SCHMOLL/HISTORY 232/Essay topics

SCHMOLL/HISTORY 232/Essay topics:
This essay is 3-4 pages, typed, double-spaced.
3/10 Book Essay Due (Due by midnight to turnitin)

1. Wounded Knee (1890) crucial for understanding American history?
Here are some good sources:
http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/eight/gdmessg.htm
http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/eight/gddescrp.htm
http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/eight/sbarrest.htm
http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/eight/wkmiles.htm
http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/eight/wklakota.htm
http://www1.assumption.edu/users/McClymer/us%20survey/BaumSittingBull.html

2. Japanese Internment:
Considering Japanese Internment as your key historical context, is interning citizens or non-citizens ever justified?
Here are some good sources:
http://www1.assumption.ed/users/McClymer/bedfordprototype/toc/SanFranciscoNews4242.html
http://www.densho.org/
http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-worldwar/5851

3. Immigration Interview Project:
Conduct interviews with at least four people who immigrated to the United States. Compare their experience with the experiences of people who came to the country through Ellis Island.
Here is a good source:
http://www.dumas-k12.net/socst/K-5/Grade_5/Supplements/13_Voices%20From%20Ellis%20Island.pdf
4. Heroism: What is the meaning and importance of heroes in the modern world?
Remember, this question must be answered in the context of 232. You may use current figures, but you must think historically and use historical examples to prove your point.

5. What was the meaning of Race and Racism in the 1910s and 1920s?
Here are some good sources:
http://www1.assumption.edu/ahc/1920s/Passing.html
http://www1.assumption.edu/ahc/1920s/Eugenics/Klan.html
http://www1.assumption.edu/ahc/1920s/Eugenics/default.html

6. Music: “Okie from Muskogee” (Merle Haggard) versus “Asshole from El Paso” (Kinky Friedman)
In what context were these songs created? What role does music play in responding to cultural, social, political, or economic changes?

7. Norman Rockwell’s Four Freedoms: Choose one of the paintings and essays and discuss the importance of that Freedom in the historical context in which it was created.
Here is a good source:
http://www.best-norman-rockwell-art.com/norman-rockwell-saturday-evening-post-article-1943-02-20-freedom-of-speech.html

8. Were the 1950s really Happy Days?

9. History of Childhood: Choose one of the following periods we have covered in this course:
Reconstruction, the 1890s, WWI, the 1920s, the 1930s, the 1940s, or the 1950s. Compare and contrast childhood today with childhood from that era. It is up to you to classify what “growing up” means in 2010. That means more than just saying that there is now tv and fast food and internet. It means reading, researching what others have said is significant about childhood today. Here’s an example: The Sociology of Childhood by William A. Corsaro. This book traces the meaning of childhood, focusing on the construction of identity by children.

10. Make Your own: If you choose this, you must clear your topic with me.