Assignments
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Essays and short written assignments given for Crime, Heredity and Insanity in American History
Short Assignments
Students are required to do 6 out of 8 short assignments (not every week has a short assignment).
| Assignment # | Assignments |
|---|---|
| 1 | Can you perceive Walker’s paradox of popular justice at work in Haltunnen’s account? (1-2 pages, typed, double-spaced). |
| 2 | Choose no more than ten characters that commit criminal acts in Quaker City; make a chart (with relevant page #s) in which you identify their multiple identities/ names, their crimes, their backgrounds, their emotional state(s), their religious beliefs, their level of intelligence, and no more than 5 other relevant characteristics. Leave space to allow additions, changes, etc. |
| 3 | Continue filling in your chart |
| 4 | Continue filling in your chart |
| 5 | Rosenberg was working with thousands of pages of trial transcripts and newspaper accounts, yet he chose only a few to cite or quote; what strategies does he use to compress these materials and narrate the trial for his readers? (1-2 pages, typed, double-spaced). |
| 6 | Identify the most shocking or surprising quotation by a historical figure in Kevles or Walker (1-2 pages, typed, double-spaced). |
| 7 | Compare the differences between family and gender issues in Willrich’s book and Haltunnen’s; has much changed over the years? (1-2 pages, typed, double-spaced). |
| 8 | Choose a quote from Fass; why is it important and what does it signify? (1-2 pages, typed, double-spaced). |
Essays:
| Essay # | Essay Topics |
|---|---|
| 1 | Choose no more than 6 criminal characters in Quaker City and write a paper analyzing whether or not their portrayal by Lippard supports Haltunnen’s theory that criminals were no longer seen as common sinners but as amoral monsters in the 19th century. You should consider your essay, as with all our essays, as an opportunity to deepen your analysis of our readings beyond what we have been able to discuss in class and to make an original contribution to the topic. (8-10 pages, double-spaced, typed). |
| 2 | Write an essay which compares hereditarian thought in England, Italy, and the U.S. You should consider your essay, as with all our essays, as an opportunity to deepen your analysis of our readings beyond what we have been able to discuss in class and to make an original contribution to the topic. (8-10 pages, double-spaced, typed). |
| 3 | Although we are used to thinking that the human society makes progress over time, several of our secondary authors argue or imply that the position of criminals in American society stagnated or deteriorated during the period which we have studied. Do you agree or disagree? Justify your answer by writing an essay using our secondary authors (no more than six). Include references to any relevant primary source authors (these would include the newspaper articles). (10-12 page essay, double-spaced, typed). |
Copyright 2009,
by the Contributing Authors.
Cite/attribute Resource.
ygaspar. (2008, February 03). Assignments. Retrieved November 23, 2009, from Notre Dame OpenCourseWare Web site: http://ocw.nd.edu/history/crime-heredity-and-insanity-in-the-us/assignments.
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