Overview
For this final essay, you will put together some of the historical skills you've developed over the semester: finding and analyzing primary sources, identifying relevant news sources, gathering historical information from secondary sources, and connecting historical events to the present day.
First, visit the Digital Archive of Latin American and Caribbean Ephemera at Princeton University. This archive contains pamphlets, flyers, brochures, and posters mostly from late 20th century Latin America concerning different social and political issues. Click "Browse." There, you can search through the collection by country ("Geographic Origin") or by "Subject Area" (say, environment and ecology or education). You may also limit the results by language to include only English-language material. Choose one piece of ephemera that is interesting to you. Identify the issue it's addressing and its time period. access a newspaper database such as Access Newsbank or the New York Times. Search for a news article that might hold relevance to the issue in your primary source from the time period of the source.
Next, find two academic secondary sources that might shed light on the historical background to the issue covered in your primary source. Say, for example, that you pick a poster made by a labor union in Brazil. You might then find a book or academic article about the history of labor in Brazil. Here are some places to start. You could also use a reference database to begin your search such as Cambridge Histories or Credo Reference. this i willhave to find in my schools library and send it to cause u wont have access
Now that you have your three pieces in place, write a 4-5 page essay that:
- Describes your primary source: what is it? who wrote it? what was their purpose and intended audience? when was it written? how might it have been disseminated? what language does it use to make its case?
- Using your news article, explain contemporary reactions to the issue addressed in the source. What were newspapers saying about this issue at the time?
- Using class lectures and your secondary sources, explain some of the historical context of the source—what conditions might have led to the creation of this source?
- Develop an ANALYTICAL ARGUMENT about the source, which might consider its content, style, tone, purpose, message, and/or the broader significance of the source within its historical context; what it might reveal or suggest about big themes, concepts, or issues; and/or about its uses and limitations for historians looking to learn more about that broader context. Here's a relevant guide if you need some help thinking of questions.
- Reflect on the process and consider what other research questions you could pursue stemming from this source.
The paper should be 12-point font, 1 inch margins, Times New Roman, double spaced. It should clearly cite all source material in Chicago Style.