We have 3 different prompts that we can choose from:
Prompt 1: The promise of consumer finance
Postwar consumer finance promised a democracy of consumption, but in many ways did not deliver over the subsequent decades (not just during the postwar period). Why did consumer finance fail to foster a more egalitarian society?
Considering state policy, business practices, economic shifts, and other topics we have discussed, why, when and for whom did consumer finance fail to deliver on this promise? How would you compare these failures? Why do these failures occur?
[Clarification: While the promise of the democracy of consumption was from the postwar, please feel free to discuss events from 1945 to 2010. One possible argument possibility is comparing the post-1970s with the postwar.]
Please feel free to draw on articles and books from earlier in the semester.
The topic: You have considerable choice in topics, which will allow you to focus on your interests in the course (for instance you may be more interested in culture than in business). As you think about the topics, however, you will always want to ask yourself general questions about how this particular topic relates to the general themes of the course. As you see below, these topics are framed as changes, because the essence of history is change over time. So even if you are comparing two things in a particular moment, be conscious of how change complicates the answer.
Some ideas to consider:
Did this change reinforce social difference or equality?
Did this change liberate Americans or dominate Americans?
Did it make it easier to exert social control (Links to an external site.) or did it undermine control?
Were these changes intended or unintended?
What was the role of the state in these changes?
What was the role of race, gender, class, sexuality in these changes?
Research: No outside research is allowed. Please draw mainly on the books and to a lesser degree on the lectures. Format: 5-7 pages (12 pt font, double spaced, normal margins)
Suggestions: Since no outside research is allowed, start with the readings. The best papers always come from comparing events in the readings not the lectures. The readings are denser and more complex than the lectures. Flip through the books to get some ideas. You can use parts of the books that have not been assigned for the class.
Structure: Specificity is the foundation of great historical writing. Please have a clear thesis statement, solid topic sentences, and clear footnoting. If you are not familiar with history paper structure, please read some of the guides below and also talk with the TAs or professor (after reading the guides).
Writing Guides:
For more help on historical writing, see William Story, Writing History (Oxford University Press) which is available in the library.
Or see http://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/pages/strategies-essay-writing (Links to an external site.)
Citation:
See http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html (Links to an external site.) for help on citation.
Use Chicago format for the paper (no MLA or APA citation methods).
All sources must be footnoted in the proper Chicago Manual of Style format. For more information on footnoting, please see http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html (Links to an external site.) and Kate Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertation. Plagiarism will not be tolerated.
You can familiarize yourself with Cornell University’s Code of Academic Integrity at: https://theuniversityfaculty.cornell.edu/dean/academic-integrity/Links to an external site.
Submission: You will need to submit an electronic copy, through Canvas. Emailed papers will not be accepted. All submissions will be scanned for plagiarism by TurnItIn.
Prompt 2: The 90s
In Fight Club, Tyler Durden denounces the lives of 1990s men like him as “an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables, slaves with white collars.” He blames “advertising [that] has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need. We’re the middle children of the history man, no purpose or place, we have no Great war, no Great depression, our great war is a spiritual war, our great depression is our lives, we’ve been all raised by television to believe that one day we’d all be millionaires and movie gods and rock stars, but we won’t and we’re slowly learning that fact and we’re very very pissed off.”
Drawing on the readings and lectures, would you agree with Durden’s above claims, such as men who were workers/consumers of the 1990s were the middle children of history? Why or why not? Be sure to take account of counter-arguments. Be sure to answer this question historically by considering government, business, and time periods, as well as analytically by engaging with questions of agency, structure, and hegemony. Draw on the readings and the lectures.
The topic: You have considerable choice in topics, which will allow you to focus on your interests in the course (for instance you may be more interested in culture than in business). As you think about the topics, however, you will always want to ask yourself general questions about how this particular topic relates to the general themes of the course. As you see below, these topics are framed as changes, because the essence of history is change over time. So even if you are comparing two things in a particular moment, be conscious of how change complicates the answer.
Some ideas to consider:
Did this change reinforce social difference or equality?
Did this change liberate Americans or dominate Americans?
Did it make it easier to exert social control (Links to an external site.) or did it undermine control?
Were these changes intended or unintended?
What was the role of the state in these changes?
What was the role of race, gender, class, sexuality in these changes?
Research: No outside research is allowed. Please draw mainly on the books and to a lesser degree on the lectures. Format: 5-7 pages (12 pt font, double spaced, normal margins)
Suggestions: Since no outside research is allowed, start with the readings. The best papers always come from comparing events in the readings not the lectures. The readings are denser and more complex than the lectures. Flip through the books to get some ideas. You can use parts of the books that have not been assigned for the class.
Structure: Specificity is the foundation of great historical writing. Please have a clear thesis statement, solid topic sentences, and clear footnoting. If you are not familiar with history paper structure, please read some of the guides below and also talk with the TAs or professor (after reading the guides).
Writing Guides:
For more help on historical writing, see William Story, Writing History (Oxford University Press) which is available in the library.
Or see http://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/pages/strategies-essay-writing (Links to an external site.)
Citation:
See http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html (Links to an external site.) for help on citation.
Use Chicago format for the paper (no MLA or APA citation methods).
All sources must be footnoted in the proper Chicago Manual of Style format. For more information on footnoting, please see http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html (Links to an external site.) and Kate Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertation. Plagiarism will not be tolerated.
You can familiarize yourself with Cornell University’s Code of Academic Integrity at: https://theuniversityfaculty.cornell.edu/dean/academic-integrity/Links to an external site.
Submission: You will need to submit an electronic copy, through Canvas. Emailed papers will not be accepted. All submissions will be scanned for plagiarism by TurnItIn.
Prompt 3: Consumption and the failure of socialism
Historians have long been entranced by the difference between European and American politics, echoing the question first posed by German sociologist Werner Sombart: why is there no socialism in the United States? “On the reefs of roast beef and apple pie,” Sombart wrote, “socialist utopias of every sort are sent to their doom.”
Comparing our 21st century economy to that of the 19th century, how might you support or contradict Sombart’s claim. Has increased consumption has defused class conflict while the rich get richer or are we living in what a 19th century person might consider a utopia? Do not take a middle-ground position. Choose a side, but take account of counter-arguments.
The topic: You have considerable choice in topics, which will allow you to focus on your interests in the course (for instance you may be more interested in culture than in business). As you think about the topics, however, you will always want to ask yourself general questions about how this particular topic relates to the general themes of the course. As you see below, these topics are framed as changes, because the essence of history is change over time. So even if you are comparing two things in a particular moment, be conscious of how change complicates the answer.
Some ideas to consider:
Did this change reinforce social difference or equality?
Did this change liberate Americans or dominate Americans?
Did it make it easier to exert social control (Links to an external site.) or did it undermine control?
Were these changes intended or unintended?
What was the role of the state in these changes?
What was the role of race, gender, class, sexuality in these changes?
Research: No outside research is allowed. Please draw mainly on the books and to a lesser degree on the lectures. Format: 5-7 pages (12 pt font, double spaced, normal margins)
Suggestions: Since no outside research is allowed, start with the readings. The best papers always come from comparing events in the readings not the lectures. The readings are denser and more complex than the lectures. Flip through the books to get some ideas. You can use parts of the books that have not been assigned for the class.
Structure: Specificity is the foundation of great historical writing. Please have a clear thesis statement, solid topic sentences, and clear footnoting. If you are not familiar with history paper structure, please read some of the guides below and also talk with the TAs or professor (after reading the guides).
Writing Guides:
For more help on historical writing, see William Story, Writing History (Oxford University Press) which is available in the library.
Or see http://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/pages/strategies-essay-writing (Links to an external site.)
Citation:
See http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html (Links to an external site.) for help on citation.
Use Chicago format for the paper (no MLA or APA citation methods).
All sources must be footnoted in the proper Chicago Manual of Style format. For more information on footnoting, please see http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html (Links to an external site.) and Kate Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertation. Plagiarism will not be tolerated.
You can familiarize yourself with Cornell University’s Code of Academic Integrity at: https://theuniversityfaculty.cornell.edu/dean/academic-integrity/Links to an external site.
Submission: You will need to submit an electronic copy, through Canvas. Emailed papers will not be accepted. All submissions will be scanned for plagiarism by TurnItIn.
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