American History Assignment: Source Analysis
In our our second analysis assignment, we will consider a a primary source: a famous political cartoon titled "School Begins" published in Puck magazine on January 25, 1899. Puck was the first successful humor magazine in the United States; it offered colorful cartoons as well as caricatures and political satire of the issues of the day. It was founded in 1871 as a German-language publication and ceased publication in 1918.
The cartoon "School Begins" addresses the nature of American imperialism that manifested itself in the late nineteenth century. According to Lesson 19 in our online textbook, "The period from 1890 to 1914 witnessed the birth and early life of an American empire. The United States joined European powers like Great Britain and Germany in a race to establish colonies and project its economic forces abroad."
Proceed with the Source Analysis 2 assignment in this way:
• Read Unit 6/Lesson 19 ("American Empire") in our online textbook available within eCampus and view the accompanying video.
• View the cartoon "School Begins" made available to you through The American Yawp, the online US history textbook you encountered in Source Analysis 1.
• Once you are at the cartoon within The American Yawp, click on the cartoon itself to enlarge it, enabling you to view all the details.
• Create a one-page source analysis that explores the images in the cartoon and speculates on the cartoon's intended political message.
• POINT OF INTEREST: The original cartoon caption reads: "Uncle Sam (to his new class in Civilization) - Now children, you've go to learn these lessons whether you want to or not. But just look at the class ahead of you, and remember that, in a little while, you will feel as glad to be here as they are." You can see the caption in the image below, though it is cut off of the image in The American Yawp.
• Consider the information at SOURCE ANALYSES / GENERAL INFORMATION where you will find format instructions and the grading rubric.
• As to formatting your one-page source analysis essay, let me introduce two new issues for you to consider;
o First, write concisely. Your one-page essay may be longer the one page, but I will consider only the first page in grading your essay.
o Either single space the MLA header, or delete it altogether to give yourself more room to write.
• Also consider the information at SOURCE ANALYSES / ONLINE RESOURCES where you will find resources critical to earning a good grade on this assignment
• Do not fail to locate and draw upon an external scholarly source to give context to your one page analysis (please do not draw upon our eCampus textbook or The American Yawp; use the online sources I have provided to independently locate an external source).
NOTE: You will want to include the source your are analyzing on your Works Cited list. The recommended citation for your source, with hanging indent applied, is:
Locke, Joseph and Ben Wright. "American Empire." The American Yawp: A Massively Collaborative Open US History Textbook,
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
1. The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also Include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.