HISTORY 311: African American History Since 1876
Students must respond to one of the two following essay questions. Students have one of two options for the essay requirement of the final examination. The essay counts for 25 of a total 100 points (25% of the Final Examination).
Option 1: students can respond to the essay question in-class on the day of the exam (April 30, 2014). In this case, the essay must be completed in pen in a bluebook. Option 2: students can bring in their typed essays on the day of the examination or they can submit their essays at an earlier time (no papers will be accepted via e-mail). In this case, the essay must be double-spaced and typed in a standard 12 font script (Times Roman) and must be at least 4 full pages in length
(not including the title page). This essay must also include a standard title page, page numbers, and one-inch margins. Please make certain that you clearly indicate your name and student number on the title page.
ESSAY QUESTIONS:
1.)
In The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks, scholar Jeanne Theoharis provides an in-depth look into Mrs. Parks’s life and activism, from her childhood until her death in 2005. What formative events shaped Parks’s life? How does Theoharis add to the traditional narrative of Mrs. Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott?
How did Parks continue as an activist after she relocated to Detroit? How did
Detroit impact Parks? What are some examples of Parks’s activism after the
Montgomery Bus Boycott? What kinds of causes did she embrace? Does
Theoharis offer any explanation for how Parks is remembered in the narrative of
Civil Rights history? How is Mrs. Parks’s “rebellious life” “hidden in plain sight?” 2.)
In their recently published study Black Against the Empire: The History and
Politics of the Black Panther Party, Joshua Bloom and Waldo E. Martin claim to be offering a groundbreaking narrative of the Black Panther Party. One