Cornell, Saul. 2008. A Well-Regulated Militia: The Founding Fathers and the Origins of Gun Control in America. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
McPherson, James M. 1998. For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
In this assignment, you will write an essay in which you compare the two books listed above as works of literature and as works of history. You will answer these two “big questions” and defend your answers with evidence from each book.
Which book is better than the other as a work of literature?
Which book is better than the other as a work of history?
The following “little questions” can help you make your comparison and decide your opinion. How are these books similar as pieces of literature (e.g., genre, writing style, intended audience, etc.)? How are they different? How similar are they as works of history (e.g., argument, methodology, kinds of evidence, etc.)? How are they different? Based on the similarities and differences that you find, you can decide which book is superior to the other in each of those categories. Your answers for each little question will help you to give a final answer to the two big questions.
Paper Guidelines
Your essay should conform to the following requirements to maximize potential for a good grade.
Length: The essay must be 1,250 words or more with a double-spaced 12-point font (this is roughly equivalent to five pages or more).
Citations: Use in-text citations or footnotes for each quotation, paraphrase, and piece of information that you acquire from the book. A single absence of a citation can be grounds for failing the assignment due to plagiarism. If you are citing the books properly, then you will most likely have a citation after every two or three sentences (at least).
Style: Chicago Manual of Style Author-Date is what we will use.
Font: Whatever you want to use is fine, although I must say that I find Times New Roman to be unmatched in its ugliness while Georgia is unmatched in its beauty.
Integrity: No assistance from other humans or AI is allowed when composing this paper. Any detection of dishonesty, whether originating from a human or AI, will lead to an automatic zero for the assignment.
Suggested Steps for Writing the Paper
Below, I share with you the same process that I use to write papers in case it helps you write a better essay.
Read both books (you dont need to fully read them just enough to get evidnce for you arguement) and take notes based on the above questions.
Develop your answers to the two questions based on your findings.
Take your notes and organize them into an outline that clearly answers the two questions with your data as your evidence.
Write a first draft based on your outline, complete with citations.
I also have a sample paper if you would like to look at it.
