History H105: United States
History to the 1865(Sect. C333)
Dr.
Grace Mary Gouveia
Location:
LE 102
Office: Cavanaugh 243B
Time: TR 1:00-2:15p.m.
Phone:
278-2651
Office
Hours: TR 11:30-12:30, TR 2:30-3:30, & by appointment
Course Description: History 105 covers the
Colonial Period to the end of the Civil War.
While we will examine broad themes relating to America's political,
social, and economic development, the emphasis will be on cultural, ethnic,
social and other domestic issues. Our
focus will not be on political/diplomatic events. If you want a history class that focuses on these issues, this is
not the one. This class includes the
voluntary and forced migration of Europeans and Africans; the interaction of
these new peoples with, and the damage done to, the original inhabitants of
North America; and the subsequent building of a new, distinctly, American
society.
Course Requirements: This is a survey course in
U.S. History, which means that we will cover a lot of material in a very short
time. Thus, it is important that
students do the reading before coming to class and students should be in class
at the required time. I often do not
lecture from the book, and, since exams will encompass lectures as well as
readings, you need to be in class. Not
coming to class will hurt your grade.
While recognizing important people and events is important, you will
also be required to analyze and interpret primary documents and/or short
essays, and write a research paper.
Thus, you will have two multiple-choice exams, and three short (1-2
page) writing assignments and one research (4-5 page) paper. The paper will be about a person, who was
born before the Civil War or an event that took place up to (and including) the
Civil War. The exams will test your
command of the events, and the writing assignments will test your analytical
capabilities.
Course Texts:
Mary
Beth Norton, et. al., A People and A
Nation, Vol. I.
Supplemental
handouts and/or library reserve
Grade Determination: Course grades will be based
on the following:
Each
exam will be worth 20% of the final grade (total 40%), each writing assignment
will be worth 10% of the final grade (total 30%) and the research paper will be
worth 30% of your final grade. Each
examination will be consist of multiple-choice questions and will be taken on
the dates indicated. Material will be
drawn from all readings, lectures, and videos.
Make-up exams will be scheduled only in cases of documented
illness or other extenuating emergency.
Written
assignments should be typed, double-spaced, one-inch margins around page,
11cpi, Times New Roman (or similar font--no italics or fancy fonts). Students
should utilize proper grammar and spelling; I usually mark spelling and grammar
mistakes, BUT only excessive mistakes
will reduce the final grade. Remember,
what I cannot read, I can not grade.
Improvement
does count. In addition, at the end of the semester, if a grade is border line,
regular class attendance, class participation, and improvement will be taken
into account.
The
grading scale will be a straight 90%, 80%, 70%, 60%, etc. Pluses and minuses
are 3 points above/below the grade cutoff.
Miscellaneous: As a college student, the
ability to take good notes is necessary and improves with practice. Thus, I do not make notes available to
students and tape recorders are not allowed in class. If you are hearing impaired or, in any other way cannot take
notes without a tape recorder, please see me and we will make arrangements
through the office of Adaptive Educational Services in CA-001C.
Cell
phones and pagers should be turned off during class. Please do not eat or sleep in the class--do this before or after
class. In addition, discussions that
are not related to this class should not take place during class time and work
from other classes should not be brought into H105.
If
a work schedule or other activities will keep you from lecture, then you need
to make other arrangements or you might need to consider withdrawing from class
before the work overwhelms you. You are
allowed three absences (see below), but anything above this will (most likely)
be reflected in your grades. Excessive
absences will not allow you to absorb the necessary information.
Attendance: Students are expected to attend all class meetings. According to university policy, attendance
will be taken. Being in class is
particularly important because my lectures do not always follow the text. Information from lectures will be necessary
to do well on examinations.
Students
will be allowed three (3) absences. I
do not need to know the reason for these.
After three absences, however, you will lose 5 points per missed
class. If there is an extenuating
circumstance (such as a death in the family, hospitalization--not simply a
doctor's appointment, etc.) you will need documentation. It will still be your responsibility to get
notes and do the work required of the rest of the class.
Academic Honesty: The University has
guidelines for proper academic behavior.
Cheating, plagiarism, and other forms of intellectual dishonesty will
not be tolerated.
Essay Writing and Research
Paper
For
help with writing essays and research papers, visit the instructors in the
Writing Center CA-427.
In
writing essays and the research paper, you will be required to use standard
English grammar and usage. This
includes using complete sentences, but not run-on sentences. Spell-check AND proofreading should be
employed. Most students seem to rely on
spell-check, BUT this will not check homonyms (sound-alike words), such as they're, there, and their; omitted words (words you leave out); many proper nouns; or
words that you misspell, but are actual words, no when you meant now. Most spell-checks will not check usage, such
as such as accept/except, a while/awhile, effect/affect. That is why
you need to proofread your paper and/or have someone else proof-read.
When
quoting, always identify the speaker; do not simply drop in quotes without
identification. Use long quotations
only when absolutely necessary.
You also need to use quotation marks and proper citation. You may use MLA or APA styles of
citation. Any quotation over three
lines should be centered, indented, and no quotation marks are used.
Use
proper paragraph formation. A paragraph
is a group of sentences that work together to develop one idea or topic. Paragraphs should be at least three
sentences in length. Paragraphs should
have focus, unity, and coherence.
An
essay or research paper should have an introduction and conclusion. The body of your essay or research paper
contains the information that answers your research question or thesis
statement.
Paper
For
your research paper, which accounts for 30% of your grade, you will focus on a
person or event within the scope of the class.
In other words, choose someone born before the Civil War or an event
that took place before/during the Civil War.
If you choose a person, do not
limit yourself to well-known politicians or diplomats; think in terms of
culture--Native American, African, American. Think about poets, inventors, writers, and painters. You will need
to tie that person to our national experience--how did they contribute to
it? If you choose an event, I want you
to try to avoid the most obvious and recognize the contribution to American
becoming a specific nation.
I
also do not expect you to take all of your information from on book or article
and do not use an encyclopedia
account. You may use an encyclopedia to
find other sources, but do not use it as a source. This is a research paper.
Try your local county's historical society, the State Library at Ohio
and Senate Avenues, the Reference Room of the university library, the main
branch of the Marion County Library.
Tentative
Course Outline and Assignments
Part 1. North America Before
the Invasion
READ: Norton, et. al.,
A People and A Nation- Chapter 1
Part 2. Colonization
READ: Norton, et.
al A People and A Nation - Chapters 2-4
Part 3. Revolution and
Republic
READ: Norton, et. al., A People and A Nation
- Chapter 5-8
Exam
I : October 18
Part 4. Democratization and
Development
READ: Norton, et. al.,
A People and A Nation - Chapter 9-12
Part 5. Division and Reunion
READ: Norton, et. al.,
A People and A Nation - Chapter 13-16
FINAL EXAM : To Be Announced
Short Essay #1 Due: September
20
Short Essay #2 Due: October
23
Short Essay #3 Due: November
20