Dr. Riney-Kehrberg History 329, Sec. 01 2:00, T,R Schroeder 330F Rural Life and Society in the U.S. SH 413
REQUIRED TEXTS
Hal S. Barron, Those Who Stayed Behind: Rural Society in
Nineteenth Century New England
Rebecca Burlend, A True Picture of Emigration
Lois Phillips Hudson, Bones of Plenty
John Ise, Sod and Stubble: The Story of a Kansas Farm
Katherine Jellison, Entitled to Power: Farm Women and
Technology, 1913-1963
Deborah White, Arn't I a Woman? Female Slaves in the Plantation
South
Reading Packet, available at PIP Printing, Bone Student Center
READINGS are assigned to specific days, and should be read in time to participate in class discussions. PARTICIPATION constitutes a significant portion of your course grade. Although I will not be requiring attendance, it is virtually impossible to participate without regularly attending and speaking in class.
ASSIGNMENTS
Participation 15% Rural fiction assignment 10% Primary source analysis 10% Term paper, first draft 10% Term paper, peer review 10% Term paper, final draft 20% Final Exam 25%
The final examination will be a take-home, comprehensive essay exam.
The paper assignments are explained in the reading packet.
GRADING SCALE
A =3D 90-100
B =3D 80-89
C =3D 70-79
D =3D 60-69
F =3D less than 60
Should you have any questions this semester, my office is Schroeder 330F. My office hours will be from 1:30 to 3:30 Wednesday, and by appointment. My office phone number is 438- 5357.
COURSE SCHEDULE
August 23 Intro to course
August 25 Overview of rural and agricultural history of U.S.
and discussion of questions, PIP packet, page 13
READING: Burlend, pp. v-57.
August 30 Methods of research
September 1 Rural societies, North. Paper proposals due in
class, discuss.
READING: Burlend, pp. 58-157.
September 6 Discuss BURLEND.
September 8 Rural societies, South
READING: White, intro-90.
September 13 Discuss WHITE
September 15 Literature of rural America. Papers due in class,
2:00
READING: White, pp. 91-167, by Tuesday.
September 20 Land distribution
September 22 Communities on the move
READING: Barron, pp. xi-77.
September 27 Discuss BARRON
September 29 Civil War and reconstructing the South. Primary
source analysis due in class, 2:00
READING: Barron, pp. 78-136, by Tuesday.
October 4 Settlement of the Great Plains
October 6 The farm child
READING: Ise, 1-166.
October 11 Discuss ISE. 1st installment, Farming Game, bring
course packet AND a calculator
October 13 Women and agriculture
READING: Ise, 167-conclusion by Tuesday.
PAPER CONFERENCES WEEK OF OCTOBER 11. SIGN UP FOR DAY AND TIME.
October 18 Technological change
October 20 The rural landscape
READING: Jellison, intro-106.
October 25 Discuss Jellison.
October 27 1872-1918. FIRST DRAFTS DUE. 2nd installment,
Farming Game, bring course packet AND calculator
READING: Jellison, 107-conclusion, by Tuesday.
November 1 1919-1939.
November 3 Peer review of first drafts
READING: Hudson, Preface-149.
November 8 1919-1939, continued
November 10 "The Southerner"
READING: Hudson, 149-297.
November 15 Discuss HUDSON. 3rd installment, Farming Game,
bring course packet AND calculator November 17 1939-Present
READING: Hudson, 297-439, by Tuesday.
November 22 Current issues. Discuss readings. November 24 Thanksgiving
READING: PIP packet, readings from New Dimensions in Rural
Policy
November 29 Research presentations
December 1 continued
READING: No additional reading.
December 6 Research presentations December 8 continued. FINAL DRAFTS DUE
FINAL EXAMINATION, due Wednesday, December 14, by 3:10 P.M.
Paper on Rural Fiction, due September 15, 2:00 . In this assignment, you will analyze a piece of America's farm literature as a source of history. First, pick one of the books from the following list. If you wish to use a different piece of literature, you must okay it with me FIRST.
Carol Ryrie Brink, Caddie Woodlawn
Willa Cather, O Pioneers!
. My Antonia
Hamlin Garland, Main Travelled Roads
. Boy Life on the Prairie
Zora Neal Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God
Caroline Kirkland, A New Home, Who'll Follow?
Lois Phillips Hudson, Reapers of the Dust
Rose Wilder Lane, Free Land
. Let the Hurricane Roar
Ralph Moody, Little Britches
Herbert Quick, The Hawkeye
. Vandemark's Folly
Ole Rolvaag, Giants in the Earth
Mari Sandoz, Old Jules
John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath
Laura Ingalls Wilder, any book in the Little House series
You should examine your choice not as a piece of literature, but as a piece of history. What does this book tell you about life in rural America, at a given point in time? What myths and understandings about American farm life does it promote?
Your paper should be 4 to 5 pages in length, typed and double spaced, with one inch margins on each side. Use a standard font, preferably the one used in the course packet. This paper, as is the case with all papers in this class, should be grammatically correct and free of spelling errors. REMEMBER: ALL HISTORY PAPERS ARE TO BE WRITTEN IN THE PAST TENSE. Be prepared to discuss your findings in class.
Term Paper: You will be required to write a substantial, typed, double spaced, primary source research paper. Required page lengths are as follows:
Undergraduate: 10-15 pages
Undergraduate capstone: 20-30
Graduate: 15-25
The boundaries of the assignment are that your paper must be about a rural history topic, in the period from 1800 to the present. Although informed by secondary material (writings by historians about a particular topic), your writing must rely most importantly on primary sources -- those generated in the place and time about which you are writing. For example, if you wanted to write about federal farm policy during the 1930s, you would rely on federal reports, newspapers, and other documents generated during the 1930s. If you wanted to write about the experiences of farm women on the frontier, you would read diaries, letters, and other documents generated by women with those experiences.
Choosing a topic: The three primary considerations are to first choose a topic appropriate to the class, second, to find one that can be done with the resources in Milner Library, and third, to choose one that you actually like. If you fail to meet any one of these criteria, the project will probably be less than satisfactory for you. I'm going suggest a few possible topics, but you are by no means required to follow my list of suggestions.
The list could go on and on, but I'll stop there. Just remember to find a topic that is "do-able," applicable, and enjoyable. Please note that there are page limits for this paper, so don't let your topic get too big for you.
Writing Your Proposal: You absolutely must turn in a paper proposal at the beginning of class on September 1. I will not grade any paper handed in without one, period. Your first thoughts about this needn't be set in stone, but you must at least begin with a proposal. Should your paper topic or sources change significantly during the course of the semester, you must resubmit your proposal.
Please write a one paragraph description of your project, and explain what you hope to find in the material. In a second paragraph, explain to me why you wish to work on this particular topic -- what makes this topic worth studying? This material should be typed, and double spaced. Then, give me a short bibliography of your sources. What one or two books are you using for background information? What four or five sources (to begin with) will you use for your primary source material? Use proper bibliographical form. If you need help with that, see Kate Turabian's A Manual for the Writers of Theses and Dissertations, or the Chicago Manual of Style.
Source Analysis: Due at the beginning of class on September 29. You should be thinking about how you will use the primary sources you have chosen for your term paper. Please choose ONE of your sources to complete the following exercise. Ideally, it should be one of your more important sources, or one that you find difficult or confusing.
the first page.
does it say?
issues within the topic you have chosen for your research paper.
to substantiate this piece of information, or to enlarge upon what you have learned from it?
Your paper should be 4 to 5 pages in length, typed and double spaced, with one inch margins on each side.
Paper Conferences: You will meet with me for a conference during the week of October 11. Please bring in a copy of your introduction and thesis statement, as well as an organizational scheme or outline for the rest of the paper. This need not be set in stone. We will be discussing how you can best achieve the objective of a successful first draft.
Your First Draft: Your first draft is due at the beginning of class on October 27. Please make an extra copy of your paper to keep for yourself, and three copies to hand in. This draft=7F should be a complete draft, typed, double-spaced, foot or endnoted properly. I also expect to see a complete bibliography, in proper form. Take a careful look at the rules on plagiarism listed below. Please do not enclose your paper in any sort of binder! Put a title page on it, and staple the paper in the top, left hand corner. I will grade this paper and make suggestions for your second draft.
Peer Review: Please hand in three copies of your paper, one to me, and one for each of two other students. You will be assigned to a peer review group, and will examine each other's papers. On November 3, you will critique two other students' papers, and will spend a class period discussing their papers, as well as yours, with your team. You will also hand in critiques -- one copy to the writer, one to me. Please note: your critiques will be graded.
Suggested questions:
What is the thesis or argument of this paper?
How successfully is the paper organized? What works, and what doesn't?
Does the author prove his or her point? Why or why not?
What does this paper do well?
What improvements would you suggest?
What mechanical problems do you see in this paper?
If you could make only ONE suggestion to improve this paper, what would it be?
Final Drafts: Final drafts are due at the beginning of class on December 8. EVERYONE will produce a final draft, no matter what their grade on the first draft. This should be a polished and improved version of your first effort. REMEMBER: what is acceptable work in a first draft is not necessarily acceptable work in a polished, final draft. I really do expect to see improvement. If you need any help with style, organization, or grammar, remember that there are writing tutors at the University Center for Learning Assistance. I encourage you to use the Center's services. When handing in this draft, please include the marked copy of your first draft as well.
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