Reference no: EM133478652
Homework: Humanities US Labor and Working Class History Paper
Article: "U.S. Labor and Working Class History University of Massachusetts Boston Summer 2023" by Alejandro Reuss.
Length: 1000 to 1250 words paper.
Choose a collection of primary source material on one of the subjects we have studied in the course so far. Primary source material includes artifacts, documents, and testimony that are original to historical events, rather than later observations and analysis.
This homework is designed to give you a sense of how historians do research and draw conclusions about historical events. Historians and other social scientists, of course, study and rely on secondary sources (like writings by other historians). In the end, however, all this accumulated scholarship traces back to primary source research.
You will find links to appropriate materials (such as online archives, anthologies of original documents, or recorded or transcribed interviews with participants) in the "Additional (Recommended) Materials" items for many lessons.
First, select an issue that interests you and get a general grounding on the history (from secondary sources, such as historians' accounts in books, articles, and documentaries). If required materials from this course are not sufficient, recommended materials may be helpful, or you may seek out other reference materials (such as encyclopedia articles or educational websites) for background.
Second, examine the primary source materials you have decided to use. Do not feel like you need to write about a large number of different primary sources, or to find primary sources that will allow you to write very comprehensively about the event or issue. Rather, focus on one or a few primary sources. What does that piece of evidence tell you about the event or issue? How does it fit into a bigger picture (what you learned in your background research)?
You can choose to present your work as a short paper (1000 to 1250 words) or in some other form, such as a slide presentation (PowerPoint) with narration, a short video (such as iMovie) of your own creation, etc. If you have another idea about how you would like to present your ideas, feel free to propose that. (I want to support your creativity, and so am open to your ideas, but it is best to check beforehand.)