WRIT 1133 Human Rights / Humans Write Essay 2 assignment

WRITING INTO HISTORY

the assignment
History writing involves telling very particular and concrete stories that reveal insights of deeper
social, political, and cultural significance. In this essay, you will write just such a story, drawing
upon your own experience or that of someone close to you to tell a very specific story that,
by incorporating historical research, will reveal broader historical insights.
What kind of story are you looking for? Stories are driven by conflict; so begin by thinking about
personal experiences of conflict that you or someone close to you has had. The conflict may have been
dramatic — as in the case of, say, a grandparent who took part in a protest movement or ran for public
office. Or the conflict may have been subtler — say, an disagreement about religion with a relative, or the
experience of a student struggling to pay for her education. But conflict is key. So start with a compelling
personal experience of conflict. That personal history will form your essay’s narrative frame.
The next step will be to fill in the narrative frame with stories drawn from wider and deeper social,
political, and cultural histories. The connection between the personal and the social/political/cultural is
typically most interesting when the social/political/cultural dimension involves large-scale change. So
after you’ve drafted your personal narrative, you’ll ask: What larger historical changes can I connect this
personal narrative to?
Doing so will require library research. We’ll do some of this in class. But each of you will include
with your essay a Works Cited list of the several historical sources you draw upon.

audience
Imagine that you’re writing for Heritage, a magazine published by the History Colorado Center.
The audience for that publication ranges from professional historians, who’ll be principally interested in
the large-scale significance of the story you tell, to non-academics who are reading your story because of a
personal interest in the place and time period in which your personal story takes place.

due dates, etc.

Your first draft will be a 750-word draft of your personal story, due on Canvas by the start of class
on Wednesday, Jan. 25. (Name the doc Last name, first name – Essay 2 - WRIT 1133.) An annotated
bibliography of at least four sources is due by the start of class on Wednesday, Feb. 1. A full draft will be
due the day before your conference with me. The final revised draft is due by noon on Sat., March 18.