What is the significance of Los Angeles’ history
For your Final Assignment, I’d like you to look back over the course and consider the questions I asked at the beginning of the syllabus: What is the significance of Los Angeles’ history? Is the city unique for its enormous economic and cultural influences on the rest of the nation and the world? Or does its history reflect a path of urban development being followed in hundreds or thousands of other places? The easiest answer is that it’s both of those things, but in this assignment I would like you to take a position, and I would like you to support your answer by describing and analyzing at least two specific examples from any of the course materials (readings, presentations, and videos).
You may write a 4-5 page paper (1200-1500 words). This should include all the elements of an academic paper, including an introduction with a thesis statement, body paragraphs that present and analyze specific evidence, smooth transitions linking the paragraphs, and a conclusion that reflects on the significance of the paper’s argument. Be sure to cite specific information and quotes drawn from sources, using simple parenthetical citations at the end of the relevant sentence as you have been doing all quarter. Books should be cited with author and page number, presentations can be cited as (Week 8 VoiceThread) and videos with just their title.
-These are all the chapters I had to read for the course. Obviously you don’t have to read all of it, just scan for examples that go with your thesis. I need specific examples for two sources and this time please do in paragraph citations. We received an 80% for the last paper so for this one I am willing to give a good tip for an A paper!:
Week 1 (April 3 – 9)
Pre-Colonial Southern California
Work Due for Week 1
Syllabus Quiz
Reading: McWilliams, Chapters I & II; L. Mark Raab, “Political Ecology of Prehistoric Los Angeles” (link)
VoiceThread Presentation: Change and Adaptation
Week 2 (April 10 – 16)
Colonial Los Angeles: The Spanish and the Californios
Work Due for Week 2
Reading: McWilliams, Chapters III & IV; Dana, Two Years Before the Mast, Chapters XVI – XVIII (link)
VoiceThread Presentation: The Spanish and the Californios
Discussion Board
Week 3 (April 17 – 23)
Urban Growth
Work Due for Week 3
Reading: McWilliams, Chapters V – IX; Blake Gumprecht, “Who Killed the Los Angeles River?” (link)
VoiceThread Presentation: A City by a River
Reading Response #1
Week 4 (April 24-30)
Progressive Los Angeles
Work Due for Week 4
Reading: Los Angeles Aqueduct Digital Platform (link); McWilliams, Chapter X; Sánchez, Part Two
VoiceThread Presentation: LA’s Great Thirst
Discussion Board
Quiz #1
Week 5 (May 1 – 7)
LA Culture in the Boom Years
Work Due for Week 5
Reading: McWilliams, Chapters XI – XVI; Sánchez, Part Three
VoiceThread Presentation: Media Empires: Evangelical Religion and Hollywood
Discussion Board
Week 6 (May 8 – 14)
Bust
Work Due for Week 6
Reading: Sánchez, Chapters 10 & 11; Davis, Chapter Two
VoiceThread Presentation: LA’s New Deal
Reading Response #2
Week 7 (May 15 – 21)
World War II in Los Angeles
Work Due for Week 7
Reading: Sánchez, Chapter 12; Avila, Chapter 1
Video: Zoot Suit Riots (link)
VoiceThread Presentation: Wartime Growth, Jobs, and Conflict
Discussion Board
Quiz #2
Week 8 (May 22 – 28)
LA’s Cold War
Work Due for Week 8
Reading: Avila, Chapters 2 & 3; Davis, Chapter 3
VoiceThread Presentation: Suburban Growth and Suburban Politics
Discussion Board
Week 9 (May 29 – June 4)
Growth and the Physical Environment
Work Due for Week 9
Reading: Avila, Chapters 4 & 5; John McPhee, “Los Angeles against the Mountains” (link)
Video: Save the Farm (link)
VoiceThread Presentation: Fires and Floods: Protecting Los Angeles
Reading Response #3
Week 10 (June 5 – 11)
Modern Los Angeles
Work Due for Week 10
Reading: Avila, Chapter 6 & Epilogue; Davis, Chapter 4
ISBN: 978-0520248113CITY OF QUARTZAuthor: Mike Davis
ISBN: 978-1844675685SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: AN ISLAND ON THE LANDAuthor: Carey McWilliams
ISBN: 978-0879050078BECOMING MEXICAN AMERICAN: ETHNICITY, CULTURE, AND IDENTITY IN CHICANO LOS ANGELES, 1900-1945Author: George Sanchez
ISBN: 978-019509648
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