Sorry to ask help on such a boring subject, BUT it must be done. I simply can’t think of anything interesting on these two subjects.
I have the same professor for the two classes that I’m taking this year. American History to 1865 and Geography. His assignment seems simple enough; I’m supposed to come up with an idea to write a 3 to 6 page paper about in each subject. He doesn’t really seem to care what I write about as long as it has to do with the subjects.
Anyway, does anyone have any interesting ideas on what I could write about? I’m not a big fan of either subject (I WISH I could have taken American History FROM 1865, to me that is more interesting).
So what does everyone have up their sleeves?? Anything interesting??
I’m no help with the Geography one, but the history sounds promising…
Would you be interested enough to do one from a woman’s studies standpoint (cant remember if you have boy parts or girl parts, sorry :))? That opens up all kinds of possibilities–you could discuss the role of women in emigration decisions, the role they played in settlements and frontier life, the way their lives changed coming from rural areas in other countries to cities here in the colonies, etc. Or, just pick an event and go with it—The Salem Witch Trials are perrenially interesting, and there’s tons of source material to choose from. Ditto on the Boston Tea Party, the Civil War, or Underground Railroad, just to name a few.
Six pages isn’t really all that long once you’ve got some good sources and a little inspiration. Good luck!
Now breezy the whole reason behind us giving home work and making classes challenging is to inspire students such as yourself to think for themselves…Have you done your reading? If so I find it hard to believe you can not think of a topic to write an easy 3-6 on. Come on now.
[Prof Hat Off]
Sorry Breezy, but I’m a firm believer in reaping what you sow. Try to think about it a little harder:)
Just pick one of the wars for History. Wars are easy, there’s lots of research on them, and there’s plenty to cover. Or tie em together. Do something on how the geography of the battlefield at Gettysburg influenced the battles.
Phlospher-- I HAVE done the reading! haha I just thought maybe there was something that somebody else has read about or researched that maybe I haven’t heard about.
I was hoping to impress my prof by picking something that he hasn’t had a million other papers on!
AND, belladonna: I do have the female parts. That would be an interesting subject. Women’s studies, I mean. I am thinking that I need to probably pick a pretty narrow subject since the papers are so short.
btw, I notice nobody has approached the Geography paper yet. The class is soooooooo boring. I can’t imagine anything interesting to write about involving Geography.
Does your Geography course involve a lot of cultural geography? If so, you could make a truly ass-kicking paper by writing about some really obscure culture which does weird/gross/amazing things.
Geography seems like it would be easy to me: you just pick a location, then you can make two or three pages on physical geography such as climate, flora and fauna and topography, and the rest all about (the much more interesting) cultural history of the place.
Ok Ok ! Off the hook I guess. I thought you were just being lazy!
Well then of you are in Missouri, why not write about something having to do with the ocean…far enough away right? How about the rise and fall of whaling, and whaling ships…it supported a nation for a time.
Geography…Is that really the name of the course? Just geography?
Profs like to see when students are thinking outside the box…so writing about something foreign may again be the way to go.
It’s interesting because it’s got caves and neat streams. Hell, you could write six pages on caves. Plus, “extreme” karst topography looks like some sort of alien planet. Trust me on this one – those pictures are really cool and impressive!
Not many people even know about how interesting water action makes limestone. Check it out!
Why not write about how the geography of a given area influenced the development of the culture in the given area? Geography has a pretty major influence on culture.
Might I suggest a paper on Anthony Comstock, and how the laws he managed to pass effected women’s birth control choices?
In a nutshell: Comstock was a prude of the highest caliber. He was the Postmaster, and managed to persuade Congress to pass a bill which forbade any “obscene” material from passing through the mail. He stretched this definition to include information on birth control, seizing devices, books, newspapers, and even personal letters, and prosecuting the “offenders.”
Comstock once even had a store owner arrested for leaving a naked dummy in his window. There’s a famous cartoon of him dragging a woman into court by her hair, shouting, “Your Honor! This woman gave birth to a *naked child!” *
Two early Supreme Court cases are an interesting way to look at U.S. History. Marbury v. Madison established the right of the Court to rule on the constitutionality of acts of Congress. Dred Scott v. Sandford held that the descendents of Africans who were brought to the U.S. as slaves were not citizens under the Constitution. Both decisions had major (and continuing) impacts on the development of our country.
Comstock is a great topic, but I believe he did most of his crusading in the 1870’’ and 1880’s.
The history of tobacco in the New world is always fascinating and informative. At one point, hogsheads of tobacco were a valid form of currency. The Carolinas Indians would make a “black drink” from tobacco that would induce vomiting and hallucinations. The important role played by new consumables from the Americas and their impact on Europe is a treasure trove of topics to write on.
Why don’t you write about the massive and excited supervolcano under Yellowstone and predict what would happen if a terrorist dropped a bomb on it. Hint: It would probably blow up and cover half the US in ash. You could compare the aftermath to Pompeii. (There have been 4.0 quakes there lately anyway and the SGSC or whatever it’s called has just dumped a load more seismographs on the park. The lava is quite close to the surface at certain points and it looks like it’s starting to build up towards an eruption.)
Or write about the economic affect of EU Agricultural Grants on third world farmers, since it’s vaguely topical.
Try to avoid tired topics such as abortion, homlessness, gangs, or domestic violence. My husband, who teaches at our local branch campus is sick of papers on these topics. (Every quarter, he can rely on getting at least three of each.) It gets old quick. An original topic immediately scores extra “points.”
That he did, but the laws existed on the books in some cases until the 1936 U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision, United States v. One Package. (Conneticut was the worst, banning contraceptive use even for married couples.)
While i think Comstock is a fascinating character, it seems to me that his influence comes along a bit late for a course that finishes in 1865. His period of greatest activity was after 1870.
What I would do is cover roughly the same topic from both standpoints to cut down on the extra research.
For instance, for the History paper covering something like how the settling of the Americas changed international trade and introduced new food products and animal species and diseases to Europe as well as the Americas; and then for the Geography paper covering something like why the settlers settled where they did, how the distance between Europe and its colonies played a major part in the new country’s development, and how agriculture was different between Europe and America, including what was grown.
From that, I might find other things in my research I would rather include in one or both papers, but ideally I could use many of the same sources for both papers.
Six pages is really too short to get into anything too in-depth, and I assume you’re not being asked to do any original research. There must be something about pre-1865 history that interests you. Food? Fashion? Recreation?
If you’re interested in women’s studies, there’s always the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848, although your professor may have read about that umpteen times already.
Oh, I thought of something else. Old cookbooks and manuals on housewifery are fascinating and provide a lot of information about women’s work and ideals about the home. Catherine Beecher wrote two fairly famous ones: A Treatise on Domestic Economy (1841) and Miss Beecher’s Domestic Receipt Book (1846). Incidentally, Beecher was also an advocate of women’s education and the feminization of the teaching profession.
History and geography prior to the Civil War should be a breeze to write about. Ideas that spring to mind would include: The geograhical and historical aspects of the Louisiana purchase…Lewis and Clarke, perhaps California, 1849, gold strike…Texas v. Mexico…
Destruction of Washington D.C…War with Canada…how 'bout Pirates of the Carribean living in the US…slavery…T. Jefferson’s illigitimate children…US drug culture before Civil War
an endless list of interesting topics My problem would be keeping it that short.
That would be an interesting subject. Women’s studies, I mean. I am thinking that I need to probably pick a pretty narrow subject since the papers are so short.