Timeline Assignment
Use the Timeline Assignment Submission Form contained in your Timeline Assignment Folder in the Major Assignments Folder to provide a link to your timeline and then submit your assignment to the Turnitin.com link in the Week Seven folder on the course Bb page. Worth 150 points/15 percent of the course grade. Required length: eight to fifteen points (400-1500 words). |
PURPOSE: The purpose of this assignment is for you to “do history” by researching the chronology of one of the three themes for the course: What is power? What is ideology? or What is diversity? You will do this for the period from Reconstruction through the New Deal, and you should focus on the concepts of 1) cause and effect; 2) change over time; and 3) critical turning points for the chronology of the events you trace. You will use the following sources: the Primary Document PDFs, the podcasts, online prints and photographs from the Library of Congress, and the textbook. You will select which theme you want to trace, and you will present your work on a timeline that you create using Timeline JS.
SKILLS: The purpose of this assignment is to help you practice the following skills integral to “doing history” that are essential to your success in this course, in the university, and in professional life beyond the university.
- You will begin by searching out primary source evidence that addresses the
- Be sure to give these documents a close reading so that you can pull as much meaning as possible from See the Primary Source Reading Guide handout in your Week One folder for more details on how to undertake a close reading.
- When you are reading the primary documents, you will gain experience in evaluating the views and claims contained in each document. Do the statements made accord with what you’ve read in the other documents? With what you’ve read in your textbook? With what you’ve heard in the podcasts? Considering these questions will help you discern how much credibility to give to each
- From this primary source evidence, you will discern the most important facts, historical actors, and events pertaining to the timeline you are
- Next, you will compare what you have learned from the primary sources with your textbook and the podcast lectures, which are your pertinent secondary
- Next, you will outline and plan the explanations you will write for each point placed on your
- Next, you will search out and locate appropriate visual representations from the Library of
- Next, you will start writing by describing and interpreting the evidence in a manner that allows you to show both the significance of that evidence and its relationship to the other points on your
- All information in your timeline must be properly cited. See criteria for the success section of this assignment for
KNOWLEDGE: By doing this assignment you will better understand the range of issues associated with the theme you explore. Be prepared to think about the following questions as you sort through this material.
- What were the central problems associated with the theme of power (think broadly from a political and an economic and a cultural perspective)? Who had power during this time period and who did not? Were there moments when control of power shifted? If so, why and how did those shifts occur? Who benefitted and who suffered as a result? How did the theme of power interact with the themes of ideology and diversity?
- What were the central problems associated with the theme of ideology (think primarily about politics but also consider how ideology shaped culture and society)? What were the various conflicts over ideology during this period? How and why did the dominant ideologies shift? What impact did these shifts have on politics and society? How did the theme of ideology interact with the themes of power and diversity?
- What were the central problems associated with the theme of diversity (think individually about the impact of diversity based discriminations against racial and ethnic and gender groupings of people)? How did definitions of diversity change over the course of this time period (post Civil War through the New Deal)? What definitions remained constant? How did thinking about diversity shape politics, the economy, and society? How did the theme of diversity interact with the themes of power and ideology?
TASK: Pick one of the three themes for the course—power, ideology, or diversity—and construct a timeline using Timeline JS. Your timelines need to trace the major developments and controversies pertaining to the theme you study from the period of Reconstruction through the New Deal, showing cause and effect, critical turning points, and also change over time.
- Your timelines must begin with an analytical title that conveys the argument you are
- Your timelines need to include a minimum of eight points and a maximum of fifteen Each point must be titled with no more than five words and each point must also include a 50-100 word description.
- At least five of your points need to be illustrated with images available in the public For images search the Library of Congress (no other sources of images may be used): http://www.loc.gov/pictures/.
- Finally, each point and each image must be cited (see criteria for success below for details on how to cite). Citations do not contribute to the word
Be sure to draw heavily on the primary document PDFs and the Podcasts for Weeks Two through Six for the written content your produce. Use the textbook readings only as a supplement in developing your answers. Remember that the majority of your examples need to come from the primary document PDFs and the Podcasts. Do not use outside, unassigned sources. Doing so will result in a reduction of your grade.
CRITERIA FOR SUCCESS:
- Document usage requirements: Be sure that you use one unique primary document and/or on Podcast for each point on your timeline, meaning each timeline point requires a different All primary documents must come from the assigned PDFs.
- Permissible and impermissible sources: Completion of the timeline assignment requires consultation of no additional sources beyond what is described in this You
must not use Wikipedia or any other Internet source. Use only your assigned materials: the primary documents, e-book, podcasts, and public domain illustrations available from the Library of Congress. I instruct the TAs to ignore material derived from unauthorized sources, so using such material will only hurt your grade and waste your time.
- Outlining your timeline: As you are developing your timeline, make sure that you chose the points wisely so that you are able to link them together to tell a compelling story through this
- Late work: Late work will not be accepted under normal Plan accordingly.
- Citation guidelines–quotes: All quotes must be placed in quotation marks and cited using the parenthetical method according to the following examples:
- cite primary documents by using the title or name of the document in conjunction with the name of the PDF, e. Mary Antin Memoir, Immigration PDF;
- cite lectures by lecture title, e. Defining Capitalism;
- cite textbook by chapter and page number, e. Chapter 19, page 359;
- cite illustrations from the Library of Congress as follows: Available from the Library of Congress, <insert the URL for the image>.
- Effective quoting: Simply quoting a primary document is not necessarily making effective use of it. You also need to explain what the document means and how that meaning advances your argument. Doing this requires that you draw inferences and synthesize information from multiple In other words, be selective in quoting from the primary documents, and only quote very colorful and compelling language. For an assignment of this nature, quotes should ordinarily be 10 words or less in length and should be used sparingly.
- Quotes and the textbook: Do not quote from the
- Citation guidelines–paraphrasing: Paraphrasing well is an art, and paraphrased passages must be cited just like When you paraphrase you need to substantially change the wording of the original source. It is not sufficient to change a few words and retain the original sentence structure. That approach leaves you open to charges of plagiarism. Instead, you must take the idea from the original source and put it in your own words, which means a new sentence structure and significantly different word choices. See the examples below:
- Original passage: “Work-sharing festivals such as house raisings, log rollings, and quiltings gave isolated farm folk the chance to break their daily ”
Unacceptable: Work-sharing opportunities including house construction, log gathering, and sewing gave detached farmers an opportunity to change their routine. Acceptable: Farmers merged their social lives with their work lives to gain relief from the monotony of an agrarian existence.
Use the same citation format noted above in number 5.
GRADE RUBRIC
Grades | Thesis | Evidence | Quotations | Timeline Points | Length |
A’s | The title for the
timeline references the argument being made and makes clear which course theme is being addressed.
Each point on the timeline includes substantive analysis. |
Substantial evidence is
derived from all assigned sources—especially the PDFs. Typically students will draw from two different documents for each timeline point.
The evidence is contextualized, evaluated, and analyzed.
Illustrations are well chosen and pair with the textual points. |
Compelling
quotes are taken from the PDFs—and cited properly. Quotes are not longer than 5- 10 words, and are used wisely and sparingly. Quotes are analyzed and help develop the thesis of the timeline. |
Timeline points are
coherent and relate to the course theme being examined.
Each timeline point begins with a strong topic sentence. Each timeline point contains clear details drawn from the PDFs.
Each timeline point clearly shows one of the following: change over time, a critical turning point, or cause and effect. |
Meets
required length. |
Grades | Thesis | Evidence | Quotations | Timeline Points | Length |
B’s | Timeline typically
contains all or most elements of the “A Grade” for thesis and argument, but is not fully developed. |
Timeline contains
satisfactory usage of the PDFs, but does not meet all the “A Grade” requirements.
Illustrations are on point with the purpose of the timeline, but may be fewer in number than required. |
Timeline
contains quotes from PDFs, but they are not well- selected or placed, they are too long, there are too many quotes, and/or they are not analyzed. |
Timeline points contain
all or most elements of the “A Grade,” but perhaps minor issues exist: topic sentences might be weak, there might not be sufficient development of evidence, or the thesis might be incomplete. |
Timeline
may be off by less than 40 words. |
Grades | Thesis | Evidence | Quotations | Timeline Points | Length |
C’s | Typically, “C
Grade” timelines have a weak or inadequate thesis that contains little more than a factual statement about the topic of the timeline. |
Typically, “C Grade”
timelines provide simple, factual summaries and are devoid of analysis and context. Summaries may or may not be drawn from the PDFs.
Illustrations may or may not address the textual content of the timeline.
A “C Grade” is the highest grade a student can earn if the PDFs are not engaged. |
Quotations are
not contextualized, evaluated, and/or analyzed. Quotations add no value to the timeline. |
Topic sentences are
either weak or non- existent. The evidence likely is not developed or interpreted. Often timeline points lack coherent themes. |
“C Grade”
timelines may meet required length but have a weak thesis and/or poor use of evidence and quotes.
Timelines might be up to 80 words short of the minimum length. |
Grades | Thesis | Evidence | Quotations | Timeline Points | Length |
D’s | Typically, “D
Grade” timelines lack a thesis or if one is attempted it is nothing more than a weak generalization. |
The evidence presented
typically is not concrete and specific but instead is overly generalized.
Typically, there is little or no use of the primary document PDFs.
Illustrations may or may not be present |
There are likely
no quotes and/or the quotes have little connection to the problem being studied. |
There are no topic
sentences. There are no interpretations or evaluations of the evidence. The points lack coherent purpose. |
“D
Grades” may or may not meet the required length. |
Grades | Thesis | Evidence | Quotations | Timeline Points | Length |
F’s | “F Grade”
timelines do not have a thesis or an argument. |
Little or no understanding
of the problem being studied is demonstrated.
Moreover, there is little or no attention to assigned sources.
Often, the timeline is off topic or full of factual errors.
Illustrations may or may not be present. |
Quotations are
minimal or are off topic. |
There are no topic
sentences. There are no interpretations or evaluations of the evidence. The paragraphs lack coherent purpose. |
“F
Grades” may or may not meet the required length. |