Albright College American Continent History Essay

Assignment 1

(2) page writing assignment based on the identification of significant details within the unit. These details can be places, time periods, names of people, uses of tools and so much more. Use these as identifiable information to expand in other areas of the writing prompt. Be sure to explain why it was chosen and it’s relation to other significant details in history.

You must cite your primary and secondary sources in this course.

1. Use FOOTNOTES (not Works Cited or Bibliography at end of assignment). Footnotes MUST provide page numbers, where applicable (you cannot cite your entire textbook, for example).

2. If you are citing a primary source document, you MUST provide the author information for that document.

3. You MUST use Turabian (Chicago) citation style.

Since you will only use materials assigned to you in this course in your assignments, you can use a modified (simplified) version of Turabian Chicago citations in this course. Note that if you do choose to use something from outside this course, we expect a full Turabian/Chicago style citation (we do NOT recommend you do this and you may lose points on your assignment)

Your Textbook: American Yawp, Chapter #, Section #

Lecture Videos and Slides: UTA History Department, Name of Lecture Video/Slide in Unit #, Lesson #

Other Videos (not Lecture Videos or Lecture Slides): Producer Name (if available), Name of Video in Unit #, Lesson #

Other Secondary Source Reading: Author Name, “Name of Reading,” page number (if available or section if available) in Unit #, Lesson #

Primary Source Reading found in American Yawp: Author of Document, “Name of Document” in American Yawp, Chapter #, Section #

Primary Source Reading posted or linked to in Module: Author of Document, “Name of Document” in Unit #, Lesson #

Website Link: Name of Website in Unit #, Lesson #

You will need to use an analytical writing style in this class. The basic form of analytical writing utilizes the “Rule of Three.” Simply, there should be at least three key points/pieces of evidence in a piece of writing introduced by a strong clear thesis.

Essays in this course are 2-3 pages in length. Your paper should begin with an Introduction which sets the prompt in the historical context, the LAST sentence of the intro paragraph is the thesis statement which lists the (minimum of) three points (X,Y,Z) that will be more fully developed in the paper. The first paragraph of the body (paragraph 2) would discuss key point X (this paragraph would have its own thesis as the first sentence, followed by a minimum of three pieces of evidence/analysis in support), then a paragraph on Y, and finally one on Z. An essay ends with a conclusion paragraph – which sums up the argument you made and ties X, Y, and Z together. The conclusion is NOT the place to introduce new arguments or evidence.

Text (reading) information:

http://www.americanyawp.com/text/01-the-new-world/

These questions and locations are all significant and can’t help with this assignment.

As you move through this topic, keep the following questions in mind. If you cannot answer these questions (some require critical thinking skills and putting together different pieces of information – you cannot simply look up the answer on one page in the textbook), you are not ready to move on to the next topic.

• How were the Americas peopled? What and where is Beringia?
• What is meant the term Clovis? What is meant by the term paleoindian?
• What was life like in the Archaic period and when does it end?
• What is the importance of maize?
• Discuss the rise of civilization in Mesoamerica. Where is Mesoamerica?
• Describe Maya culture. How did it change over time? Where are the Mayas located?
• Describe the Aztec Empire? How did it acquire and maintain power? Where is Tenochtitlan?
• Describe the cultures of the ancient Southwest. How were the Anasazi, Mogollon, and Hohokam societies similar? Different? Why did they decline? What is the importance of Chaco Canyon? Where is the ancient Southwest located?
• Describe Mississippian culture. Why did it decline? What is the importance of Cahokia? Where is Cahokia located?
• Describe life in the Eastern Woodlands in 1491. Where are the Eastern Woodlands? How are Algonquian, Iroquoian and Muskogean cultures similar? Different?
• Describe life on the Great Plains in 1491. Where are the Great Plains?
• Describe life in the Great Basin in 1491. Where is the Great Basin?
• Describe life in the Pacific Northwest in 1491. Where is the Pacific Northwest?
• Describe life in the Southwest in 1491. Where is the Southwest?

The following locations are important to the historical geography of the events discussed in this topic. You should be able to locate these places on a map and understand why they are important to and shape the history under discussion.

• Beringia
• Mesoamerica
• Tenochtitlan
• Cahokia
• Chaco Canyon
• Great Basin Cultural Area
• Ancient Southwest Cultural Area
• Eastern Woodland Cultural Area
• Great Plains Cultural Area
• Pacific Northwest Cultural Area
• Atlantic Ocean
• Pacific Ocean
• Mississippi River
• Ohio River
• St. Lawrence River
• Great Lakes
• Gulf of Mexico
• Rocky Mountains
• Appalachian Mountains