Students will be asked to:
1. Describe the events a
historical object experienced.
2. Describe the purpose
of the object, how it was significant, and how it was used at the time and how
the use of the object evolved over time.
3. Locate and include a
picture of the object found either on the internet or take one of an object in
a museum, antique store, or in their own home.
4. Compose a first person narrative as the object.
Include clues for classmates to determine what the object is, but do not
specifically reveal what the paper is about.
Summative
Assignment
Outcome: Students will compose a first person
descriptive narrative about an object and how it was used in historical events
and how the purpose for the object changed over time.
Assignment
Description: Creative writing assignments
in history encourage students to more fully immerse themselves in an event or
time. Understanding the role of tools or
objects in relation to history is not only interesting but an important part of
telling a historic story. In this
assignment, students will describe in detail the “experience” of an
object. The instructor may want to limit
the object choices for students to a certain period or event, or the instructor
may want to select some famous objects such as the flag raised at Ft. McHenry in 1814 that inspired the Star
Spangled Banner or a
gun carried into a WWI battle. The
student might start with the factory where the guns were created, use in a
training camp for soldiers, it’s time on the battlefield, and then now being
displayed in a museum. While a gun may
appeal to many students and is an obvious choice, encourage student to think
more creatively. The object could
be an old school desk from Little Rock,
Arkansas or a wagon wheel used by a pioneer family traveling west for a new
life and now mounted on a wall in a home.
Encourage creativity, imagery, and attention to detail. Part of the interest in this assignment is
for students to not to identify the object directly in their paper, but rather
provide clues to what it is so classmates have to really pay attention to the
details to figure out each object.
Steps
and Instructor Notes:
1. Collect some images
of objects, or in a face-to-face class bring in some unusual objects, used in a
certain period. Students can also search
for artifacts in their own home or grandparents home that they could tell the
story about. Students could also take
pictures of objects in a museum or antique store.
2. Take a picture of
the object or even multiple pictures of the object from many angles or in use.
3. Research the use of
the object in history. Encourage
students to collect lots of facts and specific examples and then thread a story
together about that object.
4. Write a 3-5 page
creative narrative essay that is grammatically sound in first person as the
object. Do not identify the object in
the narrative and do not include an image that might give away what you
are. However, provide at least one image
to the instructor. (The instructor could
post all the pictures and let students match stories with images or simply provide
images after students have an opportunity to guess.)
Rubric is based on 100 points total but this assignment would
take several days and is very dependent on participation which could be
evaluated many different ways:
10 points-Student submitted a
creative 3-5 page narrative for classmates to read that is in first person and
describes the life of an object.
10 points- Student participated in a discussion about and guessed the object for at least 2 other classmates.
20 points- The description of events and use of the object is historically accurate.
30 points-Student included at least 1 image and was very detailed about the object.
20 points-Overall the student composed a grammatically sound and well-organized document.
10 points-Citation is included in the assignment.
10 points- Student participated in a discussion about and guessed the object for at least 2 other classmates.
20 points- The description of events and use of the object is historically accurate.
30 points-Student included at least 1 image and was very detailed about the object.
20 points-Overall the student composed a grammatically sound and well-organized document.
10 points-Citation is included in the assignment.
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