16 October 2014—China's Lunar Calendar 2014 10-16
16 October 2014—East Asian History Midterm Assignment 2014
16 October 2013—China's Lunar Calendar 2013 10-16
Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Assignments" 16 October 2014—East Asian History Midterm Assignment 2014
16 October 2013—China's Lunar Calendar 2013 10-16
HIST 190
Autumn 2015
Midterm Writing Assignment:
The Letter That Leads To The Research Paper
By choosing the letter format for your midterm
assignment, I am asking you to build upon the skills you have already begun to
develop in analyzing (and providing examples for) the life and travels of William Edgar Geil. You have already reached
a point where you have some experience with his travels, his writings, and their larger context of the Doylestown Historical Society archive. Your job will now be to
explain it "all" to intelligent non-specialists.
Teach them, really.
Teach them, really.
Letters from “the field” (imagine yourself following Geil on his travels and in his study) are a good way to refine your
thoughts about ethnographic and historical study. They are also a useful medium
for beginning the intellectual “framing process” that will accelerate as we
move through the next half of the course.
The letter writing exercise is especially useful while studying primary source materials, as we are doing right now. The nonfiction writer John McPhee explains to his students that a letter is often precisely the solution to problems of interpretation or clarity—when in doubt, write to mother, he says. In this case, it is not a plea of “send money” that the letter contains, but a reworking, rethinking, and contextualization of your work. You need not limit yourself to kinfolk, but you need to think about who the recipient will be (ideally someone who will welcome a letter about “studying sources”).
You owe it to yourself to listen to this long interview with McPhee. At the very least, listen to the first two minutes. It is the very purpose behind this assignment.
The letter writing exercise is especially useful while studying primary source materials, as we are doing right now. The nonfiction writer John McPhee explains to his students that a letter is often precisely the solution to problems of interpretation or clarity—when in doubt, write to mother, he says. In this case, it is not a plea of “send money” that the letter contains, but a reworking, rethinking, and contextualization of your work. You need not limit yourself to kinfolk, but you need to think about who the recipient will be (ideally someone who will welcome a letter about “studying sources”).
You owe it to yourself to listen to this long interview with McPhee. At the very least, listen to the first two minutes. It is the very purpose behind this assignment.
Now start writing. Toward that end, you should pay attention to the
following issues.
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| [c] I said, "start writing" RF |
2. I am asking you to connect with a very specific
reader, and to explain "Geil" in a level of detail that she will find
satisfying. You are the expert, and your
“audience” is the person who will be reading your letter (I will, of course, be
reading over her shoulder). I have found
that this kind of assignment helps students to explain even abstruse matters,
because the personal relationship they have with their readers demands an
attention to patient explanation that is often lacking in more “academic” forms
of writing, in which they assume that a professor already knows what they are
writing about.
3. Your letter must address the research process. Think about Jenny Presnell's The Information Literate Historian and Wayne Booth's The Craft of Research. Explain your research process to your reader—walk her through it (seriously). Think about Meghan Dowell's presentation in our class before break. Explain what you have learned with regard to your own project.
4. Have at least one table or chart (or list) that describes the materials you are using in your particular research paper. This is required.
3. Your letter must address the research process. Think about Jenny Presnell's The Information Literate Historian and Wayne Booth's The Craft of Research. Explain your research process to your reader—walk her through it (seriously). Think about Meghan Dowell's presentation in our class before break. Explain what you have learned with regard to your own project.
4. Have at least one table or chart (or list) that describes the materials you are using in your particular research paper. This is required.
5. You may approach your materials from any angle that
you like, but you will need to “cover” at least the following items, no matter
what order you choose.
a. You must discuss the "who was Geil?" and "why should I care?" questions.
Provide your reader with at least a few ways of thinking about his life and
work.
Provide your reader with at least a few ways of thinking about his life and
work.
b. Give your reader a sense of what you have learned up
to this point about
how to interpret and analyze a life through source materials.
c. You must discuss give at least one specific example from Geil's writings.
This should not be difficult. Feel free to use more.
d. You must discuss the research process in your letter, including "walking your
reader" through your research question.
c. You must discuss give at least one specific example from Geil's writings.
This should not be difficult. Feel free to use more.
d. You must discuss the research process in your letter, including "walking your
reader" through your research question.
e. Finally, give your reader some sense of what it is like to learn about a
a person who lived in very different era a century ago. How do we learn
about human experience through documents?
6. The best way to approach the writing process is in
three parts (this is a friendly suggestion). First, jot down some notes for
each of the “sections” of your letter. Second, using those notes as a guide,
write a rough draft of the whole letter. Third, revise, polish, and refine.
Voilà you will have something that will provide a strong foundation for your research proposal (due in mid-November) and your final research paper.
You get the idea. If you don't, just raise your hand and ask me (or send me an e-mail message). I'll be happy to help.
Voilà you will have something that will provide a strong foundation for your research proposal (due in mid-November) and your final research paper.
You get the idea. If you don't, just raise your hand and ask me (or send me an e-mail message). I'll be happy to help.
Letters are due (in hard copy form) outside my door
by
10:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 25.
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| [e] And then you may rest RF |
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