the future of the past:
history in the digital age / assignments (ii of iv)
schedule/websites || assignments || due dates || writing center info || class home
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the future of the past: history in the digital age / assignments (ii of iv) schedule/websites || assignments || due dates || writing center info || class home |
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on Glassberg, Sense of History (due Monday, March 6th, at the beginning of class -- note that we will be meeting in Dale Hall Tower 105 on this particular day for a computer lab session) Your answers should draw on the information presented in Sense of History, and thus you are required to provide examples from the text as evidence for the points that you develop in your discussion in order to provide satisfactory answers. Although a careful use of the text is thus a necessary component of your answer, it is not the end of the road: the instructions below ask you to discuss certain questions, which also indicates that you should bring your own analyses and questions and interpretations into your essays (that is, you are not simply "reporting" on what Glassberg has written, but are instead presenting the material and commenting on it). Your paper should be 5 pages in length (approx. 1250-1500 words; you can exceed this length by a bit if needed, but not much). Your essay should be typed, double-spaced, spell-checked, proofread, and stapled. I will give an overall grade that takes into account the strengths and weaknesses of each part (rather than trying to break the three parts into percentages). Question #1 (approx. 1 page, about 250-300 words): 1. Drawing on the discussion particularly in Chapter 1 of Sense of History, present a brief discussion of some of the major differences between the study of history as done by professionals (what meets their standards for "good" history) and what counts as "good" history for non-professionals. (Note: You may also use examples from elsewhere in the assigned chapters, or from the book in general.) Question #2 (approx. 2 pages, about 500-600 words): 2. Drawing most especially on Chapter 4, discuss the ways in which The Valley of the Shadow website is both similar to, and different than, Ken Burns’ documentary mini-series The Civil War, as discussed by Glassberg. Question #3 (approx. 2 pages, about 500-600 words): 3. Chapters 2, 5, and 7 address questions about how intensely the question of "place" enters into our personal and local and regional memories, and how this can be different from academic history. Glassberg notes on p. 111 that "historians begin their inquiries into the past by identifying a particular social or political process, then looking for places where it happened; the public begins with a place that it cares about and then asks, ‘What happened here?’" Choosing one of these chapters to draw from, discuss some of the ways in which associations with a particular place are an important part of how ordinary Americans understand their past, being sure to address the ways in which this is an emotional as well as a mental experience. on Briggs & Burke, Social History of the Media: From Gutenberg to the Internet (due on 2/13 at the beginning of class) Everyone answers question 1 (60%) and then you have a choice for question 2 (40%). Your paper should be 5 pages in length (approx. 1250-1500 words; you can exceed this length by a bit if needed, but not much). Your essay should be typed, double-spaced, spell-checked, proofread, and stapled. Your answers should draw on the information presented in Social
History of the Media, and thus your are required to provide examples
from the text as evidence for the points that you develop in your discussion
in order to provide satisfactory answers. Although a careful use of the text
is thus a necessary component of your answer, it is not the end of the road:
the instructions below ask you to discuss certain questions, which
also indicates that you should bring your own analyses and questions and
interpretations into your essays (that is, you are not simply "reporting" on
what Briggs & Burke have said, but are instead presenting the material and
commenting on it). (everyone answers) 1. Using Chapters 2 and 3 , "The Print Revolution in Context" and "The Media and the Public Sphere in Early Modern Europe," as the focal point for your discussion, compare and contrast some of the significant consequences of the age of print with that of another time period of communications innovation of your choosing. Choose either 2A or 2B or 2C. 2A. Discuss some of the ways in which the history of a particular communications technology is interwoven with the political events of a given time in history. 2B. Discuss some of the ways in which the history of a particular communications technology is interwoven with changes in the relationship between the private and the public worlds of individual experience in a particular time period. 2C. Discuss some of the ways in which the history of a particular communications technology is interwoven with other technological developments in a particular time period. |