Short Story
Students may choose to write a historical short story set in the time frame we are covering this quarter (1950-1980). The story must have a beginning, middle and end. The protagonist of the story must be fictional and he/she must interact with some actual historical people. The traditional structure for a story is Exposition → Rising Action → Climax → Falling Action → Resolution. The story must focus on US History although it may take place outside of the USA. Students are graded on their historical information as well as the smoothness of their story.
Your story may include some fantastical elements (time travel, aliens, magic, whatever) but what I am really looking for is historical information. You must demonstrate that you did some research on a historical event / time period / person and included it in the story.
Some suggested plot ideas:
“The time machine door opened…” Start with this phrase and go from there. This is nice and easy because it allows your character to experience the historical setting as an outsider and makes it easy for the student to describe the setting.
Romeo and Juliet – Might as well steal from the greats. Just go ahead an copy Romeo and Juliet. Two star-crossed lovers. Just pick a conflict and put one character on one side of it and the other character on the other side of it.
Some suggested historical events:
Civil Rights Movement
Vietnam War
Korean War
Space Race
Economic problems of 1970s
Nixon Administration
1960s counter culture
Birth of Rock and Roll
201-400
Story is exemplary.
The student chose a very good research topic with multiple angles of analysis and used it to tell a compelling high quality story. The story shows different historical perspectives and viewpoints. The plot is clear and makes sense and the characters really feel like they belong in the time period depicted. The paper is clear and the argument makes sense. The quality of work clearly represents a quarter-worth of time and effort.
Typical length for a high scoring paper in this range is 5,500-15,000 words.
Last Completed Projects
| topic title | academic level | Writer | delivered |
|---|