Paper 2: Exploring Past and Present - ENGL 102 - Humanities Focus

Paper 2 Requirements

Overview: For your second major essay, you will build on the material and themes of readings by exploring the relationship between past and present. Specifically, you will look at a historical situation and then consider how that historical moment relates to/affects the present.

Some topics might be too large for a short(ish) paper, but you can narrow the focus through a specific community or event: for example, the Aryan Nations in North Idaho; boarding schools and the Coeur d’Alene tribe; the events of 9/11; the polio epidemic; the first production of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring; the launch of the Iphone.

The topics are limitless—find a historical context that is relevant to you or that you simply curious to learn more about. You can also develop a topic from your first paper. Some questions you might ask could include the following: How does the past influence the present? How important is the lens of the past? How do we negotiate with the past in our communities?

Purpose and Key Elements: The purpose of this essay is to develop research skills, including the exploration of primary sources, and to analyze the complexities of cause/effect relationships. Your essay should be around 1,500 words include at least 5 relevant and reliable sources (one of which must be a primary source in order for the paper to be accepted), and use MLA format for citations and page layout.

What Type of Information Should I Use for This Paper?

Strong papers will include high-quality primary and secondary sources.

Primary Sources: Think of original sources created while your historical event was in full swing! This is not an exhaustive list, but examples include:

Newspapers
Public Service Announcements
Journals, diaries, or memoirs
Letters or correspondence
Photographs
Radio clips
Television news
Advertisements
Government issued documents

Secondary Sources: These types of documents include someone's summary or analysis of information surrounding an event or time. They are often published much later and removed from the moment. Examples include:

Reference articles (Credo Reference, Encyclopedias, etc.)
Academic history publications
History books

Background Information

Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
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Credo Reference is a full-text online reference service. This collection includes over three million entries from hundreds of well-regarded titles from some of world's the best reference publishers. Credo’s collection is intelligently integrated with millions of cross-references and contains dictionaries, bilingual dictionaries, thesauri, encyclopedias, quotations and atlases, plus a wide range of subject-specific titles covering everything from art to accountancy, science to Shakespeare and law to literature.

Primary Sources

NewsBank This link opens in a new window
NewsBank consolidates current and archived information from thousands of state newspaper titles, as well as newswires, web editions, blogs, videos, broadcast transcripts, business journals, periodicals, government documents and other publications. Roughly 1990's+.
New York Times This link opens in a new window
Complete New York Times content from 1851--present.

Library of Congress Digital Collections

Chronicling America This link opens in a new window
Search America's historic newspaper pages from 1789-1925 or use the U.S. Newspaper Directory to find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present. Chronicling America is sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress.

Digital Public Library of America
A conduit for access to millions of items—photographs, manuscripts, books, sounds, moving images, and more from libraries, archives, and museums.
American Archive of Public Broadcasting
Historic public radio and television programs. The vast majority of this initial American Archive content consists of regional and local programs that document American communities during the last half of the twentieth century and the first decade of the twenty-first. This extraordinary collection includes local news and public affairs programs, local history productions that document the heritage of local communities, and programs dealing with education, environmental issues, music, art, literature, dance, poetry, religion, and even filmmaking on a local level.

As you search for books, it may help to think "inside the box" by being very specific (names or places) and "outside the box" by being more general (topics/issues). "Inside the box" searching allows you to find detailed materials, while "outside the box" thinking keeps you from missing high quality sources that do not have a much detail in their search records.

Since you are only keyword searching, make a list of possible search terms before you start. For example, "influenza" may bring back different results than "Spanish flu." "Influenza outbreak" will bring back different results than "influenza epidemic."

If you are struggling to find books at Molstead Library using the Primo search box, try searching for books through more familiar sites, such as Amazon.com or WorldCat.org. You can InterLibrary Loan books from other libraries for free!

Secondary Sources - Databases at Molstead Library

EBSCOHost eBook Collection This link opens in a new window
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Collection of over 150,000 titles across many disciplines.
Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
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This scholarly collection offers unmatched full text coverage of information in many areas of academic study including: anthropology, biology, chemistry, ethnic & multicultural studies, general science, geography, geology, law, mathematics, music, physics, psychology, religion & theology, women's studies, and many other fields.
America: History and Life with Full Text This link opens in a new window
America: History & Life with Full Text is the definitive database of literature covering the history and culture of the United States and Canada, from prehistory to the present.
History Reference Center This link opens in a new window
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Covering both U.S. and world history topics, History Reference Center is a full-text database featuring historical reference books, magazines, journals and thousands of primary source documents.
Films on Demand This link opens in a new window
Films on Demand is a collection of outstanding documentaries, award-winning educational films, independent films, and helpful instructional videos.
SocINDEX with Full Text This link opens in a new window
SocINDEX with Full Text offers comprehensive coverage of sociology, encompassing all sub-disciplines and closely related areas of study. These include abortion, criminology & criminal justice, demography, ethnic & racial studies, gender studies, marriage & family, political sociology, religion, rural & urban sociology, social development, social psychology, social structure, social work, socio-cultural anthropology, sociological history, sociological research, sociological theory, substance abuse & other addictions, violence and many others.