History 300.03

Seminar in Historical Analysis 

Spring 2006

Prof. Waldrep

Tuesday, 4:10-6:55 in HSS152

Final Exam

Write a short (no less than 3 pages) biographical sketch of Thomas Brackett Reed.  As always, your paper should be typed, double-spaced, with footnotes correctly citing sources according to Turabian.  Your paper should state a thesis at the end of the first paragraph and the rest of the essay should support your thesis statement.

Your sources should not include encyclopedias and certainly not on-line encyclopedia sources. (You may use them to get started,  just do not cite or quote them in the finished product.)  Your sources must include primary source documents authored by Thomas Brackett Reed himself as well as secondary sources (no less than three) about Reed. The best secondary sources for this project will be fairly old.  You should use and cite government documents as well. Include at least one primary source about Reed but not by Reed. 

Your essay should explain why Reed is a significant historical figure worth remembering.  Your question is: Why was Thomas Brackett Reed important? Your thesis will be your answer to that question.

Keep in mind that the entire class is researching the same person. This means you must return all articles, films, books to their proper location when you have finished--so the next person can also find those same sources. Also, realize you may have to use ingenuity to locate some fairly common secondary sources because our librarians have been putting many important sources in storage in anticipation of our long-awaited library expansion project.  This may require -- for one source in particular -- that you use the public library or some other library convenient to you.  But there are alternative sources available and you can do this entire assignment using what is available in our library.

You may put your paper under my office door (Science 225)  any time before 1:30 PM May 25. If you wish to hand me your test personally, bring it to Business 106 between 10:45 and 1:15 on May 25.

Checklist

Your paper will:

________ be at least three pages in length, double spaced, with footnotes following Turabian.

________include at least one primary source written by Thomas B. Reed, correctly cited.

________include at least one primary source correctly cited not written by Thomas B. Reed, but about Reed.

________include at least one government document correctly cited related to Reed.

________include at least three secondary sources correctly cited about Reed.

________include a thesis statement that is supported by the rest of the essay.