US History II

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One of the features of the Experience History textbook is the additional resources that appear in colored boxes or pages in each chapter. In the “Dueling Documents,” the book’s editors set two documents in conversation/argument with each other. Both represent actual evidence from the past, but they usually take opposing views of an issue or an event. This is useful because historians often need to weigh conflicting pieces of evidence, and you get to see that in action. In “Historian’s Toolbox,” an artifact or object is explored using critical thinking questions and annotations, to show how a historian would approach this thing from the past. In “After the Fact,” the editors create a longer essay that discusses evidence, controversy and interpretation in a historical reconstruction of an episode in American history. Through all of these special resources, you see historians at work: uncovering their process, analyzing evidence, and developing plausible stories (histories) that acknowledge scholarly research and argument.

For each of your five “SkillBuilder” papers, you will draw on a primary source in a similar way. Choose from one of these special textbook sections, or from this list of online resources (exception: SB1, which is based on a website). Choose from any time period, anywhere in the book. You will write a concise, 2-page paper that addresses the topic, either applying the suggested questions to it, or using your own appropriate questions to analyze the historical evidence. The evidence you use (whether it’s a document, an image or an object) and any direct quotations or paraphrases from the source MUST BE CITED using correct Chicago-Style footnotes.

Let me stress, these are not opinion pieces but brief works of historical analysis. As you do this over and over, you will develop stronger critical thinking skills, approach primary sources with greater confidence, and understand how historians use such sources to construct their interpretations of the past. In other words, as you model what they do, you will begin thinking like a historian.

Criteria and grading: A SkillBuilder should be a full 2 pages long (double-spaced) and thoroughly proofread for spelling and grammar. It should contain at least one correctly formatted footnote to the original sources. Give your paper a catchy title (not “SkillBuilder #3”). Do not include a title page or a separate Works Cited page – what you turn in should be exactly 2 sheets of paper, no more and no less. Each SkillBuilder is worth 8 points on your final grade. You may submit your SkillBuilders electronically or as printed papers.

SkillBuilders are due at the beginning of class on the specified date. You can drop one without penalty since only 4 of the 5 are required, but you will get the full credit for all 5 if you turn them all in. There are no makeups on SkillBuilders.

Plan ahead: I will not grant extensions or makeups or allow late submissions on SkillBuilders. This includes printing/sending after class on the same day it is due, which is not permitted. I am happy to read and comment on late work but it will not receive credit.

Comments: When I return your graded SkillBuilder, I attach a document with the grading rubric and my cumulative comments on ALL your SkillBuilders. I do this so you can track your improvement using a record of your past feedback throughout the semester. I like to see general improvement over the course in both your writing and your analytical skills, and I find that it helps students to see all the previous comments each time.

The paperless option: if you submit your paper electronically, you will receive it back electronically by email. If you submit it as a printed paper, you will receive it back with printed comments attached.

Paper Submission Guidelines
Best = hand in your SB during class on its due date, as a printed paper
Also Best = upload your SB to Blackboard Digital Dropbox before class begins on the due date. Put your last name in the uploaded paper’s filename.
Acceptable = turn in your printed SB before its due date either in class or in my office mailbox (Sullivan 327-B)
My least favorite = sending your SB as an attachment or in the text of an email
Not acceptable = anything else, like having printer trouble and not bringing it to class, not uploading it before class begins, and then begging me to let you print it later and drop it off, or forgetting to do them and asking to turn them in all at once at the end of the semester. My answer will be: there are no makeups or late work on SkillBuilders.

To avoid losing work, I recommend that you 1) not keep your papers on only one computer or flash drive, and 2) email your papers to yourself frequently so you can access them from another computer in a pinch. Alternatively, you can use a free program like Dropbox (http://dropbox.com) to store documents “in the cloud” for remote access.

Need examples? I have posted two exemplary SkillBuilders (without student names but with their permissions) from Fall 2011: Reconstruction and Child Labor.