How did the Africans experience the Middle Passage?

Research Project-History 1301

  • You will pick one of the approved graphic novels and beginning reading.
  • Depending on which historical graphic novel you read, you will answer the

 

Central Historical Question:

1- Inhuman Traffick by Rafe Blaufarb and Liz Clarke

 

How did the Africans experience the Middle Passage?

 

2- Nat Turner by Kyle Baker & Kindred by Octavia Butler

 

How did slavery shape the family life of the enslaved in the American South?

 

3-In this course we look at the history of slavery and how it evolved in the United States, so your research project will take an extensive look into how slavery evolved.

4-You will look at various resources (primary and secondary sources) that deal with either the middle passage or plantation life depending on your novel selection.  You will need to annotate your sources.  Requirements:  two books, three scholarly articles, two websites and three primary source documents such as government documents, newspapers, slave narratives, etc.

 

5-This will be a digital research project, which means it will contain a multimedia component and a written component.  Technology-savvy students will be able to create an impressive video for their presentations—suggested presentation software and media include:

 

Adobe Spark

Wevideo

Imovie

Augmented Reality Apps-Layar, Aurasma

StoryMap

Storify

Podcast-

Windows Movie Maker

Post a video on YouTube

Vimeo

Voicethread

Thinglink

 

This is NOT a “cut-and- paste” project!! Thought, research, and organization must be evident to obtain a high grade.

Part I: Research

You will conduct research to answer the central question for which graphic historical novel that you choose to read.  I advise students to research at the library the various primary and secondary sources.  I have provided a list of suggestions for getting started on the course website under the “Research Paper” tab. These links will point you to digital archives of appropriate primary sources, and help you access the scholarly works (= books and articles) to which our library has access for the secondary sources. You can, of course, use other materials, but when in doubt check with me to make sure your sources are appropriate.

 

Conduct a thorough research process, locating 2+ appropriate text source(s) to help you understand, theorize about and contextualize your 2+ primary sources. You cannot accomplish this by simply Googling; you must employ our library’s print and electronic resources, and perhaps even expand beyond those if needed.

 

Part II: Annotated Bibliography

You have already begun writing an annotated bibliography. You will use this aspect of the project to complete a more thorough review of the research on your topic. Annotate bibliography is a list of primary and secondary sources used in your project. You do not necessarily have to list all the resources you read being that not all will be helpful, but if you use facts from a source or decide that a particular

primary source will be used in Part IV, then it should be listed in the annotated bibliography. An annotated bibliography has three elements to it:

 

  1. separated alphabetically (author’s last name) into primary and secondary sources;
  2. lists the bibliographically information of each resource;
  3. and under the bibliographically information is a 1-2 sentence summary of what you learned from the source and why it is important for your project. That is, how does it help address your research questions and other content knowledge requirements.

Here is an example:

 

 

Part III: Audio-Visual Presentation

The multimedia presentation show should be 3-5 minutes in length and explore the topic in depth. In order to, complete the topic students must complete the following steps:

 gather and organize relevant photographs, video, and audio clips of interviews and relevant sound effects;

create a audio visual storyboard and audio script; (write out your script based on researched information)

 construct a visual slideshow and then record voice-overs, be sure to have an introduction slide;

 edit final projects;

 and create a credit slide(s) that highlight annotated bibliography.

 

After watching your video essay, a viewer should know the basic details concerning your topic as well as have an appreciation of its significance to American history. As video historians, your first task is to accurately research and describe your topic. Imagine that your audience is a peer (a friend or fellow student) who is not in this class. Your finished video essay should seek to inform this intelligent but uninformed viewer who or what your topic was – the significance of your topic to the major themes of American history, either in what it caused or in how it reflects upon larger issues, and also why they should care about your topic – that is, you need to make it interesting and engaging.

 

 

 

Wikipedia entries are not a reliable secondary source and should not be cited in your paper, although sometimes they provide links to references that can be useful in the initial stages of research. Likewise, websites are not an appropriate secondary source for this assignment.