What was going on in the world around them at this time? If you chose a place, how did things change over time at this place and what things did not change? How did this overall context effect what you and/or your family members? How much did the historical context, for example, effect agency? How much did it effect freedom?

The “My History” writing assignment (2-3 pages, double-spaced, Times New-Roman 12-point font, with MLA citations and an additional citations page) will ask students to take material that we have covered in class and discuss it in personal terms. This could include, but is not limited to, how they see history when they look at themselves or at their family or at their community.
ASSIGNMENT: This assignment requires you to integrate yourself and your family into the history you have been learning in class. You will take some aspect of your personal history and/or your families personal history and examine it within its historical context. How wide or narrow a focus you take on the personal side of this essay is up to you, but your focus will need to be substantive enough to support the essay.
Begin with a narrative of whatever story about yourself and/or your family you are examining. This could be, for example, the story of how you and your ancestors came to live in Texas or an account of your professional aspirations or a description of a relatives involvement in the political process or their experiences living during wartime). Another way to focus the essay would be on place: somewhere you grew up or where, say, one set of your great-grandparents lived or just a place that has a special meaning for your family. Yet another option would be institutional: perhaps three generations of your family have been deeply involved with a particular church or a particular school or a particular store or other business or with a particular branch of the U.S. military (like the Marine Corps).
2) Then discuss the overall historical context for the narrative you provided in Step 1. What was going on in the world around them at this time? If you chose a place, how did things change over time at this place and what things did not change? How did this overall context effect what you and/or your family members? How much did the historical context, for example, effect agency? How much did it effect freedom?

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