Question: Homework requirements:

In this, you will analyze interviews. Under the New Deal program Works Progress Administration, the government sent out historians with wire recorders to interview men and women who had firsthand experience with slavery. The resulting Born in Slavery collection is available at the Library of Congress. This is an incredible resource, as we can hear stories from those who actually experienced slavery. A great many of those interviewed were either illiterate or barely literate and left no other accounts of their experiences beyond oral tradition.

You can access transcripts of the interviews: Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936 to 1938

You can access a few of the actual recordings: Voices from the Days of Slavery

spend some time reading stories to get a feel for what life was like for American slaves.

Your assignment is to select the account of at least one person, and answer the following questions.

1. Why did you pick the account(s)?

2. What surprises you about the person's story?

3. What confirms ideas you already had about slavery?

4. What lessons can be taken from the account?

Please follow the writing guidelines given in the course information tab. You should show that you have seriously considered the readings to get full points for the assignment. Your response needs to be a minimum of 500 words.

The Three Parts of a History Essay; or, How to Write a Sharp, Scintillating Essay that Will Wow Your Professor, Impress Your Friends, and Meet all the Course Goals.

The handout on the three parts of a history paper changed my life. I love you, Three Parts of a History Paper.

-Brandon from Delta DeltaDelta

This handout will help you accomplish four things:

• To learn to create an effective thesis. The thesis is the argument or point you are trying to make about history. The thesis generally explains how or why something happened. It is best expressed in a single sentence and answers an important historical question. The ability to craft a clear and concise thesis is a basic skill of persuasive argumentation. It clearly sets the position from which you build your case.

• To concisely and effectively summarize the arguments of others, including their thesis. A good argument often begins in response to another person's argument and requires a basic understanding of the major events of the course topic.

• To make historical arguments with clear organization. In order to effectively argue for a thesis, one should present arguments and evidence that support that thesis. A persuasive argument requires that supporting arguments and evidence be organized and presented in a logical order.

• To rely on evidence to create a persuasive argument. The fundament way that we can judge a historical argument is the degree to which specific evidence is used to demonstrate a thesis and all its supporting arguments.

Following the format of a three-part history essay will help you meet all thesecourse goals.

Whether writing an essay for a test, reviewing a reading, or composing a paper, writing for a history class should not be a haphazard thing. To write effectively, there is a format that you should follow. The basic format for an effective essayhas three parts: a thesis paragraph, a body, and a conclusion.

First, your essay should begin with a thesis paragraph. The thesis paragraph does two things: it gives an introduction that draws the reader in by describing the events you are seeking to explain, and it introduces the overall argument or point you are trying to make. In other words, the thesis paragraph should do more than introduce the topic you are writing about, for the thesis paragraphALWAYS needs a thesis statement. When writing an essay, a thesis statement is the sentence that tells the reader exactly what you intend to prove by writing the essay. Think of it as a mission statement for your essay. Without a thesis, essays tend to ramble and then end without saying anything. Your thesis should be clear and concise, and it should answer a historical question.The thesis usually seeks to answer why or how something in history happened. For example,after writing an introduction about how the US auto-industry had become bloated and inefficient by the 1970s and began to lose sales to Japanese-made cars being sold in the US, the paragraph could end with the thesis: "In the 1980s, Chevy responded to increased competition from Japanese auto manufacturers in two ways: by focusing on building trucks that emphasized toughness and quality and by moving some of their manufacturing out West where they could use cheaper labor." This thesis answers the question, "How did US auto-makers respond to Japanese competition that began to crowd out US markets in the 1970s?" If you are writing a review of a book, rather than your own essay, you need to restate the author's thesis. "Professor Hasenpfeffer argues that Chevy sought to compete with the Japanese by moving some of its plants to the western US."

Please, review the following webpage to learn more about the thesis and to see examples of both good and bad theses:http://academic.bowdoin.edu/WritingGuides/thesis.htmHere you can see why a statement like "I am going to write about the history of Chevy in the 1970s and 1980s" is a less-effective thesis and is, in fact, not a thesis at all.

To emphasize the importance of the thesis, please place the thesis (whether it is your thesis or you are reporting the author's thesis in a book review) in BOLD or ALL CAPS.

Once you have your thesis paragraph with a thesis and an idea of how your arguments are going to be structured, you are ready to write the body of the essay.It is in the body that you summarize the arguments of others, offer your own evidence and arguments, and present them all in an organized fashion. You know exactly how to go about this because you have stated your main points in the introduction and each of your arguments will support the thesis. You could start "Chevrolet began building longer lasting trucks. According to Consumer Reports...."Clearly state the argument and the evidence that you have with a proper citation, and then move on. When you are writing a book review, here is where you describe and elaborate on the author's main arguments and the evidence they rely on to reach their conclusions: "Dr. Hasenpfeffer argues that Chevy trucks began to have a higher resale value in the 1980s based on a survey of the 35 professors in her department."

If you are writing a review, you should also include evaluations of the author's arguments and evidence. Does the author make convincing arguments? Not all arguments are convincing (asking a parent to send you money because Bud Light is on sale would probably not yield a deposit in your bank account). Does the author use appropriate evidence? Does she make good use of the evidence? Evidence can be accurate but not support the argument. For example, "Hasenpfeffer's argument that Chevy Trucks lasted longer throughout the 1980s is deeply flawed because it relies on the Hudsucker Commission Report, which only covered 1983"; or, "The author offers only anecdotal evidence to support the conclusion of higher resale value." When you are writing your own essay, you should evaluate your own arguments and use of evidence to see if they stand up to scrutiny.

After the body, your essay should have a conclusion. This is your chance to say "See how smart I am, I just proved to you that my thesis is correct." For an essay, restate your thesis and sum up your arguments. If you can't use your conclusion to honestly say that your evidence supports your thesis, you need to go back and work on the body some more or rewrite your thesis saying that you are going to prove what you just proved. For a review, the conclusion is your chance to summarize the reading and give the reader your overall evaluation of the book.

Superior conclusions also include a statement about the significance of the thesis. When writing an essay, this is a place to tell the reader why they should care about your essay or this knowledge might be useful. For example, "This understanding of the way Chevy responded to competition from Japanese manufacturing helps us understandseveral changes in the American West in the 1980s...." If you are writing a book review, a statement of significance means you can offer an overall evaluation of the book: "Jumping the Ditch offers a fast-paced survey with a compelling and convincing look inside this corner of the auto-making world of the 1980s." And you canoffer a statement of the reading's utility: "The concepts argued in this book are far too complex and their explanations too convoluted to be useful in the grade-school classroom."

If necessary, this format of thesis, body, and conclusion can be condensed. For example, a review or a posting to a discussion board may sometimes be just one paragraph, if the assignment calls for it. In this case, remember to include these essential elements:

1. Thesis-that is, a statement about how or why something happened;

2. Arguments that support the thesis

3. Evidence to support your arguments and thesis;

4. All of these features should be presented in an organized fashion: in this case with an introduction, body or organized arguments and evidence, and conclusion.

For assignments that arevery brief (as in one page or one paragraph essays), avoid restating and summarizing-state every important point just once.

Before answering the essay question on an exam or typing out an essay or review, take a few minutes to write a rough outline. The time you spend planning will help you organize your thoughts more clearly so that when you do begin writing, it will be clear, coherent, and sure to get a better grade than one hastily written with no planning; indeed, part of the grade on each essay will be based on following a clear format. It is also good practice to type your posts in a word processing program and then paste in your post when using Blackboard or other online teaching system. Good Luck and Good Essays.