Abdulallah Arbabzadah

1/19/16

History 209S

Responses to Research Papers

Bianca Dang’s Paper

     Bianca Dang’s paper is a good paper that addresses the rise of the emigration movement in post-civil war America. It deals with African-American emigration after the Civil War specifically and Henry McNeal Turner’s response to it. She argues that “the potential for equality slowly faded” after the Civil War (Dang 1). Bianca’s main argument is that Henry McNeal Turner gradually shifted “away from an attitude of compromise and conciliation” to one that advocated for emigration for African-Americans (Dang 1). She argues that “Turner encouraged a division of America” (Dang 2). There are three main parts to Dang’s essay. One, “Turner's role in and reaction to the Civil War”; two, “Turner's rhetoric after the end of Reconstruction,” and three, “Turner's defense of his emigration movement and his use of previous ideas concerning African colonization to support his movement” (Dang 2). Her purpose is “to trace Turner's shift away from compromise” (Dang 2). Dang engages with the work of other historians well. She utilizes sources well and delves deeply into primary and secondary sources. Her use of secondary sources, particularly Eric Foner’s work “Rights and the Constitution in Black Life during the Civil War and Reconstruction" demonstrates her knowledge of her research topic. I think that her use of secondary sources makes her essay successful. She also uses good primary sources, particularly quotations from Henry McNeal Turner. She might have improved her essay by including more topics to be looked at. Overall, the essay was an interesting look at post-civil war emigration and I can learn how to use primary and secondary sources from this essay. Her use of primary sources was excellent.

Jennifer Ocklemann’s Paper

     This paper looks at “flappers and the struggle between modernity and modesty” (Ocklemann 1). She opens up her paper by talking about Clara Bow and her life story (Ocklemann 1). She also talks about how the typical flapper was a modern woman (Ocklemann 1). Ocklemann’s essay is mainly about flappers and how they struggled with the promise of a modern life and the modesty of the past. She makes good use of primary and secondary sources. Her essay is well structured going through each of her talking points. She engages well with other historians who write on similar topics. I like her use of secondary sources, particularly Joshua Zeitz’s Flapper: A Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity, and the Women Who Made America Modern. Her utilization of that source shows her knowledge of her research topic. Overall, her essay is an excellent attempt at covering flappers and the 1920s overall. I also like her use of Kathy Peiss’s “Charity Girls and City Pleasures: Historical Notes on Working-class Sexuality, 1880-1920.” That source is well put for the essay. My reaction to this essay was that it showed that the author was well-versed in the topic and that it was a very good essay overall. Her use of primary and secondary sources made this essay succeed. It showed the author’s strength in writing and showed how the topic was well suited for her. Including more topics for the essay might improve the essay. But overall it was an excellent essay that succeed on many fronts, particularly on the usage of primary and secondary sources. I can learn from this essay many things but some of the main ideas and things that I can learn from the author is placement of sources, choosing of sources, and how to diversely select sources from a group of primary and secondary sources. Overall, the essay was well-written and can help guide me as to how to write an essay when I write my essay.

Evelyn Higginbotham’s Essay

     This essay focuses “African-American Women’s History and the Metalanguage of Race” (Higginbotham 251). She argues that “the general trend has been to mention black and Third World feminists who first called attention to the glaring fallacies in essentialist analysis and to claims of a homogeneous "womanhood," "woman's culture," and "patriarchal oppression of women" (Higginbotham 251).  The essay makes good use of secondary sources. The essay engages well with the work of other historians who have written on similar topics. My reaction to this essay was that it really used secondary sources well as the other two essays did. That really made this essay succeed. It might be improved by using more primary sources but overall this was a well-rounded essay and the depth to which it was written to shows the author’s knowledge and command of the subject at hand. I can learn how to use secondary sources from this essay and how to place them. I can also learn how to cite my sources from this essay. The citation was superb and it shows that the author really took her time in writing and re-checking her essay.