SDSU History House of Burgesses Presentation

My teacher’s words are under this and most importantly.. the format is a google slides or PowerPoint presentation with words and pictures

History is not just the sum of events or circumstances. It is also the sum of the lives of people who lived in the past and have contributed to our present. This research project asks you to become a biographer – to write a short presentation in biographical format telling the story of someone from American history. You have a hint of how provocative and interesting the lives of others from the past can be from reading the article “25 Moments from American History that Matter Right Now.” This is your chance to write history.

The process will go like this:

• This is an individual research project
• Your task is to research the life of an individual who has contributed to the history of what we call America today.
• This can be anyone covered within our course chronology: from the beginning of American history to the time of Reconstruction after the Civil War. This means anyone from the 20th Century can’t be used.
• Essentially you are writing a biography of this person
• Your biography should be produced as a presentation in Power Point or Google Slides format with adequate descriptive text and images.
• It should take approximately five minutes to read or listen to (if you want to get fancy and add audio).

Your biography should include:

• An outline of the individual’s life.
• An account of the significant events, challenges, circumstances, achievements and failures.
• Incorporate the analytical concepts we have frequently employed this semester in formulating our understanding of the past: causality, change/continuity, contingency, context, complexity.
• Reference to the source material you have found to build your biography.
• An explanation why you chose this individual and also why you think their life has significance not only for their times but also for today.
• I will give extra points if I learn about someone really unusual whose significance has been overlooked, but who has direct relevance for the times we live in.

Your presentation will be graded on:

• Evidence of research
• Logical structure
• Sophistication
• Appropriate length
• Originality
• Accuracy