Von Drehle’s book

QUESTION

How does Von Drehle’s examination of this 1911 tragedy in New York City shed light on many of the major political, economic, and social developments and changes that occurred in both the city and the United States during the first decades of the twentieth century? Be sure to support your generalizations with specific evidence and examples.

INSTRUCTIONS

Remember, this is not a book review, but an analytical essay that responds directly to the question posed above. You should make a clear argument, or thesis statement, in the first paragraph, and back it up with persuasive evidence. Concentrate primarily on Von Drehle’s book, but feel free to use selected evidence that you find compelling from the textbook, Power Points, Blackboard site, and lectures. Paraphrase this evidence – do not quote it or cite it. DO NOT USE ANY OTHER OUTSIDE SOURCES. The only quotations in your paper should be from the book, so you do not need a Bibliography or Works Cited at the end of this paper.

This paper should be relatively brief – a minimum of 700 words and a maximum of 1000 words, approximately 2½ to 3 pages of double-spaced text (12 point Times New Roman, 1-inch margins). Cite the page number(s) for every quotation and use the proper citation style. Since you are discussing only one source here, you only need to indicate the page number of the quote in parentheses, which should always be placed at the conclusion of the sentence in which the quote appears.

For example, following the quotation, insert the page number in parentheses, such as, “______________________” (23).

You should write the document in Word so that you can format it properly, and attach the file to your response. Files that are not .doc or .docx, or are otherwise unable to be opened, such as .xls files, will be graded as work that has not been submitted at all, and receive a 0. This assignment is
due Friday, September 27, by 9:00 p.m.

What is a thesis statement? A thesis is an interpretive statement, not merely a factual one. It offers an explanation for events, not merely a description or summary of what happened. Consider the difference between the declarations that “the North won the Civil War” and “the North used its greater population and industrial might to defeat the Confederacy.” Or, alternately, consider the difference between the following statements: “The South lost the Civil War” and “Ultimately, the South failed to muster the manpower, resources, and popular will necessary to win the war against the Union.” You are encouraged to review the guide to writing a history essay and sample essays posted on our Blackboard class site.

•In general, an excellent essay will have an insightful, important, and clear thesis which responds directly to the question(s) posed in the essay prompt and is supported by well-organized evidence.

•A good essay will have a reasonably clear if not overwhelmingly brilliant thesis that is responsive to the question(s) and is supported by a fair amount of evidence.

•An average essay has either a flawed thesis or weak evidence, often combined with an unclear or jarring writing style.

•A poor essay has no real thesis, rambling specific facts, and is internally contradictory as well as poorly written.

I assume that you all remember my dire warnings about plagiarism and academic integrity from our recent class discussion about writing history essays. You are of course free – and encouraged – to discuss the substance of the class readings and discussion, but the conceptualizing and writing of the paper should be a matter of individual effort. When you submit your essay to the eLearning system, you are formally pledging that the essay is entirely your own work.