ANALYTICAL ESSAY

ANALYTICAL ESSAY

You will complete a three to five page essay. In this essay, you will write about a

historical person or event in African American history that is portrayed in a

Hollywood film. Students should use primary (at least two) and secondary sources

(at least three) to determine the accuracy of the film. For example, the

film Harriet was released in 2019. You will view the film and do your own research

on Harriet Tubman. In your essay, you should provide a clear and concise history of

the life of Harriet Tubman based on primary and secondary sources. Then, you will

critique the film pointing out any inaccuracy between the film and the historical

record. To garner the highest possible score on this essay, you must draft a clear

thesis statement in the introduction, and you must substantiate that thesis

by referencing and analyzing specific information and ideas from primary and

secondary sources. In other words, it will not be enough to simply type, “I think

that….” You will have to denote specific details from your sources and explicitly

cite the book pages, speeches, documentaries, and/or other sources you will be using

to argue why your thesis is correct. (See additional writing tips below)

Citation Guidelines for Analytical Essays

When researching and writing each Analytical Essay for this class you are required to use and to specifically cite at least 5 of the assigned readings and media 9 sources. Moreover, at least 2 of these sources must be primary sources. If you attempt to use and cite non-assigned outside sources instead of utilizing and citing 4 or more assigned sources, I will deduct a significant number of points from your grade. As such, you can and should cite:

• Clayborne Carson’s et al. The Struggle for Freedom

• Any documents, documentaries, or weblinks

• And, any notes that you take during the class lectures.

In general, source citations for this class should be formatted according to MLA

format (for a good website that covers MLA style, try the MLA Formatting and

Style Guide at the Online Writing Lab at Purdue University – type “Purdue OWL”

into Google). However, in order to keep things simple, here are some basic

guidelines to follow when citing sources within your essays for this class:

1. Please use only in-text citations in your work (see examples below);

2. Include a bibliography or a works cited page (but that page does not count toward

your 4-5, or 5-6-page requirement);

3. Do not provide a citation for every sentence, even if you are paraphrasing

extensively. Instead, if all the information in a paragraph is from one source, just

provide one in-text citation at the end of the paragraph.

4. You need to provide the last name of the author whose work you are using (i.e.

Carson or Thompson, not Clayborne or Sharita).

5. You MUST make an effort to give credit to those whose work you are

using. Failure to do so is considered plagiarism, and will have a negative impact

on your grade.

In-text citations:

MLA format follows the author-page method of in-text citation. This means that

the author’s last name and the page number(s) from which the quotation or

paraphrase is taken must appear in the text. The author’s name may appear either in

the sentence itself or in parentheses following the quotation or paraphrase, but the

page number(s) should always appear in the parentheses, not in the text.

Assigned Readings and documentaries for this class and must be used in this paper

Ancient Africa

Assigned Readings: Chapter 1 of The Struggle for Freedom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4EjZpIF71Y&feature=youtu.be

Suggested Documentary: History of Africa-Episode 3

Africans in Bondage

Assigned Readings: Chapter 4 TSFF

Suggested Documentary: Slaves and Religion: https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6997059

The Revolutionary Era

Assignment Due Dates: Chapter 5 of The Struggle For Freedom

Suggested Documentary: Journey through Slavery Episode 3 “Brotherly Love”

African Americans and the Revolutionary War:

Assigned Readings: Chapter 6 of The Struggle For Freedom.

After the Revolution

Suggested Documentary: The Fugitive: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/uncivil/id1275078406

African Americans in the Antebellum Era

Assigned Readings: Chapter 7 The Struggle For Freedom. Suggested Documentary: They Were Her Property https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmAxcRtv8qo&feature=youtu.be:

White Slave Owning:

Women in the South:

How Modern Medicine Was Born of Slave: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-JTw5dqM6o&feature=youtu.be

Assigned Readings: Chapter 8 of The Struggle For Freedom.

Suggested Documentary: Frederick Douglass on the 4th of July. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0baE_CtU08&feature=youtu.be

The Abolitionists Movement https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJqzdILhGXo

The Underground Railroad

Assigned Readings: Chapter 10 of The Struggle For Freedom

Suggested Class Documentary: The Emancipation Proclamation Assignment https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RdyJd7n7Nw&feature=youtu.be

Chapter 11 of The Struggle For Freedom

Suggested Class Documentary: Reconstruction: America After the Civil War by Henry Louis Gates