English 1102 Artifact Assignment
We will begin the process of conducting research for your Paper Two: Historical Research Paper soon. This
paper will require you to try to explain how a newspaper, magazine, or other periodical feels about an issue,
event, or person during a specified period of time between 1900-1989. The following activity will help you to
practice the skills that you will need in order to be successful on Paper Two. Please follow the steps below to
complete this assignment.
Steps
1. Read the Paper Two: Historical Research Paper Assignment that is online. You can find the assignment
by clicking on the link on the Composition II webpage that shares the name of the assignment. That link
will take you to a page that contains all of the resources that you will need for the assignment.
2. Review the Atlanta Journal Constitution artifacts and Pittsburg Courier artifacts. You may find the
artifacts on the Paper Two: Historical Research Page near the bottom of the page. (Do not try to print
them out on campus. For some reason, our library and computer labs distort the images when students
print them out. You have several ways to view the material. I have copies on reserve in the library that
you can copy. You may try to print them on your personal computer. They print fine for me on my
office and home computers.) You may also simply review the material online.
3. Analyze each page of artifacts. With your analysis of each artifact, you should try to answer the
following research questions:
How does the Atlanta Journal Constitution feel about women’s changing roles in American society
during the 1920s.
How does the Pittsburg Courier (An African American Newspaper) feel about the African American
poor and working class?
4. You do not have to analyze any advertisements. Everything else that is on the page is available for
analysis. You are essentially conducting a Rhetorical Analysis that requires you to point to specific
evidence that reveals the newspaper paper’s attitude. Be able to explain how how each page reflects the
Atlanta Journal Constitution’s attitude toward women in the 1920s and the Pittsburg Courier’s attitude
toward poor and working class African Americans in the 1920s and 1930s. Consider the following:
a. What do the size, shape and font of the artifact tell you?
b. What type of language is used in the artifact?
c. What contextual connections are related to and included in this artifact?
d. You are essentially conducting a Rhetorical Analysis that explains how the periodical argues
about women or poor African Americans.
e. Who is the target audience for the artifact?
5. Bring your notes with you to class on January 26, 2015