History

History
In a well-organized essay of 4-6 pages, respond to the statements and questions listed below. Be sure to provide references and examples from the assigned readings (see below). You are responsible for the entirety of Black Boy and Bloods. Since this is a take-home assignment, grammar, spelling, and the like will carry more weight in the computation of the final grade than is the case for an exam.
Compare and contrast the Africa-American experience of the segregated South and the Vietnam War. Try to keep in mind the relatively different time periods, settings, and the fact that protagonists are of different ages. The idea for this assignment is to provide a thesis argument for you essay and then defend it—justify the veracity of that thesis—using textual evidence and explanatory reasoning.

In making your arguments, you must provide examples from the texts for support. Rather than using formal footnotes/endnotes, follow these instructions. At the end of a citation–either a complete quotation or a paraphrase (putting the author’s ideas into your own words)–place the author’s name and the page numbers in parentheses. For example, a quotation: “I really like to teach history.” (Beirich, 21); a paraphrase: Some people like to teach history. (Beirich, 21) These methods are used to teach you about the issue of plagiarism, and to show you that historians always try to attribute properly their sources. This is the idea: You cannot claim another’s ideas as your own. In addition, avoid quoting from the Introductions of the three works. The information contained in them is provided as background material only. Make your arguments from the texts themselves–there is more than enough information present for you to make realistic conclusions about the works.

Your essay should use a standard format: 12 font, double spaced, one inch margin. Be sure to proofread your paper carefully; spelling, grammar, and other issues related to proper presentation and usage are a significant part of this assignment. In addition, your paper must be presented to me as a hard copy, in class, on the day it is due, and you must submit it electronically to turnitin.com as well. Failure to follow both of these instructions will result in the paper grade not being recorded until they are completed. If you have any questions regarding topic, thesis argument, paper format, and/or presentation, please do not hesitate to ask. In most cases I can alleviate a concern before it becomes a problem, but you have to ask for help or make me aware of the situation ahead of time. Informing me of any and all issues near to or on the day the paper is due makes it extremely difficult for me to help you.