HUM199H Assignments

Major Writing Assignment

The major writing assignment in HUM199H is a 2,500-3,000-word (10-12 double-spaced pages typed in 12-point font) research essay, which critically analyzes the “official story” as presented in The Warren Commission Report. The essay should focus clearly and specifically on a controversial claim of the Warren Commission relating to one of the following topics:

• Source of the shots
• Number of shots
• Validity of the single-bullet theory
• Oswald's guilt in shooting President Kennedy and/or Governor Connally
• Oswald's guilt in shooting Officer Tippitt
• The identity and/or motives of Oswald
• Evidence of conspiracy involving Oswald and/or others (including government officials)

Please note that the above topics are much too large to be covered adequately in the assigned academic essay. The initial challenge will be to define the topic in much narrower terms in order to address a specific evidentiary issue which its raises. The ultimate goal will be to formulate a thesis for the essay that can be supported with empirical evidence from varied and reliable sources. The analysis should start with a review of the evidence presented in the Warren Commission Report to support the particular claim that you are examining, followed by evidence which refutes or challenges the claim. What broader conclusion do you draw from this particular controversy?

This writing assignment will be submitted in three stages:

1. The first draft of the research proposal of 1,000 words (3-4 double-spaced pages typed in 12-point font) to be submitted on Monday 6 October 2008. This reseach proposal will present in essay form (a) the specific topic of the essay, (b) the precise thesis statement of the essay, (c) the key supporting points of the analysis, and (d) the final bibliography or works cited. The first draft of the research proposal will be returned to you on Monday 20 October 2008 with substantial comments and suggestions for improvement.
2. The revised edition of the research proposal (same length and content as specified above) to be submitted on Monday 10 November 2008. This version will be returned by Monday 24 November 2008. Assuming that it is an improvement over the first draft, the revised proposal will be graded out of 20%, with 10% assigned for the quality of writing and 10% assigned for the nature of the information literacy consultation with the Innis College Library Coordinator.
3. The final draft of the research essay (as specified above) to be submitted on Monday 8 December 2008. This essay, worth 40% of the final grade, will be evaluated in accordance with the criteria outlined in the Evaluation Checklist posted on the website.

Some class time is being devoted to evaluating sample essays which have successfully responded to this essay topic. The research for this essay should start with reading the relevant sections of The Warren Commission Report and Michael Kurtz's The JFK Assassination Debates. This research should be supplemented by relevant online reading provided in the Online Resources section of the course website and in the Other Assigned Readings section of the website's Forum.

In-class Writing Term Test (Monday 1 December 2008, 2-4 pm in Room 312)

Compare and contrast the nature, use, and impact of the evidence presented to support the arguments in the two articles below. In the final analysis, how do these two articles reflect the illusion and reality of evidence?

Please keep in mind that both articles are journalistic in nature and thus do not include the usual documentation that would be found in academic writing. The purpose of the exercise is to assess the quality of argumentation presented in these critiques of the Warren Commission written in the mid 1960s and reflective of the debate between "lone gun" and "conspiracy" perspectives.

You have less than two hours of class time to write out your response. A reasonable length is 500-750 words depending on your writing speed. This term test is worth 20% of the final grade.