History 7a US History through 1865 Professor Brian DeLay, Fall 2011 Paper 1 The first assigned paper will

be based on Rowlandsons Sovereignty and Goodness of God and the related documents in the book. Your task is to write a paper on one of the following three topics / questions: 1. Gender. While few of the authors in this collection wrote about gender explicitly, a careful reading will reveal important information about how colonial (and, to a lesser extent, native) societies thought about gender. What can these documents tell us about the differences between colonial and indigenous gender norms in the late seventeenth-century northeast? Did those differences shape the conflict in meaningful ways? Did they shape Rowlandsons narrative in meaningful ways? (Youll likely find more in the documents about colonial than native gender norms. Its fine if your analysis focuses somewhat more on the former than the latter). 2. Christian Indians. Most commentators on Metacoms War felt compelled to take a position on the actions and the character of Christian Indians, both individually and collectively. How does Rowlandson view Christian Indians (as individuals and as a group)? How do her views compare to those of other authors in the collection? What do you think accounts for the difference? Be mindful of the sorts of things that the authors omit or highlight in order to make their respective cases. 3. Postwar colonial views on Indians: It is sometimes said that Metacoms War led to such lasting hatred and distrust in New England that colonists stopped seeing Indians as complex individuals and came to see them as collectively treacherous and evil. Rather than diverse people who might do good or ill, in other words, Indians came to be seen as a group to be inherently suspect and deceitful. Assess this claim in light of the documents in this book. Does Rowlandsons narrative make a clear case about Indian character? Does it have room for Indian nobility, generosity, charity, etc? Do the other documents? Are the authors internally consistent in their judgments about Indians? Feel free to invoke gender and religion in your analysis, if youd like (even though these are the themes of the questions above). *REQUIREMENTS: SOURCES: While Rowlandsons narrative will inevitably be the key source for your paper, you must put it into conversation with other primary sources in the book. You need to meaningfully draw upon (and cite) at least THREE additional primary sources from the book when answering your chosen question. You should also draw upon and cite the Salisburys introduction as needed, but that wont count toward your four additional primary sources. Again, the narrative will necessarily be the dominant source for your paper were not expecting you to devote equal air time to the other documents. But you will need to buttress /

compliment your analysis by drawing on them. PLEASE USE ONLY THE ASSIGNED BOOK; NO NEED TO CONSULT OUTSIDE SOURCES. FORMATTING: The paper should be 5 full pages long, double-spaced, and in 12point Times New Roman font. Margins should be no larger than 1 on the side and 1 1/2 inches on top and bottom. Title pages arent necessary, but you ought to include a title at the top of the first page. CITATION: Whenever you draw from the text, whether you quote directly from it or simply summarize information in your own words, you MUST provide a citation to the page in question. Please use footnotes (which appear at the bottom of each page), rather than endnotes (which appear together at the end of the paper). The easiest method is to insert a footnote at the bottom of every paragraph that contains any material from outside your head. In other words, it isnt necessary to insert a new footnote for every line you write. Instead, gather all your citations together in a single footnote at the end of the paragraph. Presumably most paragraphs will include direct quotes or at least information taken from multiple sources, so the typical footnote will contain multiple references. For example, lets say that I wrote a paragraph that included quotes about Mary Rowlandsons vision of culture. I might write: Historian Neal Salisbury has claimed, In European parlance, she belonged to that portion of humanity deemed civilized, whereas the natives were mere savages. Mary Rowlandson provided a metaphor for this by juxtaposing the landscapes between which she traveled. As she wrote, at the beginning of the Second Remove, But now, the next morning, I must turn my back upon the Town, and travel with them [the Indians] into the vast and desolate Wilderness.1 BRIEF CITATIONS: Please note that in this example, the second mention of the book is abbreviated. This is common practice and what we expect from you in this paper. The first time you cite the book, do so fully (as below). Thereafter use the abbreviated version (as in the second citation). The same goes for the individual documents. The first time you cite the narrative, for example, cite it completely, as below. Thereafter, use an abbreviated citation that provides only the authors last name, a brief title, and the relevant page # (Rowlandson, A Narrative, p. 74).

*GRADING: Overall, papers will be graded on four criteria: 1. Argument: Does the paper provide a clear answer (thesis/argument) to the chosen question? Is this answer clearly stated in the introduction? Is the entire paper built around answering the central question? Do sub-questions build logically upon one another? Is the argument persuasive? As you construct your argument, consider the following distinctions between descriptive

Neal Salisbury, Introduction: Mary Rowlandson and Her Removes, The Sovereignty and Goodness of God, ed. Neal Salisbury (New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 1997), 27; Mary Rowlandson, A Narrative of the Captivity and Restauration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, The Sovereignty and Goodness of God, 71.

and analytic writing (in this assignment and this class youll need to write analytically). a. Descriptive writing merely says what happened or what another author has discussed; it provides an account of the topic. b. An analytic (or critical) approach asks and answers questions, makes comparisons, and presents and defends a thesis or argument. Rather than just stating the facts, this approach explains and interprets them. Why did events take place, what were their consequences, how did they relate to other developments? Why did the authors you read take differing stands? What is your own interpretation of the issues? c. You must provide evidence to buttress your analysis and arguments. d. If you encounter material that does not agree with your position, you cannot just ignore it; instead you need to explain why you think that evidence is less important or persuasive. 2. Structure: Is the paper structured logically and effectively? Are there effective transitions from one sub-topic to another? Does the introduction succinctly provide the necessary context for the paper? Does the conclusion reinforce the overall argument? 5 pages is little space within which to discuss the topics above. Your grade will depend in part on how effectively you use the limited space available to you dont ramble, dont waste time on generalities, dont over-contextualize basic information, dont be repetitive, and dont begin with a lengthy, general introduction. As always, be clear about your audience. Write for your GSI. In other words -- write for an audience who has read the book. You can assume she/he knows basic context and get right down to tackling your question. In the body of the text, you should be as concise as possible without sacrificing detail. 3. Sources: Does the paper employ sources persuasively? Does the paper reflect a deep familiarity with the sources in question? Has the paper drawn widely from throughout the source? Have the most pertinent and compelling examples and evidence been chosen? Has the paper dealt persuasively with (i.e. not simply ignored) evidence that might complicate and/or refute its argument? Are citations sufficient, and in proper form? 4. Style: Is the paper free from spelling, sentence construction, and grammatical errors? Is it written well? Does the paper contain 5 full pages of text? FINAL BIT OF ADVICE: This paper will be MUCH better if you spare time for rewriting. Plan on finishing a draft of the paper at least 24 hours before the due-date, set it aside for a bit, and then read it critically and produce a stronger, more polished final draft.