Tryon Palace

Focus on issues of race, class, gender, and community in your outside research and critical analysis.
Historical Project:
Choose a historic site in North Carolina (state or federal site, interpretive center, exhibit, etc.) to visit and
relate its significance to NC history. YOUR SUBJECT MUST BE APPROVED BY ME AHEAD OF
TIME in the proper assignment submission box in Module 4 (Due Fri. Feb. 3 at midnight). Projects must
be 3 full pages and no more than 4 pages, 12-point font, double-spaced analysis with standard margins.
Save as a Word document AND NOT AS A PDF. Add a title page (not in your page count). Your sources
should include at least one primary source and four secondary sources. These projects are worth 300 points, SO TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY and must include:
1) TITLE PAGE: Title of Project, Author’s Name, HIST 341-52, and Date.
2) BODY: Include short introduction, history, and a description of the site’s official website; follow with a
critical analysis of how the website presents the site’s history and your conclusion of what it should add
to improve its message to visitors (NO headings or sub-headings. NO direct quotes.).
3) BE SURE to PLACE the site into its historical context.
a. Why is/was this site important in shaping North Carolina’s history (or American history).
b. Provide a short, but well-researched background history about the site using your outside sources
(not the website).
c. Next, describe how the official site presents its history to the visitor. How is its interpretation to
the public conducted? What categories does it take the visitor through? (I am not interested in its
hours of operation or other general information.) For instance, in its public presentation does the
website cover any descriptions of issues relating to race, gender, class, or community from its
historic period? (All are not always applicable.) What does the website want to project to the
viewer? Have you provided details of the virtual tour or interpretation that explain what a visitor
could expect to see or hear if they toured the same website or visited in-person?
d. Consider if the website glosses over or ignores important parts of the history that you found
important in the conduct of your outside research. If so, what could it do better?
e. If you choose, you may include a PowerPoint presentation. If so, turn in only a 3-page paper, but
realize that the PP must be adequate (correct in grammar; avoid flashy presentations). The PP
should accompany or add to your written paper and not merely reiterate the same information. I
suggest photos, maps, graphs, or short text in bullet form.
f. Either a Bibliography or Works Cited page IS REQUIRED (not part of the paper’s page count):
You must use at least one primary source and four secondary sources. Wikipedia or other such
online sources are not acceptable; use only academic journal articles, ebooks, or books.
If you are not a history major or minor, Within the text of your paper, you MUST include parenthetical
references citing your source(s) and a Works Cited page (MLA);

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