Zeitgeist Instructions and Example Entry

  1. Go to the following website: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories.html
  2. Spend five or ten minutes finding out some basic information about the Jim Crow era. Look through AT LEAST one entry under EACH section: People, Personal Narratives, Events, and Organizations
  3. Write six questions about your topic and answer them.
  4. All questions need to be in complete sentences, and you need to have one for each of the following: Who, What, When, Where, Why, How.
  5. After your How question, include a quote from one of the personal stories, and be sure to explain who this person is.
  6. All answers need to be in complete sentences.
  7. You generate both the questions and the answers.
  8. The work must be hand-written.
  9. Write a paragraph after the questions/quote section that summarizes your findings.

Example: Devil’s Tower

Who: Who declared Devils Tower the first US National Monument? President Theodore Roosevelt declared it the first US National Monument in 1906.

What: What is Devils Tower? Devils Tower is a laccolith in the Black Hills. It looks like a tower made of rock.

When: When was Devils Tower named? It was named by Colonel Richard Irving Dodge in 1875 when he misunderstood an interpreter’s translation.

Where: Where is Devils Tower located? It is located in northeast Wyoming.

Why: Why do some Indian leaders object to people climbing Devils Tower? Devils Tower is a sacred place to many Indian tribes.

How: How tall is Devils Tower? Devils Tower is 1267 feet above the surrounding terrain.

Quote: "At the top of the ridge I caught sight of Devil's Tower upthrust against the gray sky as if in the birth of time the core of the earth had broken through its crust and the motion of the world was begun.” –M. Scott Momaday

Summary Paragraph:

Devils Tower is a 1267 foot laccolith in the northeast corner of Wyoming. It was named by Colonel Richard Irving Dodge in 1875 and made the United States’ first national monument by President Teddy Roosevelt in 1906. While people often climb the tower, Indian tribes object because it is a sacred place to them.