Homework | History homework help

  I am looking for you BIBLIOGRAPHY to approve. It should be a list of the five journals after your three questions.  NOthing else. 

Title: Daughters of Liberty (Women and the American Revolution)

Overview of Step Two: Questions, Research, Bibliography

Ask yourself the following: Is your TOPIC approved?  Did you read my feedback in the grading comments?  If you answered YES, then please proceed.  If you answer NO to either question, please return to STEP ONE.  Submit a topic for approval and read my feedback.

Please remember that you are not writing a research paper.  You are conducting research in an academic database to produce an annotated bibliography.  Did you watch the video and review the resources on annotated bibliographies in the Topic Assignment?  If not, go do so now. Annotated bibliographies are usually assigned before doing a research project.  They are also a great way to keep track of everything you read for future assignments.  It is quite common to read more than you need for a project and you should save the information for the future.  This is one way experts in fields stay on top of so much information.  We keep records. 

All students must submit a completed bibliography of their sources in the Chicago Style (Links to an external site.) and three, research questions for instructor approval. The instructions are listed below and this is where your work is submitted.  Failure to receive instructor approval for Step Two means you may not submit Step Three for credit. Failure to meet the deadline for Step Two means you are out 100 points for this part of the assignment and must still do the work.

Three Research Questions:

Now that you have an approved topic, think about what you want to learn or ask about this topic.  Write this into a series of questions and pick the three that are the best and work together. Type the three questions up and save them.  These questions will help guide the type of source you look for in the research.

Do not ask one-dimensional topics for basic objective information. 

Examples:

1. When did the battle of Gettysburg occur?

2. How many Union and Confederate soldiers died at Gettysburg?

3. Who led the Union and who led the Confederacy at the battlefield?

If you were researching the Battle of Gettysburg, then you would want this information but all are rudimentary and lack  depth.  A broader question and one with depth asks for more than just factual information(who, what where, when).  Historians normally want to understand the WHY of events and the causes, consequences, significance.  Historians collect perspectives of events from multiple points of view. 

Ask questions that might look like these (and there are hundreds of variations for every topic):

1. What made the Battle of Gettysburg the bloodiest in American history? Was their a winning military strategy? Did military leadership take a decisive  action that led to victory or was their a critical mistake?

2. What were the experiences of Union and Confederate soldiers on the battlefield? What were the memories of this battle?

3. How were men treated for wounds in field hospitals? How were the dead managed? 

Collection of Five Journals from JSTOR and Only JSTOR

Students are required to use the JSTOR database from the MSJC library. Why?  JSTOR is the most common resource for the social sciences and humanities because it is a collection of scholarly/peer reviewed articles and book reviews.  The majority of university libraries will offer this resource for students.  It is important that you use only peer reviewed materials for academic research in history.  A peer reviewed or scholarly journal article means that the piece was written by an expert (someone trained in the field of the topic or a related area) and reviewed by other experts.  This is similar to the Master’s thesis or PhD dissertation process where a graduate students has a team of scholars overseeing their research and vouching for the credibility. This is more critical for you all because of the internet.  Anyone can post anything but that does not make it accurate, plausible, credible, or even a realistic possibility. Think of it this way: if you have a brain tumor that needs removal, will you consult me (a historian) or a brain surgeon specialized in neurology?  

How do you access JSTOR?

Step One: 

Go to the online Library for MSJC: http://libguides.msjc.edu/msjclibraries (Links to an external site.) Links to an external site.

Step Two: 

Click on Articles and Databases.

Step Three: 

Under the TOP TEN, select JSTOR (it is listed second).

Step Four: 

Once you are on the JSTOR homepage, go to ADVANCED SEARCH!

Step Five:

 Immediately check the box for ARTICLES under NARROW TYPE. WHY?  This will filter out the book reviews which are not acceptable for research or this assignment.  You must find five JOURNAL ARTICLES that meet this criteria:

1.  Minimum of 10 pages.

2. Written or published after 1960 

3. Journal Article from the JSTOR database and only JSTOR database

If you turn in a book review, then you will receive 0 points for that entry.  If you pick a journal article that is not at least 10 pages long, you will earn 0 points for that entry. If you do not use JSTOR, then you will earn a zero for all journal article submissions. All of these errors will require you to resubmit the assignment for approval before you may complete step three.

Step Six: 

Under Advanced Search on the same screen as above, enter your topic. You will need to play around with the wording or variations of the topic to see the results. Do not try only one thing.  Also, set the dates of publication to meet the criteria above. The, scan the categories and select HISTORY for sure and other areas that may have HISTORY journals.  Though many fields overlap with history and historians use other materials, the MAJORITY of your journals must be from HISTORY journals and historians.

Step Seven:

After clicking on Search, look over the journal articles and select five that meet all of the requirements for this assignment. Do not pick the first few….look at the pieces and see if the article may answer one or more of your research questions.  By clicking on the title of the journal article, you can read it or look over the first couple of pages. Once you have selected a journal, DOWNLOAD THE PDF!  You will read these journals after they are approved. If you do not download the pdf and save the journal now, you will repeat the research to complete step three and waste time. Also, click on CITE and pick Chicago Style. Every bibliographic entry should have the DOI. Save the bibliographic citations and organize them in accordance with  bibliography standards for the Chicago Style.  Use the resources in the “resource module” or visit a web page (Links to an external site.). 

Last Step: Submit 

Submit the three questions and bibliography before the deadline for instructor approval. Do not submit until it is final, meaning your best work.  

Final Product Should Look Like This:

TOPIC: Battle of Gettysburg

Research Questions:

1. What made the Battle of Gettysburg the bloodiest in American history? Was their a winning military strategy? Did military leadership take a decisive  action that led to victory or was their a critical mistake?

2. What were the experiences of Union and Confederate soldiers on the battlefield? What were the memories of this battle?

3. How were men treated for wounds in field hospitals? How were the dead managed? 

Bibliography: (All five sources in the proper format for Chicago Style bibliographies. Do not number your bibliography.)

Catton, Bruce.  This Hallowed Ground: A History of the Civil War. New York: Vantage, 2012.

Faust, Drew Gilpin. This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War. New York: Knopf, 2008. 

Guelzo, Allen C.. Gettysburg: The Last Invasion. New York: Penguin, 2014.

McPherson, James. Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.

Oates, Stephen B.. With Malice Toward None: A Life of Abraham Lincoln. New York: Harper Perennial, 2011.