This short paper (750-1000 words) will allow you to hone your skills as a historian analyzing your choice of the following primary sources depicting Latin America. You will also argue how you think your chosen primary source should be understood in light of another historian’s research.
The strongest projects will be focused in their analysis. They will make a clear argument about how your primary source should be interpreted (considering perspective, rhetorical intent, audience, the creator’s mindset) to answer a thoughtful historical question.
Approaching the project:
You may choose to analyze any one of the following primary sources:
- John Quincy Adams, “Cuba: An Apple Severed by the Tempest From Its Native Tree” Excerpt from his “Letter to Hugh Nelson” (1828) (Source)
- Fredrick Douglass, “Lecture on Haiti”, Speech given at the Haitian pavilion dedication ceremonies delivered at the World’s fair, in Jackson Park, Chicago (January 1893) (note: Douglas’ speech starts next to his photo)
- Helen J. Sanborn “A Wellesley Graduate’s Travels in Guatemala” Excerpt from A Winter in Central America and Mexico (1899) (Source)
Your essay should not be a mere summation of the contents of your source. Critical analysis goes beyond summarizing to a deeper critique of the source’s implications for our course themes.
Remember, primary sources reveal as much about the lived experiences and cultural expectations of their authors as they do about the historical events they describe. Make sure to consider your author’s point of view and the larger historical context. What ideas about race, class, identity, and/or gender are revealed in your author’s account? How does your interpretation of the source relate to our larger course themes?
Historians always have to consider how their interpretations fit with the larger historiographical discussions about a question. I expect you to engage with an argument about how to interpret Latin America in the nineteenth century from at least one reputable scholarly source. The outside secondary source can be something we read for class (for example, our readings by Thomas Holloway or Frederick Pike), or you can pick another scholarly source.
Don’t just use your required scholarly source to glean names and dates for historical events. Instead, make sure that you are presenting the scholar’s central argument, and using evidence from your primary source to either agree or disagree with the larger scholarly conversation.
As always, you must correctly cite all information and include a bibliography. See my guidelines on academic integrity.
Grading:
- Bring two printed copies of your rough draft to class for peer review on Friday, February 10.
- In grading this assignment, I will consider the strength of your historical analysis of primary and secondary sources as well as your writing ability. You essay must be well organized, concise, and clearly written. In attention to our in-class peer review, I encourage all of you to take advantage of the Writing Center’s excellent feedback at any stage in the writing process.
- Primary Source Analysis Rubric LAUS Rev SP17
- This assignment is worth 10% of your course grade.
Format
- The heading on the first page should include your name, the name of our class, the title of the primary source under consideration, the date, and your word count (excluding the heading, footnotes, and works cited).
- All formal papers should be uploaded to Moodle as .pdf files any time before class on Friday, February 17.
- Essays should be 750-1000 words, double spaced, in a 12-point standard font (Times New Roman, Garamond, Arial, etc.) with 1 inch margins. Stay within the word limit!
- All sources must be correctly cited using Chicago style formatting.