History 482B    Spring 2011                        Midterm Essay Assignment
Due via turnitin.com by 5pm on Saturday, 14 May

Please answer one of these questions in 4 to 5 typed, double-spaced pages (about 300 words per page).  


QUESTION 1: Levine argues that popular culture “acts as a form of folklore for people living in urban industrial societies, and can thus be used to reconstruct people’s attitudes, values, and reactions.”  To what extent is this a valid statement?  
    
TIP: A good thesis will do more than simply say that Levine is mostly right or mostly wrong.  Take your analysis further by also looking for patterns that help explain why Levine’s argument might be very applicable in some historical cases but less applicable in other cases.



QUESTION 2: To what extent did the rise of mass culture in the period between the 1890s and the 1950s make the United States a happier and more democratic society?  
    
TIP: I encourage you to think broadly about happiness, to think not simply of “having fun” but also of finding meaning and fulfillment in all aspects of one’s life.  Likewise, with democratic society, I encourage you to think beyond just political elections.  Instead, consider the broader social and cultural conditions that promote a harmonious and free society.  (How you want to define a harmonious and free society in your paper is up to you!)


RULES OF EVIDENCE
Your essay should draw extensively from five of the following nine readings: Levine, Kasson, Butsch, Adorno/Horkheimer, Escobedo, Douglas (3-138), and Rubin/Melnick chapters 1, 2, and 3.  (For the purpose of this assignment, each Rubin and Melnick chapter counts as a separate reading.)  You should aim for at least three distinct examples or brief quotations from each of your selected readings.  I also encourage you to refer to any relevant lecture material too.  To incorporate enough evidence from the various readings while still keeping to the page limit, you will need to work hard gathering evidence, finding brief quotations from the readings, develop a creative argument, and expressing that argument in concise prose.

OTHER RULES AND TIPS:
As you develop your argument, be sure to consider important opposing points of view.  Try to weave into your analysis evidence that establishes those opposing points of view, while still explaining why you see your main interpretation as the more valid one.

Be sure to provide a parenthetical page citation for each specific reference that you draw from the class materials.  For the sake of convenience, you can use common-sense abbreviations for our readings, such as (Kasson, 54) for page 54 from Kasson’s book, and (RM, 22) for page 22 from Rubin and Melnick’s book, and so on.  For specific information that you gathered from a class session, create a simple parenthetical citation that refers to the date of the class session: e.g. (class, 4/21).  As a general rule, you do not need to provide a citation for information so generic that one could find it anywhere.  For instance, the claim that “Coney Island had lots of amusement parks” requires no citation, but a more specific claim about the nature of those amusement parks does require one.

No outside research is encouraged, and you need to obtain my permission at least two days in advance to cite outside readings.  So long as you use only our class materials, you do not need to include a bibliography.

• Don’t forget to read the tips on writing on my personal faculty webpage before starting the project.  Also remember to review the syllabus comments on plagiarism.  Always put the words of other writers in quotation marks and provide a page citation.  You can also paraphrase (i.e. put the idea into entirely your own words) and provide a citation.  It is not enough to change just a few words of someone else’s writing; this is still plagiarism.

• Although you may converse with your classmates on general ideas regarding this assignment, this is the equivalent of a midterm exam, and all work (gathering evidence and writing) should be your own.

• There is no single “right” or “wrong” answer for this assignment.  You should try to develop a thesis that is thoughtful, original, balanced, and well-supported by evidence and clear writing.