Assignment Instructions/ Description
Throughout this course we’ve engaged the notion that the way in which history is written and/or told could arguably be more important than the actual history itself. Historical narratives are rarely objective. In fact, they’re subject to the societies that create them; in turn, the "story" is meant to perpetuate the society that created it. Given this inherent interest, historical narratives often overlook certain people, ideas, or events while emphasizing others. In many cases, events are entirely manufactured or reshaped. In this fashion, history begins to resemble mythology. And these myths shape identity, politics, economics, spirituality, gender roles, social hierarchy, conflict theories, and a host of other sociological and psychological facets. They serve as Ethically Constitutive Stories. They inform the above mentioned aspects of individuals and societies to help condition people; they may assign roles, encourage patriotism, promote exceptionalism, found unity, create “others,” among a host of other consequential results. The modern United States is not exempt from a mythological understanding of itself. Your aim is to identify, critique, and analyze the effect of a myth (or myths) of your choice within the U.S. Your choices may range between 1492 and 2010. Although your chosen myth(s) may be reflective of the places and times they were produced, all strive to transcend those temporal and geographical confines and contribute to the larger narrative of the U.S. I want you to write a paper that considers the following questions: How does [your chosen myth] seek to shape or condition people? Moreover, in what ways does this myth reinforce U.S. social roles/norms, political and/or economic participation, patriotism, exceptionalism, unity or "othering?" (Not all these aspects have to apply.) This paper must be thesis-driven (answering the question above) and argumentation should be backed with primary, secondary, or course-based evidence. *For those struggling to come with a U.S. myth, feel free to email me. Requirements: *Three to Four (3-4) pages.
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