Writing Homework Help

Using information from lectures, document workshops, and course readings through 23 September, please write an argument essay that answers one of the following two questions (your choice):

1.In his 1940 book, Americans Learn to Play, Rhea Foster Dulles argued that the sports played in the United States were “wholly American.”Write an essay in which you evaluate that contention.How “American” were American sports (i.e. the sports being played in the United States)?

Note:A compelling essay will gauge the “American-ness” or the “un-American-ness” of sports in the United States in multiple ways.It will explore the origins of “our sports” and how these sports changed over time; it will consider the way sports did or did not parallel large American trends at this time; it will assess the way sports did or did not embody “American” values (values that you will need to define).Your answers to these types of questions will provide the building blocks for your larger, overall argument.

2.Walter Camp once wrote, “Nothing has united Americans more than our love of sports.The games we watch and play give expression to our common beliefs, dreams, and desires.”Write an essay that assesses Camp’s statement.Did sports unite or divide Americans?

Note:A compelling essay will trace how sports united or divided different groups of Americans in this era and, if possible, explain who was doing the uniting or dividing and for what purpose.

Regardless of the question you choose to answer, an outstanding essay (1) will have a clear and forceful argument in your opening paragraph in which you explicitly answer the question you have selected; (2) will support and develop that argument by using evidence and examples drawn from lectures and course readings; and (3) will present counter-evidence—that is, it will explore why one might answer the question counter to the way you are, but then explain why your interpretation is more compelling (the paragraph right before your conclusion is a good place to consider counter-evidence—see the guide, “How to Write a Compelling History Essay,” on Sakai, for more on the use of counter-evidence).

EVIDENCE REQUIREMENT:As one of the skills of the historian is interpreting documents and using them as evidence for their claims, in this paper you must explicitly reference at least three of the primary sources assigned so far this semester.

By “explicitly reference” we DO NOT mean that you should just throw a quote into your prose and let it speak for itself.By “explicitly reference” we DO mean that you need to introduce the quote or information that you are using and, once you have provided that information, explain how it bolsters your argument.

Note:You do not need to do any outside research for this essay.The lectures and course readings (don’t forget the textbook!) provide plenty of material for you to construct a compelling essay.If you would like to use a source(s) that you found while researching the Jack Johnson-Jim Jeffries fight, please feel free to count that as one source, but then we would like you to use at least two of the primary sources that we assigned.

Formatting Guidelines:Your essay should be 4-6 pages in length. Your essay must be typed, double-spaced, use 12-point font (we suggest Times New Roman), and have one-inch margins.Give your essay a title—though no title pages please.

In the upper-left corner of your essay, include three single-spaced lines with: (1) your name; (2) the class number; and (3) the date you are turning in the essay.

Please use Chicago/Turabian style footnotes in your essay.I have posted a Footnote Guide on Sakai to help you with the formatting.If you have questions beyond that, please come and see me or your Teaching Assistant (please note that you do not need to footnote information that comes from lecture).