GUIDELINES FOR THE CIVIL WAR SERIES REACTION PAPERS

You may earn a maximum of 50 points by:

l) watching three segments of the PBS Video series, The Civil War, (on reserve in WCC Library & to be viewed in the library, or instructor's copy, borrowed from the library for home viewing or to be rented from Blockbusters, or borrowed from the Hawaii State Public Library for home viewing) and

2) typing a minimum of 3 full pages, (900 words, typed, 12 inch type, double-spaced, regular margins) paper for each segment viewed, i.e., three short papers in all. Each paper is to be approximately divided evenly between A) a summary or synopsis of the segment and B) your personal response/ reaction to that segment, i.e., what surprised, impressed, confused, upset, amused, enlightened, irritated, angered, bored you and why.

Each paper is to be written with proper sentence structure, correct grammar and appropriate punctuation and is worth a maximum of 15 pts. To assist you in writing these papers, you are required to submit a rough draft for the Episode One paper on Tuesday, November 8, 2007. This rough draft is worth a maximum of 3 pts. Individual conferencing with the instructor will follow from Nov. 12 to Nov. 21, 2007. This conference is worth 2 pts.  For full credit, these papers are due November 27 to December 6, 2007, as indicated on the Course Schedule. Late papers will be penalized 2 pts. No paper will be accepted after 1:30 pm on 12/07/2007

There are nine episodes or segments to this series, for a total of 12 hours in all. However, you must view the following three episodes (for about 4.5 hours):

Episode One - The Cause - 1861 (99 min.)

Episode Five -The Universe of Battle (95 min.) Focuses on the Battle of Gettysburg.

Episode Nine - The Better Angels of Our Nature (68 min.) -1865. Covers Appomatox, the assassination of Lincoln, the consequences and meaning of the war and the fate of the main characters.

You can of course view the whole series. I especially recommend Episode Four - Simply Murder -1863 (62 min.) which covers the Northern opposition to Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, the miseries of regimental life, the Confederate home front, and the battles of Chancellorsville and Vicksburg, Episode Six-Valley of the Shadow of Death- 1864. (70 min.) which includes a biographical comparison of Grant and Lee and chronicles the series of battles that pitted the two generals against each other and Episode Eight - War is Hell - 1865. (69 min.) Sherman's March To The Sea brings war to the heart of Georgia and the Carolinas and spells the end of the Confederacy.