Oral
History and Historical Memory
The purpose of this assignment is to use different historical methods you have learned about during this course to complete a historical research project. Your research project should start with your developing a historical question, that you then research, and then attempt to answer using both primary and secondary sources to support your research.
General Overview: You will read two historical personal accounts in relation
to life in the past or tied to a specific historical event. Then your research
will compare these personal accounts with the “factual” or
“documented” history of the era. Next, proceed to compare the
personal account against the historical record, and then analyze the value of
oral history in enriching our understanding the historical period/event.
Example: a government
investigator and an observer of the JFK
assassination
Research Objectives & Questions to be Discussed in Your Essay:
·
What was the personal
background of the two individuals you chose?
·
How are the individuals
specifically tied to the specific historical event?
·
What are the
similarities and differences in the accounts of the
individuals?
·
What elements in their
narratives do you feel influenced (if it applies) the way we teach/learn that
history today?
·
How do you feel personal
accounts either enhance or possibly detract from our understanding of the
historical past?
Research
Requirements:
1. You
will need to use at least two (2)
primary sources for your research topic.
(See below for definitions of a primary source)
2. You
will need to use at least three (3)
secondary sources for your research topic.
(See below for definitions of a secondary source). Preference is for academic articles found in
scholarly journals. Online sources must be
pre-approved by your instructor before use within your paper.
3. Your
textbook cannot be used as a source,
as it is a tertiary source.
4. You
will also need to find at least one
image that is relevant to your research topic.
This image can be either a primary or secondary source, although a
primary source image is preferred.
5. If
you are using a secondary source image, it should be an image that is created
for academic purposes to help support your research (a modern map, etc).
Writing
Requirements:
1. Your
essay should be a minimum of 1000 words.
This word count does not include any cover sheet wording, your
footnotes/endnotes, or your works cited/bibliography page.
2. Your
essay must be formatted using 1” margins for all margins (top, bottom, left and
right).
3. Your
essay should be typed using 12pt. Times New Roman font.
4. Your
essay needs to be double-spaced.
5. Please
do not include any headers (your name, course, date, paper title) on any
written pages of your essay.
6. Your
research essay should be accompanied by a cover sheet that states your paper
title, your name, your course, and date.
7. All
of your sources should be cited using the Chicago/Turabian method. MLA will not be accepted!
8. You
must cite your sources using either footnotes or endnotes formatted in the
Chicago/Turabian citation method. Please
select either footnotes or endnotes based upon personal preference, just
remember to be consistent throughout your essay with your citation method.
Parenthetical reference is not permitted.
9. If
possible, you will want to try to incorporate your image into your essay by
embedding it into the text. Otherwise,
placing the image at the end of your document is acceptable (after the
conclusion and before your Works Cited/Bibliography page).
10. Your
image should include a caption that describes the image and its relevance to
your topic, this caption to your image should be at least 150 words. This word count does not count toward the
overall word count of your essay.
11. You
must include a Works Cited/Bibliography page at the end of the document. Be sure you are documenting all sources used
for your research paper, including your image source in this section. There should be agreement between the sources
you document in this section and the sources you cite in your footnotes/endnotes.
Sources
(Types and Recommendations):
·
Primary
Sources: Written materials, images, and artifacts that produced
and are contemporary to the time-period of your subject matter. (examples: a cave drawing produced by an
indigenous person, a speech given by an individual, a painting of a street
scene).
·
Secondary
Sources: Generally, written materials, images, and artifacts
that are produced by individuals after the time-period of your research. Most secondary sources are based upon primary sources.
·
Internet
Sources: Any use of internet sources, should be pre-approved by
your instructor before using them in your research. If selecting option #4, internet news sources
are appropriate, however try to select articles from mainstream sources. In all other essay options, select internet
sources that come from government entities, library archives, universities, and
other online primary source repositories.
·
Internet
Sources to avoid:
o
History.com
o
Wikipedia.com
o
Khanacademy.com
o
Britannia.com
