The British Indian Assignment
Alexander College
HISTORY 201V
ASSIGNMENT #2
April to July 2013
Wayne A. Melvin, Instructor
*
Learning Objectives:
The primary purpose of this exercise is to help prepare you for writing a 6+ page “Research Essay” or a comparable academic “Research Report” later in the course. The assignment provides you with the opportunity to choose a topic of interest to you and then do some preliminary research and organization on it. Once this fundamental work is done, you can then develop your essay topic into an arguable thesis statement with strong supporting evidence. There are similar academic standards and requirements for the research report.
This assignment is intended to help you with whichever option you choose to write – essay or report. With either approach, you will help develop your research skills and your ability to evaluate and select historical primary and secondary sources to support your argument. In addition, you will gain experience citing and formatting your essay according to the appropriate style guide for history papers.
Another objective of this assignment is to give you practice analyzing historical sources that we encounter in everyday life such as newspaper articles, political propaganda, historical novels and movies. In this case you will be analyzing a feature length film with historical content (or a production by the National Film Board of Canada.
As always in your assignments and exams for this course, you will gain confidence in researching, analyzing, interpreting and writing. These skills are crucial to your success in this particular history course but also your other academic courses and in your chosen career.
WRITING NOTES: a. As most of you will have noted from my comments on Assignment #1, I require that you to use the spell check and grammar check on your computer – just like most other professional writers and academics do. It is like having your own personal editor that is available to you 24
HISTORY 201V
ASSIGNMENT #2
April to July 2013
Wayne A. Melvin, Instructor
*
Learning Objectives:
The primary purpose of this exercise is to help prepare you for writing a 6+ page “Research Essay” or a comparable academic “Research Report” later in the course. The assignment provides you with the opportunity to choose a topic of interest to you and then do some preliminary research and organization on it. Once this fundamental work is done, you can then develop your essay topic into an arguable thesis statement with strong supporting evidence. There are similar academic standards and requirements for the research report.
This assignment is intended to help you with whichever option you choose to write – essay or report. With either approach, you will help develop your research skills and your ability to evaluate and select historical primary and secondary sources to support your argument. In addition, you will gain experience citing and formatting your essay according to the appropriate style guide for history papers.
Another objective of this assignment is to give you practice analyzing historical sources that we encounter in everyday life such as newspaper articles, political propaganda, historical novels and movies. In this case you will be analyzing a feature length film with historical content (or a production by the National Film Board of Canada.
As always in your assignments and exams for this course, you will gain confidence in researching, analyzing, interpreting and writing. These skills are crucial to your success in this particular history course but also your other academic courses and in your chosen career.
WRITING NOTES: a. As most of you will have noted from my comments on Assignment #1, I require that you to use the spell check and grammar check on your computer – just like most other professional writers and academics do. It is like having your own personal editor that is available to you 24
Citations: The Rising: Ballad of Mangal Pandey (2005) is based on Mangal Pandey, an Indian soldier during the Indian Mutiny of 1857 (also known as The First War of Indian Independence or the The Sepoy Rebellion). Shatranj Ke Khilari, The Chess Players (Hindi, 1977) is set in 19th century India on the eve of the Indian rebellion of 1857. It deals with the politics of colonial expansion by the British East India Company. Shaheed (Hindi, 1965) The film is set in 1916 and based on the life of Bhagat Singh who joins the freedom fighting movement.