Posted: October 12th, 2022
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The Devil in the White City is filled with contradictions that are associated with what it means to be modern. Different historical figures, buildings, movements, changes, and beliefs are in tension during the Gilded Age, the period described in this book. Think about these contrasts as you review the text.
After familiarizing yourself with the book, decide on a pair of items from the text to compare in your paper. This pair of items will be your case study. Make an argument, claim, or thesis statement, and build your paper around evidence supporting your case study.
You should persuade your reader, through your thoughtful analysis of the assigned text, that your analysis of your case study is both historically accurate and critically thought-out.
Be sure to address the following concerns:
List and describe the items in your case study.
Explain how or why these two items are in tension using examples from the text.
Briefly comment on what it means to be modern, in light of these tensions.
Contextualize your case study within the Chicago Fair and the late 19th century.
The items you choose for your case studies can be as concrete and defined as people and buildings, or as conceptual as honor or greed. If you pick a concept, be consistent in the way you define it for the purpose of the paper.
Some examples of possible case studies include (but are not limited to):
Historic Figures: Burnham vs. Holmes
Women, in general: freedom to act independently vs. danger at the hands of predators
Industrialization: businessmen vs. organizing, agitated labor
Architecture: Grand structures like the Ferris Wheel vs. Holmes’s hotel
Morality: progress vs. decay
Virtue: civic honor and pride vs. selfish greed and shame
Women, specifically: Annie Oakley vs. Susan B. Anthony
Empire: fading empires like Spain vs. the ascendant US
And many, many others.
When organizing your ideas and drafting your essay, follow these guidelines:
1. Sources: Build your analysis using the assigned text only. You are welcome to view the unit videos in order to gain a general background knowledge of the period, but the examples you choose must come from the assigned text by Larson. DO NOT consult Internet or other outside sources. This is a chance to show your ability to work with the assigned course material.
2. Evidence: Choose the 3 to 4 examples from the text that best allow you to persuade the reader that your case study in contrasts is valid. While you want to show that you understand the larger trends in the material, take the time to explore these specific examples from the text in as much depth as the word count allows.
3. How to cite: When you refer to specific instances in the text (which should be something you do frequently throughout the essay), indicate, in parentheses, the location. This could be a page number, a location number for a Kindle book, or a timestamp or chapter and scene notation for an audiobook. MLA or Chicago format are not expected. For example, it’s perfectly ok to reference something about Holmes’s hotel in this manner (Larson, 89) OR (Larson, Loc: 5669) OR (Larson, Chap. 2 Sec. 1). Please indicate which version of the text you used at the very end of your paper. A separate Works Cited page is not necessary.
4. When to cite: You must give credit for others’ words AND ideas. Do not copy what we (or anyone else) has said. If you do, use quotation marks to indicate that the exact words were written by someone else and indicate your source for the quotation in parentheses, as in the example above. If you are referring to someone else’s ideas, quotation marks are not needed, but the source should still appear in parenthesis.
Your papers will be scanned by software that detects text copied from Internet and other sources. Plagiarism is a serious violation of GSU policy that leads to severe penalties. Don’t do it!
5. Quotation length: If you quote directly from the texts, keep these quotations brief. It is easy to spot when large quotes are used to bulk up a weak paper. I am interested in seeing the way you use evidence, but that evidence should always serve a purpose, supporting your case study.
6. Length: This reaction paper should address the prompt below in roughly 600-750 words, about 3 pages double-spaced. Papers that fall outside of these guidelines will lose points.
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