Second Book Review due Thursday, November 12
November 11, 2009 at 8:35 AM | In Announcements, Assignments | Leave a CommentTags: Assignments, book reviews
Remember that if you are writing a book review over Pamela Riney-Kehrberg’s Rooted in Dust, the assignment is due by the beginning of class on Thursday in hard copy AND in the SafeAssign dropbox. It must be submitted both ways in order to ensure that you get full credit; it is in your best interest to upload it anyway, since that way there is incontrovertible proof that you did turn it in on time, in case I lose the hard copy or you forget to give it me.
Late papers (i.e. any papers turned in after class) will be docked one letter grade for each day they are late. So, a paper turned in between 4:01pm on Thursday and 4:00pm on Friday will lose one full letter grade.
If you have any questions, please email me. See one of the previous posts for some suggestions about how to write a history book review.
Announcements for 11/10
November 10, 2009 at 12:50 PM | In Announcements, Assignments | Leave a CommentTags: Announcements, book reviews, Assignments
1. Be sure to start reading Pamela Riney-Kehrberg’s Rooted in Dust. We will be discussing it in class on Thursday, when the book review is due. Pay particular attention to her argument, including the evidences he uses to support this argument and whether or not that evidence supports her interpretation.
2. If you haven’t yet written a book review, you will need to write one on Rooted in Dust. If you wrote a review over The End of Indian Kansas, you can skip this review as long as you’ll be writing a review on Sex in the Heartland. Remember, each student needs to write two book reviews total over the course of the semester.
Writing a Critical Book Review
November 9, 2009 at 5:17 PM | In Announcements, Assignments | Leave a CommentTags: Assignments, book reviews, Helpful Tips
The assignment description for the critical book review assignment is posted under the tab “Assignments.” Be sure to read it carefully and email me if you have any questions.
If you have never written a history book review before, there are a few things to remember. First, a history book review is not the same as a book report; meaning, you must do more than just summarize the book. Second, it is very important that you know what the author is arguing and whether or not they use adequate evidence to support that argument. For other suggestions and guidelines, here are a couple of useful websites:
How to Write a Critical Book Review (by a professor at Carleton College)
On Writing Book Reviews (by a history professor at CUNY)
The second one also has a link at the bottom of the page to a guide for using footnotes. For history papers, you will not be using parenthetical citations (the MLA style) or the APA style. Footnotes look very similar to bibliographic citations–since they include most of the same information–but there are some subtle differences that you should be aware of. They are really easy to use once you get the hang of it. There is a guide to footnotes under the “Class Handouts” tab, but here is an example of a footnote for a plain old, regular book:
1
Donald Worster, Dust Bowl: The Southern Plains in the 1930s, 25th anniv. ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004), 23.
The “23″ signifies which page I am quoting or paraphrasing (remember that paraphrases must include a citation as well). The rest is self explanatory.
To add a footnote using Microsoft Word, put your cursor at the end of the sentence and outside the quotation marks (if you are quoting). Go up to “Insert” –> “Reference” –> “Footnote.” A box will pop up, and all those fields should be automatically correct, so hit “OK.” Your cursor will then be bumped down to the bottom of the page, where you insert the citation as shown above. When you are ready to resume writing, just put your cursor back up in the text and go!
It sounds complicated, but it is much, MUCH easier to use this feature than to try and add footnotes manually. It is very important that you use the correct citations for your sources, and that you remember that I take plagiarism very seriously. Each quotation must have a footnote immediately following it (right after those quotation marks), and paraphrases must also be acknowledged with a citation (of course, those won’t have quotation marks). For a quick review of how to avoid plagiarism, see the “Straight Talk about Plagiarism” brochure under the “Class Handouts” tab.
Announcements for 11/3
November 3, 2009 at 8:06 AM | In Announcements | Leave a CommentTags: Announcements, blogging, digital narrative
1. There is no blogging (or commenting) due this week. Use the extra time to work on your digital narrative project.
2. Class on Thursday (11/5) is canceled; this is stated in the syllabus. I will begin my office hours on Thursday at 2pm instead of 3pm.
Announcements for 10/27
October 27, 2009 at 1:27 PM | In Announcements, Helpful Tips | Leave a CommentTags: Assignments, Audacity, digital narrative, footnotes, microphone, plagiarism
1. For the digital narrative assignment, you should check out an easy-to-use audio recording program called Audacity that you can download for free. It is available for both Macs and PCs. You’ll save your file as an Audacity file (.aup file), and then when you are ready to add it to Movie Maker or iMovie you can export it as an .mp3 file, then import that file into your movie program. Students in my other Kansas history course had a lot of success using this program.
2. As you consider how you will record your voice over, there are a few options for locating a microphone. The 4th floor Wescoe computer lab in the EGARC includes microphones and Audacity on those public computers. Or, I have two microphones and you can make an appointment to come to my office and record your narrative there (students will not be able to take my mics home). Another option is to purchase an inexpensive mic from Amazon. With tax and shipping this one will cost just under $7. The sound quality on this microphone is more than adequate for our assignment, but as with any mic, try not to touch it while you are recording because that will lead to shuffling and scratching sounds.
3. To keep the recording process simple, practice reading your narrative aloud before you record. You could also consider reading it to a friend. The more you rehearse, the fewer times you will have to re-record your voice over.
4. As you revise your script, pay attention to details. The requirements for the assignment are not arbitrary rules; each one has a rationale behind it, and you’ll want to demonstrate that you can follow directions. This is a skill that employers will look favorably upon when you begin your professional career. Be particularly careful about including citations that are properly formatted and that refer to a specific page number; to not include accurate footnote citations (even for summary sections) is a form of plagiarism.
Challenging Our Assumptions
October 23, 2009 at 8:17 AM | In Websites of Interest | Leave a CommentIf our discussion of gender as a constructed category was particularly interesting to you, go check out a great resource called Sociological Images. It deals with how both men and women are depicted in the media (among other topics including racism, etc.); see their drop down menu of tags that appears on the right sidebar. Topics that pertain to yesterday’s discussion are: 1) beauty, 2) bodies, 3) discourse/language, 4) feminism, 5) gender, and 6) politics. Two particularly interesting examples are their posts titled “Make-Up and Beauty Regimes for Men” and “Oh, the Things Girls Can Be!” (both found under the tag “gender”). Their posts, while not geared toward historians, never fail to continually remind me about my own perspectives/prejudice and how each of us can work to become more accepting of others.
Note that some of their posts are labeled NSFW. That translates to “not safe for work” because there is nudity or something else that could get you into trouble if you looked at it while using company resources. Just bear that in mind.
Did You Know?…The Legislative War of 1893
October 21, 2009 at 8:12 AM | In Did You Know? | Leave a CommentTags: blogging, Populism
You’ve probably never heard of the Legislative (or Populist) War of 1893. I didn’t have time to address it in lecture, but it is one of the more fascinating stories in the history of the Sunflower state.
The state election of 1893 had confusing results. The Populist party claimed a majority of seats in the legislature (crying foul at what they perceived as election fraud), while the rival Republican Party disagreed. As a result of this disagreement two houses, the Douglass House (Republican) and the Dunsmore House (Populist), both conducted state business in Representative Hall on the Capitol grounds, each arguing that they were the legally elected legislative body. As the session wore on, tensions between the two groups escalated. On February 13, 1893, the Populist Dunsmore House barricaded the entrance to the hall and repelled the Republican congressmen who attempted to enter the chambers. The Republican Douglass House, fed up with the situation, beat down the doors of the hall with sledgehammers. The Republicans then recruited six hundred guardsmen (called sergeants-at-arms) to protect the hall; even after an executive order from Governor Lorenzo Lewelling these guards refused to leave the Capitol grounds. Eventually, on February 16, the disgruntled Populists agreed (along with the Republicans) to wait for the state Supreme Court’s verdict. On February 25, the court ruled that the Republican house would maintain control of the legislature. This event, even though it lasted only twelve days, would become known as the Legislative War or the Populist War.
For more about this conflict, check out these primary sources on Kansas Memory. These are just a few of the sources available:
Floyd Bull’s reminiscence
Jeremiah Berger Remington’s postcard
Douglass House, “Statement to the People of Kansas”
Photograph of Douglass House
Photograph of Populist House on the statehouse steps
Governor Lewelling’s Executive Order No. 2
Governor Lewelling’s Executive Order No. 3
Memoranda on the Populist War
This would be an excellent choice for a blogging topic, if you enjoy political topics such as this!
Mary Elizabeth Lease and the “Money Power”
October 20, 2009 at 8:42 AM | In Blogging Response Questions, Discussion Starters | Leave a CommentTags: Populism
If you are feeling stuck and don’t know what to write for this week’s blog, here is something for you to think about. According to Mary Elizabeth Lease (pictured) and her fellow Populists, the government was controlled by the wealthy and the corrupt. In a speech given in 1890 she stated:
Wall Street owns the country. It is no longer a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, but a government of Wall Street, by Wall Street, and for Wall Street. The great common people of this country are slaves, and monopoly is the master. The West and South are bound and prostrate before the manufacturing East. Money rules, and our Vice-President is a London banker. Our laws are the output of a system which clothes rascals in robes and honesty in rags.*
Questions for consideration:
1) How might these sources relate to our current state of affairs as a country (in the 21st century)? Do you see parallels today, and if so, where?
2) For those of you who are history majors or who have taken both halves of the introductory U.S. survey, where else in American history can we find criticisms of this so-called “money power”?
*Available online on several radical sites, including History is a Weapon and History Matters. It is also published in Howard Zinn, Voices of a People’s History of the United States (New York: Seven Stories Press, 2004).
2009 John Brown Symposium
October 19, 2009 at 1:29 PM | In History in the News | Leave a CommentTags: blogging, conferences, news articles
Aerial view of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, looking west.
As most of you know, my fall break was spent in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, at an academic symposium called John Brown Remembered: 150th Anniversary of John Brown’s Raid. In addition to many academic presentations and lectures (see the link for more info), we were lucky enough to participate in several walking tours and other commemorative events. Interestingly, this event was the kick-off for the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, which goes to show that our understanding of this conflict is constantly being refined as historians acknowledge how the Civil War spans more than just the four years between 1861 and 1865. Although the weather was downright miserable, the events were amazing and I only wish that you could have experienced it for yourselves!
Here are some news articles related to the anniversary, if you want to blog about Brown at some point in the semester. Although the raid on Harpers Ferry did not take place in Kansas, Brown’s involvement in the history of our state makes him a worthy subject of study.
“Gearing Up for John Brown Sesquicentennial” from the Harpers Ferry Historic Town Foundation
“John Brown’s Day of Reckoning” from Smithsonian Magazine
“300 Follow Abolitionist John Brown’s Footsteps on 150th Anniversary of Harpers Ferry Raid” from 39 News in Houston
Additional Advice for Digital Narrative
October 19, 2009 at 11:41 AM | In Assignments, Helpful Tips | Leave a CommentTags: Assignments, digital narrative, proofreading
Here are some additional clarifications for the digital narrative draft and bibliography that are due tomorrow. Don’t forget to upload them to Blackboard in ONE FILE; you can only upload one file for each assignment so you’ll need to copy and paste everything into one .doc file before you get onto Blackboard. As with other assignments, you’ll need to upload this to Blackboard unless you absolutely cannot get the website to work; then, you can email it to me as an attachment. Also, everyone needs to bring hard copies to class on Tuesday. Late assignments will be docked one full letter grade for each 24-hour period that they are late.
Bibliography: The citations must follow the Chicago style used in the humanities, which was explained on the handout from Texas A&M and also on the handout called “Citing Sources in Your Digital Narrative.” Both can be downloaded on this webpage under the “Class Handouts” tab. Your final bibliography should include at least four print sources (journal articles or books), but for the rough draft you could squeak by with only three. You can also use web resources in your bibliography–as long as those are from credible sites–but those don’t count toward your total of four print sources. Remember too that our “textbook” by Craig Miner can count as one of those print sources since he most likely discusses all of your topics.
Slide List: Your slide list may change between now and the final draft, but I want to see that each of you has thought about composition, how your slides will flow into each other, etc. You don’t need to worry about the actual slide visuals at this point. Your list should include the following information for each slide:
- Slide number (i.e. Slide #1, Slide #2, etc.)
- Title of slide that is descriptive (i.e. “Painting of Wagons on Oregon Trail”)
- Website where you found the slide (i.e. Kansas Memory)
- URL (i.e. http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/201876)
If you are planning on having a quotation as one of your slides, the format would be similar to the above, except that instead of a URL and the website name, you would provide a book/article citation with the exact page that contains that quotation. See the examples in the previous post.
Draft of Script: The draft needs to be at least 3 pages long, and it should be written in complete sentences and paragraphs. The formatting will look pretty much like a paper. You’ll need to include a header (with your name, date, etc.), the title of your narrative, an introduction, etc. Think about it like you would a basic summary paper, except that you’ll want to make sure that you use clear vocabulary since you’ll eventually be reading this aloud. Consider who your audience is: you are writing to me and your classmates–so you aren’t writing for a novice per se–but at the same time you want to be clear and make sure that every sentence in the script serves a purpose. Since the assignment is so short, avoid any filler sentences and don’t ramble or follow tangents.
Try to make this as complete as possible, but it certainly may change between now and the final project. Remember also that a draft does not mean you should turn in sloppy work; you’ll still need to make it look clean and professional, even if some of the content may be shifted around at a later date.
Sample Slide List Citations
October 19, 2009 at 10:41 AM | In Assignments, Helpful Tips | Leave a CommentTags: Assignments, citations, digital narrative
Slide with an image:
Slide #2–Tennessee Town Kindergarten Band
Kansas Memory (http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/2229/page/1)
—
Slide with a quotation (this should follow the “footnote” format since you’ll be including the exact page number):
Slide #3–Quotation from William Lloyd Garrison’s The Liberator
Julie Roy Jeffrey, The Great Silent Army of Abolitionism: Ordinary Women in the Antislavery Movement (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1998), 24.
Potential Blogging Topic
October 13, 2009 at 10:00 PM | In Blogging Response Questions | Leave a CommentTags: archaeology, blogging, podcasts
MISSOURI-KANSAS BORDER WAR NETWORK
If you are planning on blogging about the border war at some point during the semester, there are some podcasts available on iTunes that may be of interest. The Missouri-Kansas Border War Network is an organization that seeks to educate the public and preserve the history of this region. You can see their website for more details, but you’ll have to go to iTunes to download their podcasts.
These podcasts are short (~6-8 minute) interviews with historians and archaeologists who study this period. The two described below are the only ones that I’ve listened to, but feel free to blog about any of the others; remember to include analysis in your post, and not just summary. Here’s more detail:
1. Donald Gilmore, in the interview titled “Order No. 11,” forwards his conclusion that Order No. 11 was not necessarily a reaction to Quantrill’s raid on Lawrence in 1863. I would be interested to hear your take on the last part of the lecture where he talks about slaveholders and their right to keep slave property.
2. Ann Raab, who is a graduate student in the archaeology department here at KU, is interviewed in the podcast titled “Bates County, Missouri, Archaeology Dig.” This past year, Raab conducted an archaeological dig on a plantation in Bates County, Missouri. Archaeology of the historic period (when written records have been preserved and can work in tandem with archaeological finds) is called “historic archaeology.”
Announcements for 10/8
October 12, 2009 at 10:55 PM | In Announcements | Leave a CommentTags: blogging
1. Class on Tuesday, October 13, is cancelled. I will be out of state.
2. Because of fall break, no blogging will be due this Friday.
Announcements for 9/24
September 24, 2009 at 11:41 PM | In Announcements | Leave a CommentTags: Announcements, attendance policy
1. Because of students dropping the course and some reshuffling, there are no blogging groups named J or K. That means that there will be no posting and commenting next week, so we will all have a break! To reflect the ensuing redistribution of points for comments, I have made adjustments to the blogging rubric. I will post the revised rubric under the tab “Assignments.”
2. There is a need for me to clarify the attendance policy in the course. Attendance is defined as more than just your physical presence in the classroom; you need to be mentally and intellectually present as well. Daydreaming is bound to occur on occasion–it happens to the best of us–but please note that I will cross your name off the attendance sheet if you text message/email, read the UDK, complete assignments for other classes, sleep, or only stay for half of the class period. These actions are disrespectful not only to the instructor, but also to your fellow classmates, who are equally busy yet they have committed to making this class a priority.
Deciphering Proofreading Symbols
September 23, 2009 at 12:13 PM | In Helpful Tips | Leave a CommentTags: book reviews, proofreading
As I read book reviews and other written assignments in this course, I will be using the standard proofreading marks that most of you are familiar with. For an explanation of what the marks mean, you can download the PDF file under “Class Handouts” that is called “Editing and Proofreading Marks.” Although professional proofreaders use in-line notations in conjunction with corresponding marginal notations, normally instructors only use in-line notations so the margin space can be left for other comments about content, etc. If you have questions about these marks, please let me know.
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