Reference no: EM133475913

Assignment: Obituary for the Progressive Movement Article Essay

One of the central objectives of the course curriculum is to ensure that students are able to comprehend academic research-essentially understand information that is professionally researched, peer reviewed, and intended for the "academic discourse."

For this essay, students will illustrate their capacity for comprehension and then express that comprehension in a short, explanatory piece of writing. The essay will focus on the Filene article, "An Obituary for the Progressive Movement."

As the Filene article explains, for decades historians have debated the meaning and accomplishments of the Progressive Movement. When historians write books/articles they are usually in response to other historians' books/articles. Historians either argue against each other, add to the cumulative knowledge of the "conventional wisdom" surrounding the historical topic, or on rare occasions offer breakthrough, novel interpretations. Filene helps explain the ebbs and flows of the debate on Progressivism. Your task is to effectively transmit the contents of the Filene article, but also indicate a clear understanding of Filene's argument. Demonstrate a clear understanding of a scholar's argument and how they develop and defend it through a written article summary. You must speak to the pieces of historical evidence that Filene raises to prove his argument.

Here are some tasks that should help you complete the larger objectives of the assignment:

Question 1. Identify the author, title, and year of publication

Question 2. Situate the topic in the historical context, based on what you know from the textbook and other sources in this class.

Question 3. Identify and summarize the author's thesis in YOUR OWN WORDS

Question 4. State and explain the author's supporting ideas and evidence

Question 5. Explain the underlying meaning or goal of the article, not simply the superficial details.

Question 6. For this paper you will demonstrate your ability to read and comprehend a published article and effectively summarizing the main idea(s) of the author in a concise summary.