Reading Mexico (or) Cuba. Project due March 12
Prompt: Write a 5-page paper analyzing the rhetoric (metaphors, stereotypes, or other figurative language, imagery, etc.) used in primary source discussions of Mexico and/or the U.S. war with Mexico (1846-48) sometime in the mid-19th century (c. 1840-1870) OR Cuba and the U.S. war with Spain over Cuba (1898) sometime in the period from 1890-1905 . You must use at least two primary sources as well as the Greenberg text (Manifest Manhood) if you write on Mexico or the Pérez text (Cuba in the American Imagination) if you write on Cuba. Only select Mexico or Cuba, not both.
Objective: My objective is to give you experience finding and analyzing the meanings that underlie (U.S.) American understandings of Latin America (here represented by Mexico or Cuba). The assignment will give you a chance to look for the way that narratives about Latin America, whether textual, visual, or aural, are built through figurative language, visual imagery, music, etc. and that careful attention to his discourse can disclose normalized (often unspoken) understandings about the way that the United States came to regard itself in the world and its relation to others. Look for examples of figurative language or imagery in the articles that you choose, analyze their meanings, and suggest how those are deployed to strengthen the writer’s argument. You will need to take care when making your own assertions; claims need to be supported with evidence and analysis. The assignment is also designed to help you locate and work with primary sources in history, so you will select your sources.
Tools of Analysis: Besides providing a careful and close reading of these sources, and the background provided in class lectures, discussions, and the secondary sources (Greenberg or Pérez), you might want to return to the analysis we covered in the early part of the class dealing with representations and meaning.
Sources: You can use any 19th century sources that you can access, and many are listed in the footnotes in both of the secondary texts. You will find other excellent primary sources in the following locations:
Mexico and the Mexican-American War:
Making of America: Look, in particular, at the “MoA Journals” [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moajrnl/browse.journals/] There are excellent articles in DeBows [Vol. I:2 (Feb 1946); Vol. II:1 (July 1846); Vol. II:2 (September 1846); Vol. II:6 (Dec 1846); Vol. 28:4 (Oct 1860)], in the Overland Monthly and Out West Magazine [Vol. V:3 (Sept 1970)]
Niles’ National Register: “The Mexican-American War and the Media, 1845-1848”
This is a huge collection of articles, images, etc.
New York Times: The library has full text of the Times from 1851 on. Find it in OBIS.
Library of Congress: American Memory Project
History Matters
More than 300 digital collections, many of which you can use.
Cuba and the Spanish American War:
National Archive, Archival Research Catalog
Crucible of Empire (PBS): Wide variety of resources from newspaper headlines to sheet music and film
Letters from African American soldiers fighting in 1898
Library of Congress: Guide to the Spanish American War. Here, for Library of Congress video on the war
History Matters: Enter “1898” into the search box and check the box “Many Pasts”
Spanish American War Centennial Web Site
You can also find a lot of journalistic approaches in the key newspapers of the time, particularly those associated with “yellow journalism” and the claim that William Randolph Hearst concocted the war as a way to sell newspapers. See, in particular, the New York Journal, New York Herald, Evening Journal, World, etc. [Also here]
What I’m Looking For: Good, well argued and clearly written papers. You’ll need a thesis statement, evidence which is taken from the sources that you consult, and a clear analysis in which you are arguing about the discourse of these sources. I am not interested in the factuality of the claims made by the sources, although if you want to note factual errors by the authors you can. My interest is not in whether the sources you have selected are right or wrong, but that you can analyze the rhetoric devices and hidden meanings they use in making their arguments.
You will find a grading matrix that I will use for this assignment in Blackboard along with the assignment.
Format of the Papers: Five pages, double spaced, 12-point font and 1” margins. Your paper must use footnotes (bottom of the page) or endnotes (end of the paper). Those are the same. You do not have to provide a separate bibliography or a cover, title sheet. Citation forms must follow: “Footnote/Endnote Citation Form: A Short Guide”. You can ask me about any citation questions you have or any other questions.
Warnings: Computers crash, hard drives melt away to nothingness. Save your papers often to a thumb drive or to the Cloud as you write them. I will have great sympathy for you if the computer ate your paper, but it won’t affect when it is due.
Submission of Papers: All papers must include the honor code and are due at the start of class on Tuesday, March 12.
Objective: My objective is to give you experience finding and analyzing the meanings that underlie (U.S.) American understandings of Latin America (here represented by Mexico or Cuba). The assignment will give you a chance to look for the way that narratives about Latin America, whether textual, visual, or aural, are built through figurative language, visual imagery, music, etc. and that careful attention to his discourse can disclose normalized (often unspoken) understandings about the way that the United States came to regard itself in the world and its relation to others. Look for examples of figurative language or imagery in the articles that you choose, analyze their meanings, and suggest how those are deployed to strengthen the writer’s argument. You will need to take care when making your own assertions; claims need to be supported with evidence and analysis. The assignment is also designed to help you locate and work with primary sources in history, so you will select your sources.
Tools of Analysis: Besides providing a careful and close reading of these sources, and the background provided in class lectures, discussions, and the secondary sources (Greenberg or Pérez), you might want to return to the analysis we covered in the early part of the class dealing with representations and meaning.
Sources: You can use any 19th century sources that you can access, and many are listed in the footnotes in both of the secondary texts. You will find other excellent primary sources in the following locations:
Mexico and the Mexican-American War:
Making of America: Look, in particular, at the “MoA Journals” [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moajrnl/browse.journals/] There are excellent articles in DeBows [Vol. I:2 (Feb 1946); Vol. II:1 (July 1846); Vol. II:2 (September 1846); Vol. II:6 (Dec 1846); Vol. 28:4 (Oct 1860)], in the Overland Monthly and Out West Magazine [Vol. V:3 (Sept 1970)]
Niles’ National Register: “The Mexican-American War and the Media, 1845-1848”
This is a huge collection of articles, images, etc.
New York Times: The library has full text of the Times from 1851 on. Find it in OBIS.
Library of Congress: American Memory Project
History Matters
More than 300 digital collections, many of which you can use.
Cuba and the Spanish American War:
National Archive, Archival Research Catalog
Crucible of Empire (PBS): Wide variety of resources from newspaper headlines to sheet music and film
Letters from African American soldiers fighting in 1898
Library of Congress: Guide to the Spanish American War. Here, for Library of Congress video on the war
History Matters: Enter “1898” into the search box and check the box “Many Pasts”
Spanish American War Centennial Web Site
You can also find a lot of journalistic approaches in the key newspapers of the time, particularly those associated with “yellow journalism” and the claim that William Randolph Hearst concocted the war as a way to sell newspapers. See, in particular, the New York Journal, New York Herald, Evening Journal, World, etc. [Also here]
What I’m Looking For: Good, well argued and clearly written papers. You’ll need a thesis statement, evidence which is taken from the sources that you consult, and a clear analysis in which you are arguing about the discourse of these sources. I am not interested in the factuality of the claims made by the sources, although if you want to note factual errors by the authors you can. My interest is not in whether the sources you have selected are right or wrong, but that you can analyze the rhetoric devices and hidden meanings they use in making their arguments.
You will find a grading matrix that I will use for this assignment in Blackboard along with the assignment.
Format of the Papers: Five pages, double spaced, 12-point font and 1” margins. Your paper must use footnotes (bottom of the page) or endnotes (end of the paper). Those are the same. You do not have to provide a separate bibliography or a cover, title sheet. Citation forms must follow: “Footnote/Endnote Citation Form: A Short Guide”. You can ask me about any citation questions you have or any other questions.
Warnings: Computers crash, hard drives melt away to nothingness. Save your papers often to a thumb drive or to the Cloud as you write them. I will have great sympathy for you if the computer ate your paper, but it won’t affect when it is due.
Submission of Papers: All papers must include the honor code and are due at the start of class on Tuesday, March 12.