Category Archives: admin only: Assignments

05/16/11

Assignment due 5/18

1) Read Foner, chapter 28
2) Visit the September 11 Digital Archive and contribute something to the collection.
3) Respond to this post with at least one substantial (2-3 paragraph) comment describing your experiences on the web site.  What are the strengths of the site?  The weaknesses?  What may future historians conclude about the events of 9/11 based on their use of the site as a resource?
4) Review the study guide and be ready with any questions at our last class on Wednesday.
05/11/11

Assignment due 5/16

1) Write a post that highlights a news story about government regulation since 2008 (which has not yet been covered on the blog).  Include a link to the original source(s) you are using to learn about the story, and write at least one paragraph summarizing the most important aspects of the story. Write at least one additional paragraph comparing the actions described in your story to those taken (either towards regulation or deregulation) by the U.S. government between 1980 and 2000. I encourage an image to highlight and add a new perspective on your topic.
05/9/11

Assignment due May 11

1) Read Foner, Chapter 27
2) Write a post containing 2-3 paragraphs describing one important aspect of the chapter that you think deserves further elaboration, and which has not been covered on the blog.  Include at least one image or video.
05/4/11

Assignment due May 9

1) Write at least two comments in response to this post discussing how Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan have been remembered after their presidencies.   If possible, spread out your comments by at least a few hours so you can enter at different points in the conversation.  I encourage you to include links to other web pages that support your points (e.g., news articles that review the legacies of one of these presidents).  Be specific about the source(s) you are using for evidence.
05/3/11

Assignment due 5/4

1) Read Foner, Chapter 26
2) Respond to this post with at least one comment discussing Foner’s characterization of the “Triumph of Conservatism.”  What does “conservatism” mean in this context? How did it triumph? Why did it triumph?  Read the comments that have come before you and jump into the conversation.
04/27/11

Assignment due 5/2

Write a post that includes 2 videos (or a link to video/audio).  One should show a protest song produced between 1960 and 1970.  The other should be a protest song produced between 2000 and 2011.  Both songs should be new to the blog.  Write 1-2 paragraphs comparing and contrasting the two songs.  Explain what is being protested in each song and what terms are used to express protest.  What has changed about social protest between the 1960s and the 2000s, and how specifically do these songs show that change?

04/13/11

Assignment due 4/27

1) Read Foner, Chapter 25
2) Pick one important political, social, cultural, or economic change discussed by Foner that occurred during the 1960s, which you can argue has roots in 1950s era change.  Write 1-2 paragraphs discussing the connection between the change of the 1960s and what came before it in the 1950s.  Use images or video to prove your point.

04/11/11

Assignment due 4/13

Leave at least 2 comments in response to this post discussing the portrayal of the African-American civil rights movement by Foner in “The Age of Affluence” chapter.  Were things getting better or worse for African Americans between 1945 and 1960?  Why or why not?  Who fought to improve equality and who opposed them?  Read the comments that came before you and contribute something new to the conversation.

04/6/11

Assignment due 4/11

Read Foner, Chapter 24.

Write a blog post displaying video footage or an image produced during the time period covered in the reading, and which reveals an important aspect of cultural or social change during that time.  Write 1-2 paragraphs relating the source to at least one section of the reading.

04/6/11

Extra Credit

A few people have asked recently about the extra credit assignment that you have an opportunity to complete anytime until the time of your final exam.  It is worth between 1 and 4 points on your final grade depending on the quality and depth of your report.  It is represented in the lecture slides, but very buried and not findable via a search of the site.  So, I thought I would bring it to the surface.  Here is the assignment:

Requirements:

1) visit a site that relates to NYC sometime during this semester (provide ticket stub or some other evidence of visit)
2) Write a 1-4 page essay connecting what you learned at the site to topics and materials covered in this course

Some recommended sites:
–Lower East Side Tenement Museum
–African Burial Ground
–Ellis Island
–Museum of the City of New York
–New-York Historical Society

04/2/11

Assignment due 4/6

1) Leave an additional 2-3 sentence comment on the blog about Dr. Strangelove in response to this post or the previous post about Dr. Strangelove.  How did it compare to your expectations?
2) Leave two 2-3 sentence comments on the posts done for the April 4 assignment adding thoughts about causes and effects of certain actions during the Cold War.  Where were turning points and why they make such a big difference?

03/30/11

Assignment due 4/4

1) Read Foner, Chapter 23.
2) Read the Wikipedia entry about Dr. Strangelove: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Strangelove (skip past paragraphs discussing the ending if you don’t want to know how it ends)
3) Write at least one brief (2-3 sentence) comment in response to this post expressing your expectations for the movie based on what you have read or already know about the movie.
4) Write a post on a person, place, or event discussed in Foner’s chapter 23 that has not yet been covered on the blog.  Include 1-2 paragraphs explaining how history might have been different had this person, place, event, or idea not occurred when it did?  How might American society be different today?  How about your life?  Include an image or a video (just paste the URL from a YouTube video into a post and it should convert to an embedded video; I can help correct it if there is a problem).

03/21/11

Assignment due 3/23

Reading: Read Foner, Chapter 22
Written: Carefully look through the tag cloud (located on right side of home page) on our course site.  Click on at least a few tags and read the posts that come up.  Leave at least 2 brief comments, either on this post or others, arguing why a certain theme or topic is worthy of appearing on the midterm exam.

03/14/11

Assignment due 3/21

Post an image of a political cartoon published between 1932 and 1941 on topic of the New Deal, which has not yet been posted to the blog. Include a caption that indicates the publicaton date and source of the cartoon as far as you can determine.  Write 1-2 paragraphs discussing the political argument behind the cartoon.  What do you think the artist was thinking?  What message was he/she trying to communicate?  What historical events were going on at the time the cartoon was published that explain the meaning of the cartoon (be as specific as possible).

03/14/11

Assignment due 3/16

A reminder that class will be held Wednesday, March 16.

The following assignment is due by class time on Wednesday:

Reading: Foner, Chapter 21.

Written: Write 2-3 comments in response to this post.  Each comment should be at least 2-3 sentences long.  At least one comment should discuss the cause of the Great Depression.  At least one additional comment should discuss the experiences of those living in America during the Great Depression.  I encourage you to build off of the comments already left by your classmates.  You can agree, disagree, or clarify their points.  Every comment should include at least one specific example (of a specific person, place, or event) from the reading that has not yet been mentioned in the conversation.
03/12/11

Schedule for 3/14 and 3/16

I am cancelling class Monday, 3/14.  Class will be held 3/16, although it may be a guest professor.  You are still responsible for the assignments posted to the blog.  If there is a guest, he will be aware of your readings and assignment, so please complete them on time.  The assignment for 3/14 has already been posted.  By Monday evening at the latest I will post the assignment for 3/16.  I should definitely be back by our class on 3/21.  Please do not hesitate to contact me anytime by email with questions.

03/7/11

Assignment due 3/14

Post a visual representation of 2 primary sources (these can be text documents, photographs, cartoons, paintings, or videos) that represent important aspects of the Great Depression.  Include captions that explain the subject of the image and source to the best of your knowledge.  Write 1 paragraph comparing the two documents and the messages they communicate about the Great Depression.

03/7/11

Assignment due 3/9

1) Read Foner, Chapter 20.
2) Choose one person, place, or event discussed by Foner in Chapter 20 that has not yet been covered on the blog.  Insert an image representing that subject.
3) Write one paragraph explaining basic information about the video: When was the media originally produced?  Who is depicted or heard?  What historical change does it represent and how well is captured?
3b) You may also embed a video from YouTube into your post that represents the subject.  I had hoped to show you how to do this in class Monday.  I will review this when I return.  However, I can give very simple instructions here: simply copy the URL from YouTube and paste it into your post as you compose it.  When you publish, it should automatically appear as a video.  This tends to work best in Firefox or Safari (IE converts the address into a link instead).