Book Context due Monday* November 4, 2009
Posted by jdresner in Schedule Change, doing history, hist 102 (Fall 2009), homework.add a comment
Under the category of “Context” the book review assignment says:
Context: What is the background of the author? Is their personal background relevant to the subject of the book? What is the historical context, the time period discussed by the book? What other books discuss the same kinds of things, and how does this book compare? Note that your textbook is an invaluable resource for comparisons and context.
Obviously, there are several different issues going on here, but they basically fall into two categories: Historical context and Historiographical context.
Historical context is about how the material in your book fits with the rest of what’s going on in the world at the time: if you’re writing about Japanese 19th century industrialization, for example (nobody is, unfortunately), you’d want to note that Japan was a late industrializer compared to other major industrial nations, that it was the age of unequal treaties, and that industrialization happened at the same time as the rise of nationalism, parliamentarianism, and imperialism.
Historiographical context, on the other hand, is about how the book fits with the rest of the books written on the same topic: what are the normal interpretations of this event and how does this book change that; who is this book arguing with, and why?
In both cases, your textbook is a good starting place, because it does look at the broader context, and because it represents a kind of “current consensus” on most issues. Sometimes the book itself will describe the context for you; sometimes you have to work at it a bit.
* Yes, the context assignment was supposed to be due Friday the 6th, but I forgot to mention it in class, so I’m pushing it back to Monday the 9th.
Comments on Book Summaries October 12, 2009
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I’ll be handing back the book summaries today. Many of them are actually inadequate as summaries — too short, too confused or too much of your thoughts and not enough of the book’s content. If I’ve included “Try Again” or “revise and hand in again” in the comments on your summary, then I will be expecting to see a more complete — or clearer, or more focused, etc. — summary handed in with your statements of the book’s thesis.
In order to make it easier, I’ve moved the Thesis statement due date back to Monday the 19th, giving you most of an extra week. The Thesis statement should be just that, by the way: a sentence or short paragraph clearly stating what the author’s purpose is in writing the book, what they hope to prove by the evidence and argument they provide. Sometimes that thesis will be explicitly laid out by the author in a form you can quote; sometimes (especially with autobiographical writings or seemingly straightforward surveys of major events) it is more work for you to figure it out.
Finally, a note on form: I don’t insist that you all use the Chicago Manual of Style footnote method for history papers, but if you quote something, then I expect to see a citation including a page number. It can be in parentheses, footnote or endnote, but a quotation without a specific source, including a page number, is a grave error.
Miscellaneous announcements: Guest Lectures, Test, Fun September 22, 2009
Posted by jdresner in Napoleon, Schedule Change, administrative, extra credit (F09), grading, hist 102 (Spring 2009), homework, military, not homework, resources.1 comment so far
We’ll have two guest lectures from PSU Grad student, military historian and WWII reenactor Dustin Strong: “Napoleon and his Wars” on October 9 and “WWII” on November 16. Mr. Strong’s lectures, like my own, are required, and I will expect to see his presentation reflected in your test answers and essays where appropriate. Mr. Strong has also announced two WWII reenactments open to the public as extra credit opportunities: Sept. 26-27 at Bristow Jones Memorial Airport (Bristow, OK) and Nov. 7 at Forest Park (Ottawa, KS). For the extra credit, include in your summary/reaction paper a description of the battle, and those of you doing WWII topics for your book review are strongly encouraged to talk to members of one of the units, as they are usually very well-informed on the equipment and history of the units they portray.
My apologies to the 2pm section for missing Monday: I have put the lecture outline online, so that anyone who missed class due to the weather or illness can review it. Those of you were there for the 11am class are welcome to look at it as well, obviously.
Regarding the Test on Monday, covering chapters 15 through 20, inclusive, and the lectures, the format will be very much like the pop quizzes: I will choose four or five (or six) terms from each chapter — the terms in the “Key Terms” lists, of course — to put on the test. From those, you will pick twelve (12) to answer: at least one from each of the six chapters, and the rest from any of the remaining terms. I will supply the test and paper; you bring something to write with and everything you can remember about the last month’s readings and lectures.
Finally, for fun, here’s pre-Revolutionary satires on French aristocratic hairstyles, including a recreation of the Battle of Bunker Hill [mildly adult content]. The one that made me laugh was the one with the hairdresser using a nautical navigational tool — the sextant — to arrange the hairstyle.
Oops…. September 11, 2009
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Looking at the schedule, it turns out that I’ve made an error which means that we’re technically a day behind where we should be. I think I have a solution, but I need time to work it out. Meanwhile, stick with the schedule as we’ve been doing it: read Chapter 18 for Monday.
Non Sequitur: The World’s Oldest Person has died, at age 115. There are a few people left in the world who were born in the 19th century!
Schedule Shift for November/December September 2, 2009
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In order to allow students and faculty to attend the inauguration of PSU’s ninth president, Dr. Steven Scott, classes from 1-5pm on Friday October 23rd will be dismissed. Since I have one section before that and one during, I’m cancelling both sections and shifting the schedule back a day. Fortunately, I built a few catch-up days into the schedule: using one of them, I’ve pushed all the readings and assignments back a day until the end of the semester. You can see the complete schedule, as always, here, or at the course link above; the schedule for September and most of October remains unchanged.
Schedule Update February 27, 2009
Posted by jdresner in Schedule Change, extra credit (S09), hist 102 (Spring 2009), homework.add a comment
Due to my illness earlier this week, I’ve had to shuffle the schedule for the next two weeks. Fortunately, I had built a catch-up/review day into the syllabus on the day before Spring Break: we lose that, but don’t have to lose any other material; everything just gets slipped back one day.
The only exception is the next document assignment: I’ve slipped that back two classes, so that we will be through the whole Enlightenment, Revolution and Napoleon section before you have to write it.
You can find the updated schedule here and the updated document assignment sheet here.
Oh, and a reminder: if you attend an extra credit opportunity event, all you have to do for me is write a short summary and reaction paper, no more than 1-2 pages, as proof of your participation. You can hand those in anytime during the semester, up to and including the last day; there’s no such thing as a “late” extra credit paper.
Document Assignment modifications February 19, 2009
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I have revised the course schedule and document assignment pages to reflect the new read-and-discuss-before-writing schedule and the additional input I gave you in the handout.
Slight change in plans February 16, 2009
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In order to help you get the most out of the readings and prepare for the next document assignment, I want to switch the order of readings for the end of this week. Your next document assignment is due next Monday, on the Tokugawa House laws: read it before class on Friday, so we can discuss it and make sure that you have a clear idea of what you’re doing before doing the written assignment. Feel free to bring a draft or notes, of course, to aid the discussion. We’ll discuss the Thomas Malthus on Monday, instead.
Reminder: Document Analysis due Wednesday February 9, 2009
Posted by jdresner in Schedule Change, hist 102 (Spring 2009), homework.add a comment
For those of you who didn’t make it to class today for whatever reason, that’s not a misprint in the title. After a bit of peer feedback and discussion, I announced that I was giving everyone the opportunity to revise the Columbus paper and turn it in Wednesday.
Also, we will be discussing the Friday test on Wednesday: think about the study terms, particularly which ones I’m most likely to put on the test.
Study Guide and Document Assignments January 21, 2009
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The main writing assignment this semester will be the eight document assignments. The tests will be based on the chapter study terms. I handed out the document assignments and the first set of study terms today, and we will talk about the assignments and tests, and do a mock pop quiz based on the chapter 15 terms, on Friday the 23rd.
