{"id":285,"date":"2012-06-13T12:31:31","date_gmt":"2012-06-13T12:31:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tonahangen.com\/wsc\/us2\/?page_id=285"},"modified":"2019-01-23T15:58:22","modified_gmt":"2019-01-23T15:58:22","slug":"psa","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.tonahangen.com\/wsc\/us2\/psa\/","title":{"rendered":"PSA Papers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Primary Source Analysis Papers<\/h2>\n

PSA Guidelines are found on page 3 of the Course Syllabus
\nPSAs are due on Jan 30, Feb 6, Feb 27, March 20, March 27, Apr 3, and Apr 24.<\/p>\n

Download the PSA rubric<\/a><\/p>\n

Instructions<\/strong><\/p>\n

Historians use evidence to construct a story or interpretation about the past, and that evidence is fragmentary, partial or conflicting. A careful historian asks critical questions about her or his evidence and acknowledges the potential strengths and weaknesses of those sources for constructing plausible stories (histories) about the past. Historians make <\/em>knowledge rather than just consume <\/em>it.<\/p>\n

For each of your required PSA papers, you will practice using a primary source in these ways. You will notice that our textbook contains many original document excerpts. A PSA Paper is a concise, 2-page paper critically analyzing<\/span> ONE source in light of a claim made in your textbook. This is more than a simple compare\/contrast exercise. Both the source and the selected textbook passage MUST BE CITED in your paper using correct Chicago-Style footnotes<\/a> (see the Footnotes module<\/strong> on Blackboard). You therefore need a word-processing program that permits footnotes; preferably the full installation<\/strong> of Microsoft Office for Mac or PC, available as a free download from the university IT website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

PSAs are NOT opinion pieces and should not simply summarize content. Rather, they are brief works of historical analysis INTERROGATING the document using historical thinking skills (see the Historical Thinking module<\/strong> in Blackboard for more help with this). 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. You will also be able to contribute more thoughtfully in class discussion. In other words, as you model what they do, you will begin thinking like a historian (a fundamental course outcome).<\/p>\n

Choosing a Document \/ Source:\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have provided suggested chapters for each PSA; you can select any numbered document from that chapter. You can also use a primary source from a reputable digital archive, such as the DPLA<\/a>, Library of Congress<\/a>, National Archives<\/a>, a presidential library<\/a>, etc. However, you are not limited to the suggestions. You can write about ANY historical source from any time period post-Civil War for any of your PSA papers.<\/p>\n

Citation Tips:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here are two examples of how to cite documents in our Exploring American Histories <\/em>textbook. A full citation has TWO PARTS: a) the information provided in small print at the end of each document PLUS b) the full bibliographic information about our textbook INCLUDING the page number where the document was located.<\/p>\n

Examples:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Henry Demarest Lloyd, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Critique of Wealth, 1894,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Wealth Against Commonwealth<\/em> (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1902), 510-12, 515, in Nancy A. Hewitt and Steven F. Lawson, Exploring American Histories: A Brief Survey With Sources, Vol II: Since 1865<\/em> (Boston: Bedford\/St. Martin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, 2013), 524-252.<\/p>\n

Gro Svendsen, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Letter from a Homesteader, 1863,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Frontier Mother: The Letters of Gro Svendsen<\/em>, ed. Pauline Farseth and Theodore Blegen (Northfield, MN: Norwegian-American Historical Association, 1950), 39-40, in Nancy A. Hewitt and Steven F. Lawson, Exploring American Histories: A Brief Survey With Sources, Vol II: Since 1865<\/em> (Boston: Bedford\/St. Martin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, 2013), 477.<\/p>\n

Criteria and grading:<\/strong><\/p>\n