The best library assignments are ones that use a variety of resources including books, newspaper and journal articles, internet sites, and even videos or audiocassettes. We encourage you to use all of these sources for this paper. Books should provide some of the best information for a historic topic. You may apply for a library card and request materials online. We hope you will take full advantage of the many resources our libraries offer.
Please contact Kingwood College Librarians or Professor Lambert with any questions you may have during your research.
The purpose of this assignment is to help you develop your critical thinking skills. You are to place yourself in a particular time period and react to a set of circumstances. You may become a real or fictional person. You might write this assignment in first person as a set of letters or diary entries. In order to complete the assignment, you must adequately research the selected topic and/or time period.
Once you decide on a topic, please get the instructor’s approval. Your research assignment should consist of 4-5 full textual pages (double-spaced) plus a Works Cited page. Use a standard 10- or 12-point font with one-inch margins. A minimum of four sources is required, with at least one from each of the following: a historical monograph (book), a scholarly journal, and an academic internet site. Encyclopedias and dictionaries are not acceptable as sources. All sources must appear in the Works Cited page, and those that do must be cited in the paper. Documentation must be parenthetical, and all forms must follow those prescribed in the MLA Handbook. Save your research project in rich text or as a word document and submit it in class or as an attached file, using the course WebCT mail feature. Check the course calendar for the due date. Ten points will be deducted from any late assignment, and no assignment will be accepted more than one week after the due date. The evaluation of this research assignment will focus not only on content but also on clarity, organization, coherence, and use of Standard Written English. Warnings: Plagiarism is theft of another writer’s words or ideas and will receive a zero.
Combine research of primary and secondary sources to learn more
about this important topic. Make sure you explore the impact of
slavery on
the everyday life of
the person you select. Focus on the life of a real or imaginary
person from the following list:
Field slave | House slave | City Slave | Runaway Slave | Slave master |
Slave mistress | Male abolitionist | Female abolitionist
You might want to consult the Digital History Website at the University
of Houston. See Enslaved Voices - more sites below.
Explore this community’s emphasis on complex marriages and its
efforts to limit births. Use both primary and secondary sources
to accomplish this and then display
your knowledge by writing about a real of imaginary person from
the community.
Consult the site at the State University
of New York at Binghamton to get started. - more sites
below.
Explore primary and secondary sources to learn how the Civil War
changed the lives of families in America and created new roles for
women. You might want to focus on the life of a real or imaginary woman
from this list:
A northern or southern wife of a farmer | A nurse for either side | A
spy | A female disguised as a soldier | A male soldier worried about
his family | A slave mother or father
One of the best digital sites with links is American Women's History. Take a little time here. Interesting to look at issues on both sides of the war. - more sites below.
|
|
|
HINT: For a full list of article databases, go to http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/db-subj.html. Use your library card to access full-text databases from home. |
New York Times Historical | NYT From 1857 - the present. Search original articles. Put in dates and keywords as limiters.
Biography Reference Bank | 45,000 biographies of people from antiquity to the present.
Academic Search Complete | Collection of scholarly articles.
Proquest Research Library | Collection of journal, newspaper, and magazine articles. Many scholarly.
History Study Center | Digital dissertations, images, primary sources, articles
Gale Literary Databases | Search literary books (note the titles) for exerpts and full-text criticisms.
|
MLA Style Guide | Kingwood College library guide. Examples of both paper and electronic citations.
Misuse of Sources | DePaw University excellent brief essay on how to avoid plagiarism. Excellent list of 'how to' and 'how to avoid'.
The Learning Center | Check our hours for in-house tutoring.
Attach your paper to and email to Dr. Janis Terry, Assistant Dean. Dr. Terry or one of the writing tutors will read through your paper and make brief comments on your paper and return it to you.
REMEMBER, the expert on this paper is Professor Lambert.
Librarian talk about Getting Started!