Living History Project1
You will write a research paper about an event in history. The paper will be written from a first person point of
view. The narrator of your story can be real or imagined. The only restriction is that the event must be
historical and the character cannot be a major player in the event, i.e. you cannot be Napoleon or Alexander
or Hitler. But, you can be a soldier in Napoleon’s army, or Alexander’s slave, or Hitler’s bodyguard. Your
character will be recalling the event in the past tense. You must include a minimum of twenty (20) facts
related to the event (causes, outcome, people, architecture, traditions, cultural artifacts, social structure,
political organizations, food, clothing, tools, etc. – anything that can be researched and cited appropriately.)
Timeline
Day
5/16
5/20
5/22
5/27
5/29
6/2
Task
Introduce project; introduce research tools; brainstorm
In-class: research/write
In-class: research/write; learn Chicago style notation
TBD
In-class: peer review/feedback
TBD
Due
N/A
Event/Narrator
Research notes
working draft
revised draft
Final Version
Possible list of events (you choose what you want)
1. Building the Pyramids
2. Sinking of the Titanic
3. Black Plague in Eurasia
4. First flight of the space shuttle
5. Any major battle: Marathon (Greeks v Persians), D-Day Invasion (WW2), Cannae (Rome v Carthage),
Gettysburg (Civil War), Verdun (WW1), Nanking (China v Japan), Persian Gulf (Iraq v US), Stalingrad (WW2),
etc.
6. Columbine
7. Siege or fall of a city: Rome, Byzantium, Tenochtitlan (Spanish v Aztec), Saigon (US v North Vietnam), etc.
8. 9/11
9. Invention of the light bulb
10. Viking Raid on an Irish monastery
11. Mongol Invasion (Russia, Middle East, Central Asia, China)
12. European exploration of New World
13. Marco Polo visits Chinese Court
14. Any revolution or rebellion: Slave revolt in Rome, American Rev, French Rev, Haitian, Russian, Chinese,
Arab Spring, etc.
15. Cold War: spying, building NORAD, Berlin Wall coming down, Cuban Missile Crisis, Iran Hostage, etc.
16. Trail of Tears
17. Gunfight at the OK Corral
18. Michelangelo sculpts David
19. Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
20. EVENT OF YOUR CHOICE – let your interest and imagination guide you, but, it must be approved by me
first!
1
Heckenlaible, Cindy, The Research Paper: Engaging Students in Academic Writing. National Writing Project. March, 2008. Accessed
May 12, 2014.
Event
Columbine Massacre
1999
Jackie Robinson’s first game
Baseball
1947
Plague in London
1665
Vasco da Gama reaches India
Age of Exploration
1498
Narrators