Dual Credit/AP US History Enrichment Extra Credit Assignment

The purpose of this assignment is to enrich the student’s understanding of course content and themes by engaging with and responding to scholarly work on a variety of topics and fields within the humanities. In doing so, students will think critically about the scholarly arguments of a presentation or article, make connections to content learned in class, and draw connections between historical events and themes to other fields of inquiry.

How do you do this? Therearetwo main ways to earn extracreditthissemester which will be outlined below.

Option 1:

Attend a presentation at Lone Star Community College – Spring Schedule – Canceled TBD Due to Flooding at LSC - Kingwood

Date and Time / Location on
LSC Campus / Topic
Thursday, Sept. 28 6:30pm / MUS 101 / “Thank You for Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion”
Jay Heinrichs, Professor of the Practice of Rhetoric and Oratory at Middlebury College
Thursday, Oct. 19
6:30pm / MUS 101 / “The Trouble with Diversity: How We Learned to Love Identify and Ignore Inequality”
Walter Benn Michaels, Literary Theorist at the University of Illinois at Chicago
Wednesday, Nov. 1
6:30pm / MUS 101 / “American Umpire”
Elizabeth Cobbs, Professor of History at Texas A&M University
Tuesday, Nov. 1
6:30pm / MUS 101 / “The Violinist’s Thumb and Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, As Written by Our Genetic Code”
Sam Kean, Writer with works appearing in The Best American Science and Nature Writing, The Atlantic, Mental Floss, Slate, and Psychology Today
Friday, Dec. 1
6:30pm / MUS 101 / “The Heart of the Mission: Latino Art and Politics in San Francisco”
Cary Cardova, Assistant Professor of Mexican American Studies

Option 2:

Choose from one of the scholarly articles listed on the Enrichment Assignment Tab and read it.

I suggest you pick one that covers a period that we have looked at recently.

Assignment:

As you listen to the scholar’s presentation or read the scholarly article, evaluate it in light of the Tindall and Shi Americatext, Portrait of America articles, the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (Dual Credit Only), and/or relevant primary source documents.

Write a 3-4 page paper evaluating the presentation or article of your choice.

Papers earning 20 points will have assessed the presentation based on the guided questions on the reverse. These are broad questions that apply to many sources so you may want to read them prior to the presentation/reading and take notes on that sheet as you listen/read. Dual Credit students will turn in their assignments via Turnitin.com

All projects require a parent signature to receive credit. By signing, parents authorize their student to view the presentation or read the article and acknowledge that the student did their own independent work.

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Belowareguidingquestionsthatyoumustusetoassesslectures(orarticlesor booksforthatmatter)outsideofclass:
  1. What,inyouropinion,isthemainpurpose/argument/thesisofthisarticle/book/lecture?(2pts)
  1. Whatarethekey overarching questionsthattheauthor/speakerisaddressing? (2pts)
  1. What methods does the scholar usetoanswerthe keyquestionsare?Inother words,the author’s/speaker’sconclusionsarebasedonwhattypeofresearchand/ordata?The author/speaker supportshis/herassertionswithwhatevidence/examples?Aretheexamples effective?Why? Whynot?(2pts)
  1. Whatassumptionif any do the authors/speakers make in order to arrive to arrive at their mainpurpose/argument/thesis?(2pts)
  1. The author/speaker has challenged my prior understanding on this subject in the sense that? How? You may use the first person “I” to answer here). (2pts)
  1. Ifwetaketheauthor’s/speaker’s lineofreasoning,orconclusions,seriously,thenthe implicationsare what?What are theimplicationsifwedonottaketheauthor’s/speaker’s lineofreasoning,orconclusions,seriously? (5pts)
  1. How do theauthor/speaker’sideasrelatetothe SPICE themesweareexamininginDual US/APUSHin the sensethat? You must include references with pages number to Shi and Tindall’s America:The Essential Learning Editon and/or the other materials we have read together.You must also include a reference to the AP Key Concept(s) that are illustrated in your selection. (Thisisthemostimportantpartoftheentirepaper) (5pts)