Create a thread for your 1000-word short essay. The theme is: “Ambiguity in History.” You will need to find a topic that we have covered in class up to this point (a person, an era, a war, a battle, etc.) and then investigate that topic analyzing the “ambiguity” in sources/information. To phrase this another way: find a topic that interests you that we have covered this semester, and talk about how history, specifically your chosen topic, can be ambiguous (as in, how facts can be “inconclusive” or even contradictory, or how perspectives on history are shaped by culture.) An example from another class (so that I don’t use any of your ideas) would be explaining possible reasons for how the numbers of casualties from the War of 1812 are unclear, and how the war is taught differently in American schools versus British and Canadian schools.
You must find at least two opposing expert sources for your chosen topic, but they have to be the same type of account: either both sources have to be primary/eye-witness accounts, or both have to be secondary accounts/reviews/perspectives of your chosen topic. Finally, after summarizing the two opposing views and explaining how they’re similar and different, analyze and explain (in your own words) how certain events/people/eras/etc. can be distorted or clouded with regards to history. Conclude your essay by stating which viewpoint you believe is more accurate, and then discuss if you believe that your own perspectives and culture have influenced your research and opinions on the sources.
Use Turabian/Chicago format for your essay; this means using the link provided below to help format the citations for your two sources in a Works Cited/Bibliography page AND footnotes.
http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/turabian/turabian-notes-and-bibliography-citation-quick-guide.html