Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!

Course Syllabus

Course Readings:
     America's Hitory, Volume 2, Fourth Edition (AH).
     Documents Collection. Volume 2.
      Student Guide, Volume 2
(SG).
      Hammond United States History Atlas.
PLEASE NOTE: All readings must be completed before class. Surprise quizes are possible.

YOUR FIRST ASSIGNMENT: This may be the most important assignment of the semester. Read every single word of this course outline and be sure you keep it and refer to it throughout the semester. There will be a quiz on the syllabus at the beginning of the second week. The syllabus represents a contract between the class, that is you, and me. If you have any questions about any part of the course, be sure to ask me to resolve them. Only extreme emergency will justify any changes to it.

MAP ASSIGNMENTS: There are three map assignments during the course of the semester. There is no single source for preparing the maps. Rather you should use maps and information in the atlas, the textbook, and supporting course materials to prepare a full and complete map. Maps are due at the beginning of class on the due date.

You may use copies of the map provided at the end of the syllabus or any other outline maps you wish to create. Since I provide only one map, you should photocopy the map provided before working on it. A few rules. Your maps may not have territory or state names or capitals pre-printed in them, you need to draw these as assigned. Maps may not be larger than 17" x 22" and should be submitted folded down to 8 1/2 "x 11." If you are working with someone, make sure that your maps are not identical.

Map 1: Draw the division of the union at thebeginning of the Civil War, 1 July 1861. Indicate the two nations, the United States of America and the Confederate States of America. Note the states and/or territories that belonged to each, including state capitals as well as their locations, and the two national capitals.

Map 2: Map out the leading cities and centers of industry in 1900, 1920 and 1990. Use different colors or gridlines to indicate changes over time. You may also use tracings or overlays.

Map 3: Create a map of the nation by population. Note each state, its population rank (1-50) and give its 1990 population. On all map assignments, neatness and attention to detail will count greatly!

THIS IS NOT A COPYING ASSIGNMENT. THERE IS NO ONE MAP OR PORTION OF THE TEXT WHERE YOU WILL FIND ALLTHE MATERIAL.


COURSE OUTLINE
Week 1:
1/22-26
Introduction
TEXTBOOK WORKSHOP
NEWSPAPER WORKSHOP
Week 2:
1/29-2/2
The Union Reconstructed
AH & SG: Chapter 15
Documents 15-1 through 15-10
MONDAY QUIZ ON SYLLABUS (2%)
WEDNESDAY 1ST MAP ASSIGNMENT DUE (3%)

FRIDAY SMALL GROUP/ESSAY WORKSHOP
Week 3:
2/5-9
The American West
AH and SG: Chapter 16
Documents 16-1 through 16-9
FRIDAY SMALL GROUP I
Week 4:
2/12-16
Capital & Labor in the Age of Enterprise
AH and SG: Chapter 17
Documents 17-1 through 17-10
MONDAY IN-CLASS WRITING ASSIGNMENT (7%)*
STUDY GUIDE CHAPS. 15&16 DUE
FRIDAY--NO CLASS
Week 5:
2/19-23
NO CLASS MONDAY
The Politics of Late Nineteenth Century America

AH and SG: Chapter 18
Documents 18-1 through 18-10
Week 6:
2/26-3/2
The Rise of the City
AH and SG: Chapter 19
Documents 19-1 through 19-10 and
BEGIN INTERNET SIGNUPS
Week 7:
3/5-9
The Progressive Era
AH and SG: Chapter 20
Documents 20-1 through 20-10
FRIDAY SMALL GROUP II
Week 8:
3/12-14
An Emerging World Power
AH and SG Chapter 21
Documents 21-1 through 21-9
WEDNESDAY 2ND MAP ASSIGNMENT DUE (3%)
NO CLASS FRIDAY
Week 9:
3/19-23
War And The American State
AH & SG: Chapter 22
Documents 22-1 through 22-10
MONDAY IN-CLASS WRITING ASSIGNMENT (9%)*
STUDY GUIDE: CHAPS. 17-21 DUE
COMPLETE INTERNET SIGNUPS
WEEK 10:
3/26-30
Modern Times
AH and SG: Chapter 23
Documents 23-1 through 23-10 SMALL GROUP III
Week 11:
4/2-6
The Great Depression
AH and SG: Chapter 24
Documents 24-1 through 24-10
MONDAY MID-TERM EXAMINATION (20%)
STUDY GUIDE: CHAPS. 22-23 DUE
BEGIN INTERNET ASSIGNMENTS
Week 12:
4/9-13
SPRING BREAK
Week 13:
4/16-20
The New Deal
AH and SG: Chapter 25
Documents 25-1 through 25-9
SMALL GROUP WORKSHOP IV
Week 14:
4/23-27
The World at War
AH and SG: Chapter 26
Documents 26-1 through 26-9
MONDAY IN-CLASS WRITING ASSIGNMENT (11%)
STUDY GUIDE: CHAPS. 24-25 DUE
Week 15:
4/30-5/4
Cold War America
AH and SG Chapter 27
Documents 27-1 through 27-10
Week 16:
5/7-11
The Affluent Society
AH and SG: Chapter 28
Documents 28-1 through 28-10
Week 17:
5/14-18
The Vietnam Era
AH and SG: Chapter 29
Documents 29-1 through 29-9
FRIDAY SMALL GROUP WORKSHOP V
WEDNESDAY 3RD MAP ASSIGNMENT DUE (4%)
Week 18:
The Lean Years
AH & SG: Chapter 30
Documents 30-1 through 30-9
FRIDAY--INTERNET ASSIGNMENTS DUE
Week 19:
5/21-23
A New Order?
AH & SG: Chapter 31
Documents 31-1 through 31-9
SMALL GROUP EVALUATIONS
Week 19:
5/30
WEDNESDAY FINAL EXAMINATION (30%) 9:50-11:50
STUDY GUIDE CHAPS. 26-31 DUE

* YOU WILL BE REQUIRED TO PREPARE OUTLINES (BUT NOT NOTES) FOR ASSIGNMENTS MARKED WITH AN ASTERISK (*).

NOTE: 5% of the Course Grade will be based on Class Participation and my evaluation of your work in the Study Guide. If you do not attend class regularly, participate in discussions and submit the Study Guides as assigned, you will miss out on this portion of your mark. Five percent may not sound like such a big number, but it has made the difference between A and B marks. Take this seriously! An additional 6% will be based on your work in the Small Groups as evaluated by your group and by me. Again, you cannot expect a good evaluation from your group if you are not there or do not participate in a constructive manner. AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT: According to Federal Law, those who are disabled are entitled to special considerations in school or the workplace. This law and these considerations are designed to enable those with disabilities to fully use their talents and abilities. If you have a disability and need any special accomodations, please be sure to let me know, privately, at the beginning of class. In the event of such disabilities, you must be registered with the Disabled Students Program. Once you are registered I will gladly work with you and DSP to meet your needs.

IN-CLASS HANDOUTS: At the beginning of the course I will give you several handouts. Over the years I have refined these as guides to reading, writing and analysing the course materials. They are important. Read them!!! Because they have so much printing on them, they make lousy paper airplanes, so you might as well read them. You should also keep them as reference materials throughout the semester if not until the day of your death. And by the way, did I mention that you should read them??

ADD/DROP: It is your responsibility to enroll for the course by following college procedures. Should you decide not to complete the course, it is also your responsibility to drop the class. Do not assume that I will complete these tasks for you. I’m not your mom.

ORGANIZING FOR THE COURSE: You should have some sort of organizer, folder, notebook, etc. in which you keep all your course materials. This should be something more organized (and less odorous) than an old lunch bag. Ideally it will have divisions for lecture notes, reading notes, pending assignments, papers handed back, etc. You should have this course outline located in a protected, but accessible place in the notebook and should get in the habit of looking at it each week so that you are aware of upcoming assignments. You should retain everything related to the course throughout the semester and until you receive your final mark for the course.

CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR(read this carefully): Upon entering the class, turn off all electronic devices, such as phones and pagers!! You may use recording devices as long as you do so quietly. You are expected to attend every class session and to participate in discussion. You cannot learn if you are not here. You should arrive on time!! Once you are here, you should plan on being here for the entire class session!! In addition, there are a few basic rules. You may not eat or conduct private conversations (this includes writing notes) in class. If this becomes an issue you will be assigned seating away from whoever you are distracting. It is not acceptable to do homework for this or any other class during class time. If I see you doing this I will confiscate the materials. You may use the textbook to follow the structure of lectures.

LECTURE/DISCUSSIONS: Lectures are a necessary, but not a sufficient aspect of this course. They are not primarily intended to give you information. Rather, there are three purposes to my lectures. 1) to interpret. I will often comment on the interpretations in the book, either to agree, to elaborate, or to disagree with the theses of the authors. 2) To spark discussion. Often I will pose questions of major importance to the class regarding the assigned reading. That is why it is important to do the reading before class. I expect everyone to participate in these discussions. 3) To convey information and research findings that are more recent or are not included in the text, but which I regard to be important to your understanding of United States history. It is important that you attend every lecture and class section and that you take good lecture notes. If you do not know how to take lecture notes, see me. If you wish to do so, you may record lecture/discussions with a small handheld recorder as long as you don’t make me listen to them!

HOW TO STUDY: By the end of the semester you should have read each of the assignments no fewer than five times. For quidelines on how to read a textbook more effectively refer to the six page How to Read a Textbook handout. The first reading should be a preview before you sit down for the main reading. Then the main reading. You will want to review readings, lecture notes, etc before the in-class writing (that’s three) and before the midterm. And you will review everything, of course, for the final exam. Your next question (if you’re paying attention) should be "How do I do all this and keep (or get) a life? Read on: MANAGING THE WORKLOAD: For years, students have told me that this is one of the more demanding courses they have taken while at college. Current and former students have also told me that this course has given them more information and broader skills than most. From my perspective, if I could lighten the load any further, I would, but I feel that the work for this course is all essential to understanding history and increasing your awareness and effectiveness as a citizen, a student and a person in the workplace. There are some things you can do to lighten the load, however.

Ultimately, the best way to manage the workload is to work smart. Organize your time. Keep up to date on assignments. Falling behind in work is like falling down a hill. It’s easy to start, hard to stop, and it almost always hurts. You should know when in any given portion of your week you will study, and barring disasters you should stick to schedule. Most students need to study at least six hours per week for this course. Many find that it takes more.

When you are studying, study! Don’t have the TV or radio on. Don’t study with anyone else around, unless they are studying too. Let people around you know that you take this work seriously and most of the time they will respect you and your time.

Many people in my classes use the small groups as study and discussion groups. I strongly encourage you to do this. Study groups are not a substitute for reading or attending class, if you try this, you will find that other members of the group will stop telling when and where they are meeting. But in the study groups, you will find that you can teach each other and can share primary responsibility for preparing portions of assignment. However, each person’s work should (and must) be their own.

TESTING AND EVALUATION: This is a writing class. Whether or not you have written essays for other classes, you should be sure to look at the handout, How to Answer an Essay Question. If you have read the syllabus (and you should have!) you will note that you write three essays during the semester. You will see all of these essays in advance of the assignment. A week prior to the essay, I will give you somewhere between 5-6 essay topics. I strongly urge that you prepare for at least 4 of 5 (for methods and techniques see the How to). Don’t try to outguess me. You may be smarter than I am, but I am older and more treacherous. If you gamble this way you will lose. Go to Reno, play the lotto, but don’t gamble with your grades and education.

On the day of the exam, I will present you with a choice of 2 or 3 of the topics and you will select from those one topic to write on. You must bring a blue book to the essay or exam anyone entering the exam or essay without a bluebook will be sent to get one. It must be completely blank, do not write your name on the cover. You will turn that bluebook in to me and will never see it again, since I will give you another one. In addition to the essays, there are two midterms and a final exam (the second midterm is part of the final exam). These exams will have two parts, one part is short answer, asking you to identify and state the significance of key people, events, phrases. The other portion will be an essay. You will have practice exams, just as for the essays. DO NOT REMOVE PAGES FROM THE BLUEBOOKS!!!

GRADING POLICY: Grading Policy for this course is very simple. All work for the course will be assigned numbers on a 0-100 scale, with 0 being a near impossibility ( unless you do not show up or submit the work), and 100 being perfection (which human beings rarely attain). 90 is the lowest A; 80 the lowest B; 70 the lowest C; and so on. For the purposes of your final course mark anything above 89.6 will be an A; 79.6 a B; and so on. But you don’t want to cut it that close. I read all your work twice. The first time I read it against my own standards, and the second time, I re-examine materials in grade order(highest to lowest). The purpose of the second reading is to assure fairness and consistency. If you have any questions about grading policy, in general or grading for a specific paper, be sure to talk to me. I maintain grades on a computer spreadsheet, and course marks are based solely on your performance and the numerical calculations of that performance.

POLICY ON LATE OR MISSED WORK: Late or missed work is as great a burden on you, the student, as on me. Nevertheless, life happens. If necessary, each student will be allowed to make up one piece of work during the course of each semester, upon meeting two conditions. You must notify me as soon as the emergency arises, before the class session if at all possible. You must provide written documentation of the emergency (physician's statement, collision report, death certificate, etc.) Any illness that is not serious enough to see a doctor is not serious enough to miss an essay, exam, or due date. Unexcused late work will face a penalty of 20% per week. But, remember, any grade is better than a 0.

INTERNET ASSIGNMENT: An Internet assignment is a regular, though optional, part of this course. Students who have completed this assignment say that it was one of the most informative and fun parts of the course. You do not need to have your own internet access to participate, the library has about 30 terminals connected to the Internet and World Wide Web. Nor do you need Internet experience, the librarians have agreed to provide training. So if you haven't been out on the Web, get with the program, the Web is the future (seriously). The way the assignment works is: During the sign up period (see the course outline) you must notify me that you wish to participate and get my approval. After the mid-term examination I will hand out assignment materials and you will get your library training.The assignments are due two weeks before final exams. Credit: You may substitute your grade on the internet assignment for your lowest grade on any of essays. However, YOU MAY NOT do the internet assignment instead of writing an essay. The Internet Assignment will not substitute for a 0 (zero) on any essay.

POLICY ON CHEATING: If you are caught in any form of academic dishonesty (plagiarism, copying, preparing crib notes) you will be boiled in high cholesterol/high saturated fat coconut oil. No, that’s not true. Rather, you will receive a grade of F for the course. I reserve the right to take stronger measures as well.

PLEASE NOTE: As a teacher, I place an extremely high value on communication--that is talking with one another. If you have problems with the course, attendance or any other aspect of your school work, please feel free to discuss them with me. I can't offer help or understanding for problems that you have not made me aware of. Therefore, feel free to contact me in the event of emergencies.

My voice telephone number: 1-510-623-8351

Please be considerate of my family--try not to call before 6:30 in the morning or after 8:00 at night--call later in the morning on weekends.

You may also contact me via fax at 1-510-623-1941

Finally, I have two e-mail addresses and if you are able to do so, this may be the best way to reach me--the first address is preferred:

rickp@batnet.com (Please note: You must type this address exactly as written or I will not receive your communication)

RickPropas@aol.com (Use only if I tell you to do so)