ASSIGNMENTS
Up TOPIC NOTES EXAM GUIDE ASSIGNMENTS

 

PAPERS
Two Essay Assignments [45%]

ESSAY 1,  Mid-term paper

ESSAY 2, End-of-term paper

 

Participation Activities [30%]

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Five online assignments, each dealing with a syllabus theme. 
 

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Class discussions continued online
 

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Electronic Portfolio

 

THEME ASSIGNMENTS  [You may work with a partner for these assignments. Just be sure both names are on the postings.]
 
bulletAssignment # 1: As you work on the topics and reading for Part I, Contexts, make notes on how the primary sources listed in that part of the syllabus might be used in preparing a documentary film on the British Empire before the Revolution. Pick specific passages in the sources, giving a useful quote from each one to spotlight important issues. By Feb. 22  post your choices in the Forum, giving explanations and summarizing the reasons for your choices. By the 24th be sure you've read what others have posted and stated your reasons for agreeing or disagreeing with what you've read. (Note the Guide to using primary sources. )
 
bulletAssignment #2: You are competing for a contract to develop a documentary movie script on the American revolutionary movement. The producer wants the script to show how the movement grew over ten years and to take a position on the question whether the war between colonies and mother country might have been avoided. Choose at least four of primary sources for Part II and explain how they might be used in your script in a posting in the Forum by March 23. Discuss specific passages of the sources, giving a useful quote from each one  to spotlight important issues. In the following week, respond to some of our colleagues' contributions. [You may find useful this BBC site:Was the American Revolution Inevitable? ]
 
bulletAssignment #3: Comment on these three different accounts of the Battle of Lexington. How would you use these primary sources in presenting the first skirmish of the Revolutionary War? What issues do they raise? Which one do you find most reliable and why? Least reliable?
 
bulletAssignment #4: Using the suggested reading for syllabus topic 16, choose two primary sources you consider most useful for either defending or opposing the ratification of the Constitution in 1788. Briefly explain  your choices in a mock ratification convention in Caucus.
 

 

ONLINE DISCUSSION: The Caucus Forum provides the opportunity to continue class discussions. Whenever you don't have enough time to raise a question or make a comment in class, use the Forum. The more you use the weekly Forum discussions, the better your participation grade. 

 

ELECTRONIC PORTFOLIO: Towards the end of the semester you will choose your best Caucus contributions, samples of your best ideas and writing, edit and organize the material in a meaningful way, and post the completed portfolio in the Caucus portfolio item.