this requirement will result in an automatic deduction of 20 points per page from your overall grade on the assignment.
7. For the purposes of citing your sources, you must do so using end notes formatted in the Chicago Manual of Style. The end notes section must appear immediately after the content portion of the assignment. Do not use footnotes or parenthetical (in-line) citations. The end notes page does not count towards the minimum length requirement. Failure to fully and completely meet this requirement will result in an automatic ZERO (0) on this assignment.
8. Possess page numbers that begin on the cover page of the document.
9. Have a minimum length of three (3) content pages. Content pages do not include the cover page, the end notes pages, the bibliography page, or any supplemental materials. Moreover, only pages completely full of text to the last line of the page count towards the page limit (provide said pages also meet the margin, font, and point requirements listed above). Therefore, text filling only a portion of the 3rd page does not satisfy the minimum page length requirement. You must provide a full page of text down the last line of the 3rd page to meet the minimum length requirement. I will deduct 50 points from your overall grade on the assignment for each page short of the minimum 3 – page requirement. For example, a paper with content of 2.5 pages counts as 2 pages and, as such, is 1 page short of the minimum length requirement. Therefore, I would deduct 50 points from the final paper grade.
10. Contain a bibliography that fully and completely conforms to the Chicago Manual of Style formatting requirements for bibliographies. Failure to meet this requirement will result in an automatic ZERO (0) on this assignment. Moreover, your bibliography must clearly separate all Primary Sources used in the assignment from all Secondary Sources used in the assignment (if any).
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Failure to meet this requirement will result in an automatic ZERO (0) on this assignment. The Bibliography page does not count towards the minimum length requirement.
For assistance in properly citing sources in your paper using the Chicago Manual of Style, as well as help creating properly formatted Chicago Manual of Style end notes and Bibliography page, please use A Pocket Guide to Writing in History, 9th Edition, copyright 2017, Rampolla, Mary Lynn. ISBN: 978-1319113025. This is one of your required texts for the course and so indicated on in the Course Syllabus. You can also consult the ACC Writing Lab for assistance.
11. Possess the correct indentions and spacing for both a CMS bibliography and end notes. Failure to properly indent and space the paper’s bibliography and/or end notes will result in -25 points per section (-25 points for the improperly spaced or indented bibliography and -25 points on the improperly spaced on indented end notes) on this assignment’s final score.
12. Include two (2) spaces between each sentence throughout the paper. I will deduct 20 points from your overall grade on the assignment for each page that contains more than two instances of this problem.
13. Use proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation (including the avoidance of comma splices and/or the use of slang language or terms). I will deduct 20 points from your overall grade on the assignment for each page that contains more than two instances of the above problems.
14. Avoid the use of passive voice. I will deduct 20 points from your overall grade on the assignment for each page that contains more than two instances of this problem.
15. Use THIRD PERSON throughout the paper. You must not use first or second person in formal writing. Therefore, I will deduct 10 points from your overall grade on the assignment each instance first or second person appears in the paper.
16. Be submitted electronically to the class D2L website under the “Assignments” tab by the due day and time listed in the Course Calendar. Failure to meet this requirement will result in an automatic ZERO (0) on this assignment. I do not wave or grant extensions to this requirement for any reason. This includes electronic or technical difficulties associated with the Internet, crashed or stolen computers, malfunctioning printers, and/or D2L access. Therefore, I strongly recommend the following: SUBMIT YOUR FILE TO THE D2L ASSIGNMENTS AT LEAST 48 HOURS BEFORE THE DEADLINE. If you successfully submit the file, you will receive an automated email confirming receipt of the file in your ACC student email account. If you do not receive this email, contact me (daniel.gore@arapahoe.edu or 303.797.5858) to verify your successful file submission. Moreover, the content portion of your paper, the end notes, and the bibliography must all be part of a single computer file submitted to the D2L Assignments.
17. For lengthy quotations, you must indent all quotations of fifty words or more (four lines or more) one-half inch (10 spaces) on the left margin, single-space said quotation, omit any quotation marks, and then properly cite the text’s source. I will deduct 20 points from your overall grade on the assignment for each page this problem appears.
18. However, I allow no more than four (4) lines of quoted material per page. You must move material that exceeds this limit to the Appendix section of the paper which does not count towards the overall paper length. I will deduct 20 points from your overall grade on the assignment for each page this problem appears.
19. Your paper must include an introduction paragraph that includes a unifying thesis statement that addresses the overall point of this assignment: whether or not this chosen primary source is a
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viable document for historical research by historians. Failure to follow this requirement will result in an automatic zero (0) on this assignment.
20. Following your introduction paragraph, your paper should then summarize the primary source you have chosen. The introduction paragraph PLUS this summary should together constitute about one third of the overall document. Failure to provide said summary will result in an automatic -25 points on your assignment.
21. After the introduction paragraph and the summary paragraph(s), your paper should analyze the primary source. This section should constitute about two-thirds of the paper. In order to properly analyze the source(s)’ historical relevance, I REQUIRE you to incorporate into your paper, an answer to (but not the actual question itself) at least five (5) of the twenty (20) Analytical Questions found later in these instructions (below). DO NOT INCLUDE THE QUESTION IN YOUR PAPER, ONLY YOUR ANSWER IN PARAGRAPH FORM. Failure to meet this requirement will result in an automatic ZERO (0) on this assignment.
22. As part of analyzing the primary source, I require that you include at least five citations drawn from the primary source itself to support your analysis of the source. These citations must appear in the form of Chicago Manual of Style end notes. I will deduct -25 points for each missing citation less than the required and minimum five citations.
23. I further require you to identify specifically which five of the twenty “analytical questions” your paper answers. However, DO NOT do so within the text of your paper. Please identify the five questions answered within the “Comments” section of the Assignments on D2L. Failure to follow this requirement will result in an automatic -50 points on your assignment.
24. All paragraphs must contain at least five (5) sentences. Each paragraph that fails to meet this requirement will result in an automatic deduction of 10 points per paragraph from your overall grade on the assignment.
25. Do not use questions (rhetorical or otherwise) in the first (introduction) paragraph to “set up” the thesis. Instead, use only assertions/statements and then back these up with facts via scholarly sources. I will deduct 10 points from your overall grade on the assignment for each page this problem appears.
26. The CMS endnote superscripts appear as standard numbers (1, 2,3, etc.), NOT Roman numerals (no i, ii, iii, etc.). Failure to comply with this requirement will constitute a -25 point deduction for the assignment’s overall final score.
Step One: Finding Primary Sources:
So, then what, exactly, is a primary source? Primary sources enable the researcher to get as close as possible to what actually happened during an historical event or time period. Primary sources were either created during the time period being studied, or were created at a later date by a participant in the events being studied (as in the case of memoirs) and they reflect the individual viewpoint of a participant or observer.
In historical scholarship, a primary source is a document, or other source of information that was created at or near the time being studied, by an authoritative source, usually one with direct personal knowledge of the events being described. In this sense primary does not mean superior. It refers to creation by the primary players, and is distinguished from a secondary source, which in historical scholarship is a work, such as a scholarly book or article, built from primary sources.
In political history, the most important primary sources are likely to be documents such as official reports,
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speeches, pamphlets, posters, or letters by participants, official election returns, and eyewitness accounts (as by a journalist who was there). In the history of ideas or intellectual history, the dominant primary sources are books, essays and letters written by intellectuals. A study of cultural history could include fictional sources such as novels or plays. In a broader sense primary sources also include physical objects like photographs, newsreels, coins, paintings or buildings created at the time. Historians may also take archaeological artifacts and oral reports and interviews into consideration. Written sources may be divided into three main types.
Narrative sources or literary sources tell a story or message. They are not limited to fictional sources (which can be sources of information for contemporary attitudes), but include diaries, films, biographies, scientific works, and so on.
Diplomatic sources include charters and other legal documents which usually follow a set format.
Social documents are records created by organizations, such as registers of births, tax records, and so on.
History as an academic discipline is based on primary sources, as evaluated by the community of scholars, who report their findings in books, articles and papers. In short, primary sources are absolutely fundamental to history. Ideally, a historian will use all available primary sources created by the people involved, at the time being studied. In practice some sources have been destroyed, while others are not available for research. Perhaps the only eyewitness reports of an event may be memoirs, autobiographies, or oral interviews taken years later. Sometimes the only documents relating to an event or person in the distant past were written decades or centuries later. This is a common problem in classical studies, where sometimes only a summary of a book has survived. Potential difficulties with primary sources have the result that history is usually taught in schools using secondary sources.
Historians studying the modern period with the intention of publishing an academic article prefer to go back to available primary sources and to seek new (in other words, forgotten or lost) ones. Primary sources, whether accurate or not, offer new input into historical questions and most modern history revolves around heavy use of archives and special collections for the purpose of finding useful primary sources. A work on history is not likely to be taken seriously as scholarship if it only cites secondary sources, as it does not indicate that original research has been done.
When using primary source material, care must be taken to not include copies of primary source material. In certain circumstances, there is a place for this source material, but usually not as part of an article.
A primary source is not necessarily more authoritative or accurate than a secondary source. “Original material may be … prejudiced, or at least not exactly what it claims to be.” Secondary sources are often subjected to peer review, can be well documented, and are often written by historians working in institutions where methodological accuracy is important to the future of the author’s career and reputation.
Historians consider the accuracy and objectiveness of the primary sources they are using and historians subject both primary and secondary sources to a high level of scrutiny. A primary source such as a journal entry, at best, only reflects one person’s take on events, which may or may not be truthful, accurate, or complete. Participants and eyewitnesses may misunderstand events or distort their reports (deliberately or unconsciously) to enhance their own image or importance. Such effects can increase over time, as people create a narrative that may not be accurate.
For any source, primary or secondary, it is important for the researcher to evaluate the amount and direction of bias. For example, a government report may be an accurate and unbiased description of events, but it can be censored or altered for propaganda or cover-up purposes. Every barrister knows evidence in a court case may be truthful, but it may be distorted to support (or oppose) the position of one of the parties.
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In historical scholarship, a secondary source is a work of history written as a synthetic account, usually based on primary sources and other secondary sources. Most scholarly historical monographs published today are secondary sources. Ideal secondary sources are usually characterized as both reporting events in the past as well as performing the function of generalization, analysis, synthesis, interpretation, and/or evaluation of the events. History text books used in schools are based on secondary sources and can be considered tertiary sources.
What is the difference between a primary source and a secondary source?
In historical scholarship, a secondary source is a study written by a scholar about a topic, and using primary sources and other secondary sources.
An example of a secondary source is the biography of a historical figure in which the author constructs a narrative out of a variety of primary source documents, such as letters, diaries, newspaper accounts, photographs, and official records. A scholarly secondary source is familiar with the existing secondary literature and seeks to engage it in terms of arguments and evidence. Most, but not all, secondary sources utilize extensive citation. Scholarly secondary sources are peer-reviewed by scholars before publication in book or article form, and books are reviewed and evaluated in the scholarly journals.
When a historian is writing about the historiography of topic ABC, the primary sources used are secondary sources written by scholars about ABC, with the goal of understanding the scholars.
Search Strategies
To find most library materials EXCEPT articles, use a library catalog. Catalogs include books, government documents, maps, videotapes, sound recordings, music scores and many other types of materials. Catalogs also list collections of manuscripts, correspondence, photographs, and records of organizations, but they do not list individual items in those collections.
Primary sources may be in their original format or may have been reproduced at a later date in a different format, such as a book, microfilm collection, video, or on the Internet. All of these formats except Internet sources can be found by searching library catalogs.
For primary sources on the Internet, a great strategy is to ask at a library reference desk for assistance. To find magazine, journal or newspaper articles, use an article database or index. Before you start searching it may be useful to find some background information on your topic.
Step Two: Critically Analyze Your Chosen Primary Source
When you analyze a primary source, you are undertaking the most important job of the historian. There is no better way to understand events in the past than by examining the sources–whether journals, newspaper articles, letters, court case records, novels, artworks, music or autobiographies–that people from that period left behind.
Each historian, including you, will approach a source with a different set of experiences and skills, and will therefore interpret the document differently. Remember that there is no one right interpretation. However, if you do not do a careful and thorough job, you might arrive at a wrong interpretation.
In order to analyze a primary source you need information about two things: the document itself, and the era from which it comes. You need to think about the document itself.
As part of this assignment, I REQUIRE you to incorporate into your paper, an answer to at least five (5) of the following twenty (20) Analytical Questions. DO NOT INCLUDE THE QUESTION IN YOUR PAPER,
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ONLY YOUR ANSWER IN PARAGRAPH FORM. Failure to meet this requirement will result in an automatic ZERO (0) on this assignment.
The Twenty Analytical Questions:
1. How does the “Time and Place Rule” apply to the document/source? To judge the quality of a primary source, historians use the time and place rule. This rule says the closer in time and place a source and its creator were to an event in the past, the better the source will be.
2. How does the “Bias Rule” apply to the document/source? The Bias Rule says that every source is biased in some way. Documents tell us only what the creator of the document thought happened, or perhaps only what the creator wants us to think happened. As a result, historians follow these bias rule guidelines when they review evidence from the past: Every piece of evidence and every source must be read or viewed skeptically and critically. No piece of evidence should be taken at face value. The creator’s point of view must be considered. Each piece of evidence and source must be cross-checked and compared with related sources and pieces of evidence.
3. What is the physical nature of your source/document? This issue is particularly important and powerful if you are dealing with an original source (i.e., an actual old letter, rather than a transcribed and published version of the same letter). What can you learn from the form of the source? (Was it written on fancy paper in elegant handwriting, or on scrap-paper, scribbled in pencil?) What does this tell you?
4. What is the purpose of the source/document? What was the author’s message or argument? What was he/she trying to get across? Is the message explicit, or are there implicit messages as well?
5. How does the author try to get the message across? What methods does he/she use?
6. What do you know about the author? What is his or her race, sex, class, occupation, religion, age, region, and/or political beliefs? Does any of this matter? How?
7. Who constituted the intended audience? Was this source meant for one person’s eyes, or for the public? How does that affect the source?
8. What can a careful reading of the text (even if it is an object) tell you? How does the language work? What are the important metaphors or symbols? What can the author’s choice of words tell you? What about the silences–what does the author choose NOT to talk about?
9. Is it prescriptive–telling you what people thought should happen – or descriptive – telling you what people thought did happen?
10. Does the source/document somehow support a particular ideology and/or behavior? If so, how and why?
11. Does it tell you about the beliefs/actions of the elite, or of “ordinary” people and, if so, from whose perspective?
12. What historical questions can you answer using this source? What are the benefits of using this kind of source?
13. What questions can this source NOT help you answer? What are the limitations of this type of source?
14. Who created the source and why? Was it created through a spur-of-the-moment act, a routine transaction, or a thoughtful, deliberate process?
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15. Did the recorder have firsthand knowledge of the event? Or, did the recorder report what others saw and heard?
16. Was the recorder (the person who “captured” or wrote the source/document) a neutral party, or did the creator have opinions or interests that might have influenced what was recorded?
17. Did the recorder produce the source for personal use, for one or more individuals, or for a large audience?
18. Did the recorder wish to inform or persuade others? (Check the words in the source. The words may tell you whether the recorder was trying to be objective or persuasive.)
19. Did the recorder have reasons to be honest or dishonest?
20. Was the information recorded during the event, immediately after the event, or after some lapse of time? How large a lapse of time?
IMPORTANT FINAL COMMENTS:
I know I have said this several times already, but I want to make sure I am perfectly clear on this point: When writing your critical analysis, I REQUIRE you to use at least five (5) of the twenty (20) analytical questions provided above. Failure to specifically and clearly analyze your chosen primary source document via at least five (5) of the questions outlined above will result in an automatic zero on this assignment.
Instructor Review Deadline
I strongly suggest you email me (as a Microsoft Word attachment ending in .doc or .docx) at least two rough drafts of your paper over the course of the semester. I will provide feedback on how you can improve the paper. The earlier I receive a rough draft, the longer you will have to correct the paper and, therefore, improve your final grade.
Please note a deadline exists for submitting papers for my review. The Course Calendar lists the deadline for Instructor feedback on papers. Under no circumstances do I accept research papers for my review past the deadline listed on the Course Calendar. I must receive your paper electronically to my email In Box by the deadline stated in the Course Calendar.