Your Task

Re-read the "Account of the Northern Conquest and Discovery of Hernando de Soto" in First Peoples, pp. 113-116, the excerpt from The First Relation of Jaques Carthier in the course pack, and the excerpt from The Narrative of Cabeza de Vaca in the course pack.

Drawing entirely on these three documents for your evidence, write an essay responding to one of the following instructions.

1. Compare the amount and the kinds of conflict that occurred in these three Native American encounters with Europeans and suggest reasons for the differences you see.

2. Compare and suggest explanations for the ways that Native people in these three instances tried to get European intruders to act as the Natives wished.

Form and Deadline

Your essay may not be longer than 750 words, including quotations. Double space the text, and use a standard 12-point font. Your essay will be about three pages long.

When you quote or refer to one of the texts, provide a citation to the page where the material or information appears. A footnote or endnote is an appropriate citation method, but instead, you may simply put the citation in parentheses at the end of the quote or at the end of the passage referencing the text. You do not have to provide complete bibliographical information; you simply have to indicate clearly which of the assigned readings contains the material in question. For example, an appropriate footnote might look like this: 4. Cabeza de Vaca, 48. An appropriate parenthetical citation might look like this: (First Peoples, 102).

Your paper is due Monday, February 2, at the beginning of class. You must have prior permission to submit it later than that; otherwise we will deduct points from the grade. (See the syllabus.)

Tips for Success

Read the question very carefully and address it completely. If you are not sure what part of the question means, ask an instructor to clarify it.

Start your essay with a thesis -- a statement of your central argument. The thesis should come right at the beginning of the essay, and it must leave no doubt as to which question you are addressing.

The thesis should be a short but complete summary of your answer to the question. It should mention very briefly the main reasons for your answer. Because this assignment asks you to compare a particular aspect of three encounters, it is not enough to write an introduction that simply says something about each of the accounts one at a time. The thesis must be an over-arching statement that contrasts, likens, or relates the three encounters to each other in the pertinent respect.

Devote the remainder of your paper to defending the main elements of your thesis in an orderly way. Persuade the reader that your conclusions are very likely correct by illustrating your points with specific information or words from the texts. But do not simply drop that information or quotations into your essay without explaining in your own words how it supports your conclusion. Keep any quotations from the text short.

Before and after drafting your essay, read the grading criteria that we will distribute and the memo on writing a history paper that is linked to the course web page.

Choose TWO of the following readings in First Peoples and draw on them to write an essay that responds to ONE of the assignments below.

Readings: "The Journal of General Richard Butler at the Treaty of Fort Finney (1786)" (pages 247-254), minutes of the 1868 treaty councils with various Sioux bands (pages 334-338), "An Indian's View of Indian Affairs" (pages 349-355).

Assignment:

1. Analyze the kinds of tactics, including types of rhetoric or methods of argument, these Indians used as they tried to get the responses they wanted from U.S. government representatives.

OR

2. Analyze the images or characterizations of Indians (including their characterizations of themselves) these Indians tried to convey when addressing U.S. government representatives.

Be sure to indicate what the Indian speakers apparently hoped for from the Americans. And do not expect the documents to identify tactics or images explicitly. Infer them from the whole of a document and its context.

Remember that your essay must have a thesis – a clear central argument. Simply listing bargaining tactics one by one or listing depictions of Indians one by one does not make a good history essay. Concisely state your argument at the beginning and then use your interpretations of the text to support and illustrate each element of the argument.

To refresh your memory of other tips for producing a good essay, re-read the instructions for the first paper, the website memorandum on writing, and the grading criteria.

Form and Deadline

Your essay may not be longer than 750 words, including quotations. Double space your text. When you quote or refer to a particular passage, cite the page where it appears, either in a note or in parentheses immediately after your reference to the text. Your paper is due Monday, February 23, at the beginning of class. You must have prior permission to submit it later than that; otherwise we will deduct points from the grade as provided in the syllabus.

Your task is to write an essay that connects Virgil Wyaco's personal history to the larger history of American Indians from the 1880s to the 1980s -- the history we have surveyed in the last weeks of the course.  We want you to analyze how Wyaco's experiences can help you understand some of the broad historical developments you have studied and how the broader history can help you understand some of Wyaco's experiences.

 

Take ONE of the following approaches.

 

1)  Analyze how federal government policies impacted Wyaco's life, shaping some of his experiences and choices. 

 

2)  Show how Wyaco – even though he may not have realized it -- participated in some significant developments that also touched the lives of many other American Indians. 

 

3)  Show how some aspect of Wyaco's life illustrates a major theme in the larger history of American Indians. (Themes we have emphasized in this course include changes in Indians' power relative to non-Indians, change and continuity in indigenous traditions, Indians' evolving status under U.S. law, the evolution of a general American Indian identity, the continuing diversity of the people known as Indians, and Indian coping strategies in a world dominated by non-Indians.  If you wish to focus on a theme not listed here, check with an instructor.) 

 

As always, your essay must state and defend a thesis.  Clearly indicate in your opening paragraph which approach you have chosen and what the elements of your argument will be.  

 

IMPORTANT:  The evidence supporting your argument MUST come not only from Wyaco’s book, A Zuni Life, but also from other course readings.  Try to strike a balance between discussing Wyaco’s experiences and discussing information you have gained from the Calloway textbook, coursepack material, and/or lectures.  

 

Form and Deadline

 

Your essay may not be longer than 1,000 words, including quotations, and should be at least 700 words.  Double space your text.  When you quote or refer to information in a book, cite the author and page of your source.  If you refer to a lecture, give the date. 

 

To be sure that you understand the assignment and have an appropriate thesis in mind, submit a synopsis of your argument to the instructor who grades your papers no later than class time on Monday, March 9. 

 

Your paper is due Thursday, March 12, in class.  You must have prior permission to submit it later than that; otherwise we will deduct points from the grade.  (See the syllabus.)