Project: History of New York City-Change and Growth Unit
Background: Five Points is New York City's famous (or infamous) neighborhood. It was named for the
points created by the intersection of Park, Worth, and Baxter streets in lower Manhattan. The
neighborhood was known as a center of crime and sin. Outsiders found Five Points threatening, a slum;
from the inside it was a thriving working-class neighborhood. Though unique and extreme, the
development of Five Points is typical of many of the changes that occur within many U.S. cities during
throughout the 1800’s. Urbanization, the physical growth of urban areas, is closely linked to
industrialization, immigration, and reform movements.
Task
Create an informative/explanatory powerpoint presentation in which your group to describe
and analyze some of the topics associated with the urbanization of the Five Points neighborhood of New
York City.
Criteria for Success
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Introduce the topic of urbanization of the Five Points neighborhood of New York City by:
narrating an anecdote to show first-hand experience/observation,
describing to create a mood or emotion,
using a direct quotation,
presenting a startling fact or statistic,
or by
 asking a provocative question.
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Develop a controlling idea on urbanization of the Five Points neighborhood of New York City by
making a main idea statement that will be supported with:
appropriate facts,
details,
artifacts
quotations,
and
other types of evidence
 Create cohesion and clarify the relationship among ideas and concepts by:
 dividing the subject into topics and subtopics,
 using academic vocabulary.
and by
 using transition words and phrases.
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Use, and provide clear definitions of, domain-specific words and terms to inform about and
explain the topic.
 Establish and maintain a formal style by:
 writing in the third person point-of-view,
 avoiding slang, colloquialisms, and cyber-speak,
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communicating in serious tone or "voice",
using a 12 point font (Times New Roman or Arial),
double spacing the text
A title for the paper and for each topic,
An introduction paragraph,
At least one body paragraph focusing on each topic,
A concluding paragraph,
and by
 Appropriate English conventions (grammar, spelling, punctuation).
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Provide a concluding section which refers back to and supports your controlling idea and establishes
a sense of closure.
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Requirements:
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While you need an opening and closing slide, you should develop these LAST.
Each member of your group will choose ONE of the topics from the list below to research and
write about. Develop a title for each topic. You may need to write multiple slides for each topic.
The opening and closing must be distributed by two different group members.
o The opening should introduce the background and develop a thesis. Reveal the thesis;
don’t keep the audience/reader in suspense.
o The closing should be reflective. Turn your arguments over to the audience/reader.
Don’t dribble out.
I will choose one person to be responsible for collecting and organizing the different slides.
While we will be doing research in class over the period, you should find some outside resources
as well.
SOME of the available topics:
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Human-Environmental Interaction
Socio-Economic Status and Signs of Wealth and Poverty
Race
Urbanization: The development of a City
Living Conditions
Health Concerns
Immigration
Tensions and Conflicts between inhabitants
Crime and Violence
Prejudice and Discrimination