You will be analyzing three sets of case studies, with a book and a website paired for each case study. Each analysis will be 5-6 pp. in length (approx. 1250-1800 words – you can exceed this upper limit but only by a bit). Your case study essay should be typed, double-spaced, spell-checked, proofread, and stapled. Each case study is worth 15% of the course grade. The due dates on this assignment sheet are the ones you should use, as they have changed from the syllabus.

In putting together your responses to studying each book/website pairing, I’ll be asking you to do four things each time: 1) reflect on history in its printed form; 2) reflect on history in its digital form; 3) compare the two formats; and 4) answer a historical question that is a thread that is interwoven among all three of the topics even though they occur at different historical moments in our nation’s past.

Here are the specific instructions:

1) What special strengths are inherent in the book format for teaching you something important about the topic at hand? Discuss at least two important historical questions related to these strengths that your reading opened up for you.

2) What special strengths are inherent in the digital format for teaching you something important about the topic at hand? Discuss at least two important historical questions related to these strengths that your interaction with the website opened up for you.

3) What kinds of issues would you raise in comparing the two formats for this book/website pair?

4) Stepping back from the content and format aspects of the assignment, give a brief interpretive response to the following historical question: What does this historical episode have to tell us about what it meant to be an American in this time period? (You may use both the book and the website in answering this question. Please provide specific examples to ground your discussion.)