The History Project: An Inquiry into the Past and the Present
Mr. Burke/English
his•to•ry n., pl. his•to•ries. Abbr. hist.
1. A narrative of events; a story.
2. a. A chronological record of events, as of the life or development of a people or an institution, often including an explanation of or commentary on those events. b. A formal written account of related natural phenomena. c. A record of a patient's medical background.
3. The branch of knowledge that records and analyzes past events.
4. a. The events forming the subject matter of a historical account; b. Something that belongs to the past. c. An interesting past.
5. A drama based on historical events.
Overview This project, designed to take the next five weeks, asks you to examine and report to the class on the history of something of some importance to you: an idea (justice), a field (medicine), a sport (baseball), a culture (Chinese), an historical event (the Gold Rush), an historical trend (Asian immigration into California), a product (cars, clothing, computers), a disease (AIDS), a problem (racism), a trend (changing family structure), someone of arguable historical importance (e.g., anyone who won the prestigious MacArthur Genius Award or a Nobel Prize), (a member of/) your family, or, finally, yourself (i.e., your autobiography). This project requires certain activities designed to help you plumb the depths of your subject; it also has clear standards which are meant to help you show what you know and are able to do at the end of your junior year.
Guiding
Principles Please be sure you understand the following:
on this: it is designed to be a demonstration of each individual’s knowledge and ability
If you do not do this assignment you do not pass this class; no exceptions will be made.
This project is intended to show what you can do: it is capable of reviving even the lowest grade and helping that student to pass this class.
Requirements
: you must write a formal proposal to me in which you outline the following in some detail:
- what you will investigate
- why you want to do this
- how you will do it
- what you expect to find
- what obstacles you foresee (i.e., anticipate problems to best solve them)
Oral History/Interview: this portion of the project requires that you interview someone or some people in depth about your particular subject. You can satisfy this requirement in person, over the phone, or via the internet so long as the content of the interview is substantial.
Movie or Documentary: you must watch a film about your subject. This is intended to help you think about it from some other perspectives as well as to see how it is represented in the media. This movie can be in the theater or on television, a documentary or a feature film.
Movie Review: after watching the film, you must subject, as part of your project, a review of the film/documentary in which you discuss what they tried to show about the subject and how well you felt they succeeded. Good work here will answer the question why you thought it was a good or bad film.
Read Five Outside Sources: these sources can be magazines, books, online articles. This reading should be substantial: not a five little articles. The requirement is for five sources not articles; thus you might read from a couple books, a magazine, and an online reference source on your subject.
Use the Internet. You must, during the course of your project, use the internet to investigate your subject. This can often lead to exciting new directions and connections you would not have thought of otherwise.
Bibliography: all outside reading, films watched, and sources quoted must be documented and included in a properly formatted bibliography (see the attached style and usage guide based on the University of Chicago style).
Write Your Paper: this paper must be at least five typed pages and written on the computer. The document must be:
- double-spaced
- 12-point font
- no more than 1.25 inch margins on any side
- cover page with your name, title, etc.
- bibliography at end (see above for requirements)
Include All Notes, Drafts, Outlines: evidence of careful work will be acknowledged in the final evaluation; those who can demonstrate that they thoroughly planned and revised should be sure to keep this record of their work to turn in.
Present Your Work: each student will give a 5-10 minute presentation of their work during the final two weeks of class. It must include some visual component: charts, images, family tree, art, video. These presentations can be in any of the following forms:
- dramatic performance
- multimedia presentation
- video documentary
- formal presentation
- other?
Website Option: those wishing to create their own website can take these last two requirements--the paper and the presentation--and integrate these two requirements into a website. The same basic content requirements apply: something equivalent to five pages typed; multimedia presentation within your website (not just a bunch of links to other pictures on other sites).
Breadth
vs Depth We live in an era where what something looks like is often mistaken for quality work. We live in a time when many people think just because they work long and hard on something it is great. Ours is a period when many think that because they think something is important it is--or something is true simply because they think it or believe it.
This project asks you to think otherwise. It asks you to work hard and go in depth about a subject and to bring some genuine insight to that subject and your examination of it. For instance, if you look at the history of cars, don’t just tell us that they keep changing the way they look or that the motors kept getting bigger. Don’t tell us what we can already guess or know: surprise us, teach us, make us think. Discuss, for example, how the car shaped our culture, our society, our mentality--especially in California. (For example a careful examination of the history would reveal that the Chandler family, which owned the Los Angeles Times newspaper, also owned Firestone tires; when the city of Los Angeles wanted to install trolley lines and local commuter trains, the Chandlers blocked the idea, insisting that freeways be built so cars would have to be the main form of transportation...thus burning more rubber...and buying more tires made by...Firestone!).
Thus, any project that earns a mark of distinction--a grade of B or higher--will do more than report back the obvious facts. It will show some insight into the subject that surprises and informs the reader. Remember: “No surprise for the writer, none for the reader!”
Timeline Your project is the central piece of work for this class during the next two months. Depending on how things work, it may serve as the final exam. We will have to see.
- Written Proposal: due this Thursday (April 22nd)
- Presentations: Begin Monday May 24th in alphabetical order. You must be ready to present on the assigned day; with this many students there is no room to reschedule. Plan ahead. Anticipate obstacles.
- Projects: (all parts of, excluding the presentation) due May 24th.
Final Word This is a piece of work that you should be proud of, one we can both look back on and say showed all you were capable of doing at the end of your junior year. These projects and their subsequent presentations, were the highlight of last year’s class; I expect the same quality and inspiration this year.