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Please finish the assignment with guidelines shown in file “stage ‘a’ template,” “stage a general &
task 1,” and “stage a task 2” for more details.
Please do not plagiarize and do not use any AI tools for this analysis. Cite the
source you used. Very important!!!!!!!!!!!
HIS72A – WQ20234
– Stage ‘a’: The purpose of the assignment is to deconstruct a professional scholar’s paper,
before constructing a paper or other project of your own. Your goals are:
1) to be able to pick out the main argument, & then sum it up in 1, & only one, sentence.
2) to be able to recognize what I am calling ‘supporting-arguments’ that make the case for the
main argument, & to differentiate these ‘supporting-arguments’ from ‘data’
3) to practice getting as much information as you can from a paper using brief, to-the-point
notes, without a ton of excess words.
Stage ‘a’ is made up of 6 tasks, none of which need take you a long time. The directions for
all of the tasks are described in detail in documents in the ‘stage a’ folder, which is nested
under the ‘information for term project folder’ under the ‘files’ tab. There is also a
‘template’ in the folder that shows you how to organize your paper. (I’ve used boxes &
different colours to help make formatting clear – you may just use text.) Do not be afraid
to ask for clarification if you need it.
– Stage ‘a’ *does* need to be in a standard, 12 point font.
– This stage should *not* be double-spaced. The formatting & understanding what should go
where are the important presentation skills for spacing & organization.
– Within those guidelines, you have some flexibility: you may use task #, or identify your parts
by what they are (eg ‘evidence for sub-point 1’, or ‘main argument’). If you format your paper
*exactly* like the template, so that your TA can tell what is what without labels, that’s fine
with me, but your TA is doing the grading. Find out any specifics that your TA wants to
make their lives easier, & grading faster.
– **Stage ‘a’ absolutely should not be more than 3 pages, & 2 pages is ideal**
Formal Writing Stage ‘a’ directions task #1
Reason why you are doing this: It is exceedingly difficult to structure a formal history paper, if
you have never taken one apart. Your mission in Stage ‘a’ is to ‘chart’ or ‘dissect’ (or however
you want to describe it) a paper by a professional scholar. You will be stripping the reading down
to its absolutely essential parts.
I will give you a separate document (in this same file folder) with a more visual template of
*exactly* how I want you to format your answer. *You do NOT need yours to be in colour.*
That is meant to make things a bit more visually clear for you. I will explain the first task for the
assignment in text below.
HIS72A – WQ20234
I have posted 2 readings by Anne Fausto-Sterling in this ‘stage a’ folder. These were written 7
years apart, so as you gut them, you will want to look at the earlier one (1993) first, & then the
later one (2000). These papers were written by a well-known, well-respected, & often well-hated
professional scholar.
Find out some things about the author that will help you to contextualize her work, &
especially these papers
**I do not require nor want full sentences & formal writing here. Note at least 3 points that
will be relevant to understanding her papers & a *brief* indication of why it might matter *to
understanding her papers.*
I haven’t read the wikipedia entry on her carefully, but it is sort of meh, beyond the most basic
information in the ‘life & career’ section. I trust you all implicitly, & I would start with
Wikipedia myself, but please, please don’t put down information from Wikipedia that is
irrelevant or a distraction; & beware the sentence that mentions one of the papers you are
reading! While not technically untruthful, it lacks any context that would make it really useful to
you.
There is *a lot* out there if you google her name. Some of it has reliable information, & some of
it does not. This is background information, so you do not need to cite your source(s) in a formal
manner, BUT you should at least have the link.
examples: (you may use the good one, but then you must also come up with an entry of your
own, as well!)
good: Ph.D. Brown Uni, 1970, in developmental genetics [well established by the time she wrote
even the earlier article; knowledgeable in sciences she talks about; has a top level degree from a
well respected university]
This one is good because it is (a) brief! it puts a lot of information into a small space, & (b) gives
relevant information & indicates why it is relevant without going on & on – short & to the point.
I am ok with abbreviations as long as you can explain what they are & why they are there if your
TA can’t figure it out & asks you.
NOT good: Anne Fausto-Sterling was born on July 30, 1944.
This one is NOT what I want here because it takes up a lot of space with almost no relevant
information.
HIS72A – WQ20234
•
(a) What you are doing here is prep work to contextualize the papers. Do not repeat
information in stage a. We already know for this assignment that you are going to be
writing about Fausto-Sterling; there is no reason to name her in what are meant
eventually to be brief notes for yourself,
•
(b) Do not use extra words when unnecessary – ‘born’ would do here, rather than ‘was
born’, although …
•
(c) … I cannot imagine why the fact that she was born in late July would be relevant to
understanding her papers. Get rid of information that is irrelevant. The year of her
birth *might* be relevant in the sense that it gives an idea of when she was studying, but
then why not just note when she was studying?
HIS72A – WQ2024
Formal Writing Stage ‘a’ directions
task #2
Now that you know something about the author that helps you to contextualize
their paper(s), what can you find out about relevant issues in American history
at the time the paper was written?
By now I’d like you to have some idea of why that particular historical context
matters. If you are uncertain, review / watch relevant lecture video, ask your TA in
section, discuss with classmates on DisCord & / or reach out to me. Not everything
makes sense to everyone right away. Look for clarity, rather than suffering in
silence.
Many of the directions here are similar to task #1: **I do not require nor want
full sentences & formal writing here. Note at least 3 points that will be relevant
to understanding the historical context in which the scholar (Fausto-Sterling) wrote
the papers & a *brief* indication of why it might matter *to understanding her
papers.*
Think about what how the historical context has changed relative to FaustoSterling’s topics & arguments from 1993 (earlier paper), to 2000 (later paper), to
2024 (now).
Task #1 – author information
•
Keep your information within an area no larger than this box, using
a standard 12 point font, & single spacing
•
organize this information so that your TA can read it
•
follow directions for this stage in files [ie material should be
concise & relevant]
Task #2 – historical context in which the paper(s)
was / were published
•
Keep your information within an area no larger than this box, using
a standard 12 point font, & single spacing
•
organize this information so that your TA can read it
•
follow directions for this task in the ‘formal writing: stage a’ files
Task #3: choose one of the 2 Fausto-Sterling articles in the stage ‘a’
folder. Indicate your choice here with article title & publication date
Task #4: Write the main argument of the paper you have chosen in a
single sentence
Task #5: Write the 1st supporting-argument of
the paper you have chosen in a single sentence
Task #6: Make a bullet-point list of evidence presented by
the author to back up &/or illustrate their 1st supportingargument
Task #5: Write the 2nd supporting-argument of
the paper you have chosen in a single sentence
Task #6: Make a bullet-point list of evidence presented by
the author to back up &/or illustrate their 2nd supportingargument
Repeat Task #5 until you have listed all of the supporting-arguments of the
paper you have chosen, each in a single sentence
Task #6: Make a bullet-point list of evidence presented by
the author to back up &/or illustrate each of their remaining
supporting-arguments
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