For your first major assignment, you will examine the historical trajectory of an idea in business (defined broadly) by examining primary documents and discussing their relevance today. While you are welcome to write about any topic you choose, you must ground your essay in analyzing at least one PRIMARY text–this might be a CEO or entrepeneur’s writings or speeches, an early article or publication about a topic, or other field notes that are of interest to you. In addition to briefly describing the cultural and historical context of your topic (e.g., how did this impact ____ field?) you will also discuss its relevance today. For example, in the introduction post you have already completed, I asked you to contrast discussions of American business by president Calvin Coolidge and political activist Eugene Debs. While you should choose new texts for this assignment, the questions you worked through on the assignment, and a discussion of their relevance today, are what I’d like you to consider for whatever text or texts you choose for your essay. By contrasting a primary document with current debates or discussions, you will also show your ability to translate business affairs for a broad and more general audience, which will become one of the major goals of our course.
Historical Perspectives papers should be around 1000 words, double-spaced, 12-point font, formatted in APA.
Grade:
A-range papers will discuss a primary document with a strong awareness of scientific and cultural context. These papers will discuss a relevant topic and provide thorough analysis of the primary text. Papers show a thorough understanding of current and ongoing debates surrounding their chosen topic and provide a sophisticated comparison and discussion of the issues at hand. The paper’s audience is consistently clear, and the writer effectively addresses either experts or the general public with a degree of consistency throughout.
