Empire’s Crossroads: “Introduction” and Chapter 6 “World at War”

Empire’s Crossroads: “Introduction” and Chapter 6 “World at War”

Empire’s Crossroads: Weekly responses (“reading journal”) see attachment.

The purpose of the “reading journals” is, “[to ask] students [to] express in writing their own personal interests and insights [from a reading] and build on the skills they already intuitively possess: the ability to observe, to listen, to take notes, to reflect on their notes, and to ask questions that are borne out of a sense of genuine curiosity.”

Please read all instructions before submitting assignment. Keep in mind our Academic History & Community Guidelines

Here is what you do after reading those chapters: Write a response (about four paragraphs) sharing what you found most interesting, illuminating, etc. from those chapters.

I gave you some ideas of what you could focus on or write about, but ultimately, is your personal/academic response to those chapters.

Here are the instructions from the assignment page in Canvas:

Each week you will post a response to at least one chapter of the assigned reading Empire’s Crossroads: A History of the Caribbean from Columbus to the Present Day (Also referred to as EC in the assignments).

Each week you will be assigned a chapter(s) to read and respond.

The response should gather your thoughts and notes together into a few paragraphs (Four Minimum) of informal prose (please adhere to basic style rules, however–spelling, punctuation, etc.) If you note a specific quotation or fact from the book, please note its page number or location (eBook) if possible. E.g., Gibson states, “Europeans did not stand idly by while smallpox swept through [the Americas].” (16).

If you refer to outside sources, please note the source but for the purposes of this informal writing assignment you are not required to use footnotes/bibliography. Simply identify the source, e.g., “In her article “The Columbian Exchange” Maria Diaz notes that . . ..” You are encouraged to bring in outside sources, but it is not a requirement.

As you read pay attention to and take notes (including page numbers as needed) on the chapter at hand. Focus on people, places, events, ideas, and/or historical context that interest you. Ideas of specific things to pay attention to might be:

• significant historical actors
• significant events
• significant places
• gender relations
• race
• religion
• social class
• flora/fauna (plants and animals)
• food and cuisine
• resources/commodities
• Columbian Exchange/Ecological Imperialism
• empire/imperialism

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