Emily+Wood


 * Part 1: Historical Inquiry**


 * Part 2: Paul Harvey Rest of the Story**

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 * Part 3: DIgital Video**


 * Part 4: Inquiry Application Essay**
 * Reflection Letter**


 * Inquiry Rubric**

As I said in class on Tuesday, I am overwhelmed by this assignment already. I cannot stay on one train of thought long enough to chose anyone topic. I keep getting hung up on the fact that I am trying to use a topic that I can use in my classroom. There are several topics that I am interested in but if I am going to become an expert on something I feel like it should be something that will benefit my content area knowledge. I do however think I have narrowed it down to three choices: 1) The history of South Africa, specifically Nelson Mandela and the history leading up to the apartheid, or maybe something earlier like DeBeers effect on the Ivory Coast. I became really interested in South Africa last year when I took a course on it and would love to learn more about its history. I think Africa has a very unique and interesting history that often gets overlooked. 2) I also have always been interested in early American authors. Edgar Allen Poe has always been one of my favorite authors and I really like the Romantic time period but I don't actually know why. If I sit down to think about, I don't actually know very much about the time period that I claim to love. Are there any trends? Did the early authors influence each other? 3) Flipping back to history, I have always had an interest in the American Revolution and the time period surrounding those events. Boston is one of my favorite cities and I would love to learn more about the cities influence on The Revolution. I know a lot of the basic knowledge about the American Revolution but I think it would be really interesting to learn the insider details about what happened during this time period and what life was like for the early American colonists. My problem is that these are all very different topics so I think I am going to have to do some more stewing before I actually settle down and pick one.

Questions:
 * What were the trends in early American authors?
 * How did early American authors compare to early British writers?
 * How did the time period effect early American writers vs. early British writers?


 * What was the impact of Boston on the American Revolution?
 * Where would the United States be today without the American Revolution?
 * What was life like in Colonial times?


 * What events led to apartheid in South Africa?
 * What was life like for the people of South Africa in the 1960s?
 * How did the landscape of Africa effect The Scramble?

Ok scratch everything above! Hopefully I have settled on a topic, if I can come up with a semi-good question (drum roll please) Questions:
 * What was/is first ladies affects on their husbands presidential success? Maybe focusing on how the time periods varied the ladies roles if that is not too broad
 * ex. Abigail Adams, Jackie Kennedy, Eleanor Roosevelt, Hilary Clinton, etc.
 * How has the role of the first lady changed over time?
 * How does the first lady effect the presidency? How much input does she have over her husband?

Possible resources: Anthony J. Eksterowicz, Robert P. Watson [|PS: Political Science and Politics] > Vol. 33, No. 3 (Sep., 2000), pp. 589-595 Published by: American Political Science Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/420863 3. Cokie, R. (2007). //Ladies of Liberty: The women who shaped our nation.// New York: William Morrow.
 * 1) Hall, C. (2008). America's Most Influential First Ladies. //WWD: Women's Wear Daily//, //196//(97), 12-1NULL. Retrieved from Business Source Premier database.
 * 2) [|Treatment of First Ladies in American Government and Presidency Textbooks: Overlooked, Yet Influential, Voices]

Also, specific bios of select presidents John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Franklin Roosevelt, John Kennedy, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama looking for information on their wives.

//From Dr. Lee//

The topic is interesting and has some potential. You will need to think about how you can push this beyond just summarizing the secondary sources you mentioned. You might be able to do some interesting work just by doing a quantitative analysis of the first ladies. You could collect information such as - birth places - ages - number of children - life before the White House - public role while first lady - public role after presidency - other??

Presidential rankings http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_rankings_of_Presidents_of_the_United_States