Worth 50 points. The first post is worth up to 35 points; the second up to 10 more points; and the third up to 5 more points for 50 points total.
Required length: three substantive posts for eligibility for full credit (first post must be 2-3 lengthy paragraphs and subsequent posts must be at least one lengthy paragraph).
PURPOSE: The purpose of this assignment is for you to practice “doing history” by researching U.S. engagement in the Middle East in the 1980s. Do not worry if after reading the documents you feel like you have an incomplete understanding of the topic. No set of sources that a historian uncovers is ever perfect or ever fully reveals what happened and why it matters. The purpose of “doing history” is for you as the scholar to discern the meaning in the sources. This will sometimes involve some frustration and discomfort as you sort out the evidence. Embrace this struggle and you will thrive. After thinking about the primary document PDFs, use your insights and knowledge to craft discussion board responses to the question listed below under “task”.
SKILLS: The assignment will help you practice the following skills that are essential to your success in this course, in the university, and in professional life beyond the university.
You will begin by searching out primary source evidence that addresses the problem.
Be sure to give these documents a close reading so that you can pull as much meaning as possible from them. See the Primary Source Reading Guide handout in your Topic One folder for more details on how to undertake a close reading.
When you are reading the primary documents, you will gain experience in evaluating the views and claims contained in each document. Do the statements made accord with what you’ve read elsewhere for this course?
From this primary source evidence, you will discern the most important facts, historical actors, and events associated with the problem.
Next, you will compare what you have learned from the primary sources with your textbook and the podcast lectures, which are your pertinent secondary sources.
Next, you will outline and plan the narrative of your answer.
Next, you will start writing by describing and interpreting the evidence in a manner that allows you to answer the question posed of you. As you write remember that you are telling a story. The writing should be crisp and compelling.
All information in your posts will be properly cited. See criteria for the success below for details.
Finally, you will develop an analytical thesis that is detailed, substantive, and debatable.
KNOWLEDGE: By doing this assignment you will better understand U.S. engagement in the Middle East in the 1980s.
TASK: Pretend that you are a museum curator and you have been tasked with putting together an exhibit telling the story of the Beirut bombing of the U.S. Marine Corps barracks. For your first post you need to undertake the following tasks: 1) select eight items (two sound clips, four images, and two textual documents) for your exhibit drawing exclusively from the assigned Primary Document PDF for this DB; 2) indicate a title for your exhibit; 3) write a two-paragraph opening statement for your exhibit, explaining what theme/s you are exploring and relating those themes back to your exhibit; and 4) justify the images you have chosen for your exhibit.
In your two reply posts your tasks include: 1) reflecting on the exhibits of your peers; 2) suggesting the addition of up to four different items taken from this DB’s readings only and explaining your choices; and 3) suggesting which two items should be removed from the exhibit and why.
Information taken from sources other than the primary documents will not be evaluated and posts that are structured thusly will not count. You can, though, use your knowledge of the podcasts and the textbook for framing purposes, meaning typically one sentence per paragraph to set the scene. At least 90 percent of what you say needs to come from the documents in the form of summarizing content, minimally quoting, and analyzing. If a mathematical proportion would help you consider how much to summarize, how much to quote, and how much to analyze, consider the following as a good rule of thumb: 60 percent summary and discussion, 20 percent quotation, and 20 percent analysis.
Remember the directions in the syllabus that state “All students need to say something new, meaning discuss a different document or make a different point about the documents already discussed.” Students who submit posts that parallel the evidence and argumentation of previously submitted post are at substantial risk of being evaluated for plagiarism. Put simply, your work must be yours alone. It is not okay to borrow the words or ideas of a classmate. I noted in the syllabus that I turned my daughter into her teacher for plagiarism when she was in the fourth grade, and I will not hesitate to deploy the plagiarism sanctions against students judged to be in violation of the policy for this class.
CRITERIA FOR SUCCESS:
Document usage requirements: Be sure that you use at least three different primary documents from the assigned PDF for your first post. For each of your subsequent posts use a document not yet discussed in your group’s DB.
Permissible and impermissible sources: Completion of the DB assignment requires consultation of no additional sources. You must not use Wikipedia or any other Internet source. Use only your assigned materials: the primary documents, e-book, and podcasts. I instruct the TAs to ignore material derived from unauthorized sources, so using such material will only hurt your grade.
Outlining your post: As you are developing your answer, use the question to help establish your outline.
Late work: Late work will not be accepted. Plan accordingly.
Citation guidelines–quotes: All quotes must be placed in quotation marks and cited using the parenthetical method, putting the name of or short description of the document in parentheses at the end of the sentence.
Effective quoting: Simply quoting a primary document is not necessarily making effective use of it. You also need to explain what the document means and how that meaning advances your argument. Doing this requires that you draw inferences and synthesize information from multiple sources. In other words, be selective in quoting from the primary documents, and only quote very colorful and compelling language.
Quotes and the textbook: Do not quote from the textbook. Save your quotes for the most provocative concepts contained within the original documents!
Since it is the documents you are analyzing, you are better off spending time with them.
Use the text and lectures to make sure you understand the larger historical context.
Citation guidelines–paraphrasing: Paraphrasing well is an art, and paraphrased passages must be cited just like quotes. When you paraphrase you need to substantially change the wording of the original source. It is not sufficient to change a few words and retain the original sentence structure. That approach leaves you open to charges of plagiarism. Instead, you must take the idea from the original source and put it in your own words, which means a new sentence structure and significantly different word choices. Use the same citation format noted above in number 5. See the examples below:
Original passage: “Work-sharing festivals such as house raisings, log rollings, and quiltings gave isolated farm folk the chance to break their daily routine” (p. 359).
Unacceptable: Work-sharing opportunities including house construction, log gathering, and sewing gave detached farmers an opportunity to change their routine (p. 359).
Acceptable: Farmers merged their social lives with their work lives to gain relief from the monotony of an agrarian existence (p. 359).
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