History 310

UNITED STATES HISTORY

I  n  d  e  p  e  n  d  e  n  t       S  t  u  d  y

"The Jazz Age: America, 1918–1932"

 

During the period after class on April 15 until class on April 25, each student will work independently on "The Jazz Age: America,1918–1932." The result will be a portfolio of essays and an annotated bibliography. Follow these rules exactly:

• Select either Group A or Group B. Research and write three essays on the topics within the group you choose. Each essay will be two word-processed pages in length—absolutely no more.

• Read the pertinent sections in the Nash text before you select a group of essays. But the text alone will be insufficient for you to get through this assignment. There will be many books relating to the 1920s in the Andrew Mellon Library. Browse a while; you’ll find it fun. You might also find useful The New York Times—both the Index and the microfilm edition—and several magazines whose microfilm editions of the 1920s we hold.

• Write persuasively, argue a thesis, write an empirical essay, use APEC arguments. You are not supposed to follow the queries below in a slavish way, but rather to use them to help shape your own ideas. Your ideas, not mine, are the ones that will win for you.

• Class will meet briefly on Thursday, April 18, and again on Monday, April 22, for you to ask about problems you are facing. Do not miss these classes; you will be given cut slips if you do.

• You are encouraged to discuss the work you are doing on this project with other students, to the limit that no student may exploit any other one. Do not get exploited, but if you are mutually helpful to each other, then consult. Still, from the moment you begin to write any essay, all conversation about that essay must stop. You must give full credit in your bibliography to any help of any sort that any student may have given you. You may not get help from any adult besides what you and I discuss if you come to meet me in class.

• Do not check out books on the period from the Mellon Library, since your classmates will need them too. If I find you have done so, you will be heavily penalized.

• The three essays will be stapled together with a single annotated bibliography which will list and evaluate all the works you used for the three papers. The portfolio will be submitted at the beginning of class on Thursday, April 25.

• Late papers will earn a grade of"F" that cannot be made up. Careful here: even if you are sick on the due date, have someone else deliver the portfolio. Papers without a properly wrought annotated bibliography also will fail. Students must keep a copy of their portfolio and bibliography for use in class as described in the next paragraph.

• Except for the mini-classes on April 18 and 22, there will be no regular class meetings while you work on these projects. I will be available in Memorial House on Monday (after faculty meeting) and Friday nights for students who wish to consult. On Thursday, April 25, we will resume regular meetings. On that day, we will discuss in class the things you wrote about. You must have a copy of your portfolio so you can refer to it during these classes. And, of course, you must pay attention to what your classmates say in those classes so you can do well on the next period test.

What’s being challenged here in the Jazz Age project is your sense of responsibility. A few students each year regard the time given as a mini-vacation, and put off work on this project. They always fail. Do not make such a terrible mistake. Get to work right away and work on the project regularly.

Group A

Select three of the following problems. You may not choose some from"A" and some from"B."

1. What are the four or five most important social or intellectual threads that run through the history of the 1920s and how do they help shape our view of the era?

2. What happened in the 1920s to"progressivism," that broadly-based movement of the previous two decades which attempted to control the evils of industrialization without destroying the benefits? This question is not about political parties, although they may be included as a part of the answer. It is about the"movement."

3. The decade of the 1920s is often called the "Jazz Age." Why? Would a more sober view call it the "Age of Business"? Did business attitudes completely permeate the intellectual, cultural, social, political, and diplomatic affairs of the period?

4. Write a history of the national Democratic Party, 1918–1932. What were its strengths and weaknesses? Who were its greatest leaders and why? What did these leaders stand for as they led their party? Analyze the results of the Presidential and Congressional elections of the period, and their impact on the party. In doing so do not be short-sighted.

Group B

Select three of the following problems. You may not choose some from"A" and some from"B."

1. What are the four or five most important social or intellectual threads that run through the history of the 1920s and how do they help shape our view of the era?

2. It is often alleged that the U.S. withdrew from world affairs in the period 1918–1932, and instead adopted some self-imposed "isolation." Really? What was the nature of American diplomacy during the decade? Define carefully the"isolationism" of America during the era.

3. What were the remote causes of the Great Depression? When did it begin and why then? How did the Hoover Administration respond, both at home and abroad? How did the people react to Hoover’s attempts to cope? Were they fair to him?

4. Write a history of the national Republican Party, 1918–1932. What were its strengths and weaknesses? Who were its greatest leaders and why? What did these leaders stand for as they led their party? Analyze the results of the Presidential and Congressional elections of the period, and their impact on the party. In doing so do not be short-sighted.