Analytical Paper on a Headline Article
A) Pick one of the four articles below
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/17/world/middleeast/iran-biden-trump-nuclear-sanctions.html
Or:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/09/climate/trump-legacy-climate-change.html
Or:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/31/business/culdesac-tempe-phoenix-sprawl.html
Or:
https://theintercept.com/2020/11/04/oregon-drugs-decriminalization/
B) Include the link to your article at the top of your paper.
C) Then, in a three-page paper briefly present what the article is about. Then present THREE historical facts, issues, or themes that the article failed to cover or which you believe were covered inadequately. Explain how the inclusion of– or additional information on– those three items give a new perspective to the article.
Explain how the three new pieces of historical information would lead a reader to different or more nuanced conclusions about the topic.Specifically, how the information you add would suggest assumptions about the actors, the dynamics, or the narrative, or the significance of the issue/event that are different from those in the original article.
The key to this paper is to explain the article, add historical pieces of information, and carefully explain how those additions change the point of view of the article, its biases, its implications, its conclusions, its narrative.
D) Since this is not a test of your basic historical knowledge, we ask that after you read the piece and write down the questions it raises in your mind, you consult at least one book or two articles of historical non-fiction. Footnote them in your essay if you use material from them and, in any case, include them in a short bibliography at the end of your essay.
This assignment reflects the broad themes of our course;
1.This paper should be an analysis of the use of history in short-form journalism.
2. The assignment is not a history paper, though you will have to do some digging to add some history to what the journalist wrote, or correct what they wrote.
3. The final product is not intended to be an editorial or blogpost by you.
– this paper should be footnoted
– a bibliography is required
– the goal of this assignment is to demonstrate how you might contextualize a major current issue in a way that made it more understandable to a non-expert.
