History H106: United States History From 1865 to the Present

History H106: United States History From 1865 to the Present (Sect. C350)

Dr. Grace Mary Gouveia Location: CA 217

Office: Cavanaugh 243B Time: T 5:45 - 8:25 p.m.

Phone: 278-2651

Office Hours: TR 11:30-12:30, TR 2:30-3:30, & by appointment

Course Description: History 106 covers the period after the Civil War to the present. It examines the economic, political, and social transformation of the United States into an industrial nation and world superpower. The special focus, however, will be to examine the social and cultural changes within the United States during this time frame.

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. There will be a total of four exams; two written assignments based on the books, The Bread Givers and Coming of Age in Mississippi; and four two-page take-home exam questions (only the two best will be used).

Course Texts:

Mary Beth Norton, et. al., A People and A Nation, Vol. II.

Anzia Yezierska, Bread Givers

Anne Moody, Coming of Age in Mississippi

Grade Determination: Course grades will be based on the following:

Each exam will be worth 15% of the final grade (total 60%), the book essays will comprise 20%, and the take-home essays will be worth the final 20%. 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 can not read, I can not grade.

The question for each book is attached and can be completed and turned in at any time during the semester, but must be submitted by the assigned day. Those submitted after the due date will be penalized by a full grade reduction for each week or portion of a week that it is late. No late papers will be accepted after two weeks.

Although you will also be required to write four take-home essays, only the best two will be counted. These will be due on the date indicated--no late essays will be accepted.

Improvement does count. At the end of the semester, I will average all exam grades and substitute that average for your lowest grade. In addition, at the end of the semester, if a grade is borderline, 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. 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 H106.

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 two (2) absences. I do not need to know the reason for these. After two absences, however, you will lose 10 points per missed class. If there is an extenuating circumstance (such as a death in the family, hospitalization, 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.

Essays

For help with writing essays, visit the instructors in the Writing Center CA-427.

In writing essays you will be required to use standard English grammar and usage. This includes using complete sentences, but not run-on sentences. Spell-check AND proof-reading 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 proof-read 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 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.

Tentative Course Outline and Assignments

Part 1. Reconstruction

READ: Norton, et. al., A People and A Nation- Chapter 16

Part 2. The Gilded Age, 1877-1900

The West and the "New" South

Industrialization and Consolidation

The Growth of the City

READ: Norton, et. al A People and A Nation - Chapters 17-20

Anzia Yezierska, Bread Givers

Part 3. The Progressive Era and Social Reform, 1900-1920

READ: Norton, et. al., A People and A Nation - Chapter 21

EXAM I- September 18

Part 4. Policy of Expansionism: Gilded Age to 1917

READ: Norton, et. al., A People and A Nation - Chapter 22

Part 5. World War I

READ: Norton, et. al., A People and A Nation - Chapter 23

Part 6. The Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression

READ: Norton, et. al., A People and A Nation - Chapters 24-25

EXAM II- October 16

Part 7. The New Deal

READ: Norton, et. al., A People and A Nation - Chapter 25

Part 8. Isolationism to War

READ: Norton, et. al., A People and A Nation - Chapter 26

Part 9. World War II, The Start of the Cold War, 1950s

READ: Norton, et. al., A People and A Nation - Chapter 27, Chapter 28, Chapter 29 (pp. 549-562)

EXAM III - November 13

Part 10. Civil Rights Movement and the Turbulent Sixties

READ: Norton, et. al., A People and A Nation - Chapter 28 and Chapter 31 (pp. 604-617)

Anne Moody, Coming of Age In Mississippi

Part 11. Vietnam and Aftermath

READ: Norton, et. al., A People and A Nation - Chapters 30-31

Part 12. 1970s - 1980s

READ: Norton, A People and A Nation - Chapters 31-33

FINAL EXAM To Be Announced

Bread Givers Essay Due: September 11

Coming of Age in Mississippi Essay Due: November 27

Short Essay #1 Due: September 25

Short Essay #2 Due: October 9

Short Essay #3 Due: November 6

Short Essay #4 Due: December 4

Book Essay I

Due: October 4 (or any time before this date)

This essay should be typed, double-spaced, with one-inch margins around the pages. It should be typed in 11 or 12 cpi, using New Times Roman or a similar font (no fancy fonts). Please have a cover page attached to the essay with your name, the date handed in, the class and semester. Begin your essay on the next page (page 1); do not place the information on the cover page on the first page-- simply begin your essay. Essay should be about 3 pages in length (no more than 5 pages).

You are expected to use spell-check AND proofread your paper. Grammar and spelling mistakes will detract from your grade. Answer the question thoroughly, using examples from the book to illustrate your points. Avoid long quotations; this should not be a series of quotations tied together with a few sentences. If you do use a quotation, you are expected to properly cite it using MLA, APA, or Kate Turabian's Elements of Style.

Alice Kessler-Harris, in writing the Forward of The Bread Givers, states that "Sara Smolinsky's search . . . captured the tension between an America that longed to maintain the community of a traditional old world and yet sought the material goods and individual satisfactions of the new. . ." (ix) and, as Sara "freed herself from a tradition few . . .could ignore in that first generation, . . .she paid an enormous price (italics mine)" (xxvii). I would like you to concentrate on the second part of this quotation (the part in italics). Do you agree or disagree with this quote? Partially or fully? Why or why not?

Book Essay II

Due: November 27 (or any time before that date)

Trace how Anne Moody perceives blacks and whites from the time she is a child to her involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. Do her perceptions change? Why or why not?

Progressive Era

Foreign Affairs

Outline for 1920's - New Deal