Ms. Manchac’s Summer Assignment Welcome to APUSH 2012-2013 Ms. Manchac’s Summer Assignment

How do I complete the assignment? Choose a theme. -American Diversity -Reform -American Slavery and its Legacy -War and Diplomacy Select/view your movies and complete your readings. Complete your written assignment. Answer your discussion questions. Staple everything together, put your name on it and smugly hand it in on the first day of class in August.

What makes a great assignment? You have a thesis statement for each source/movie that answers the question. You include several pieces of SPECIFIC evidence from the source on which you are writing along with a brief explanation as to how this evidence supports your point (we scholars call this “analysis” and it’s important!) Note: This advice applies for both the note taking portion of your assignment as well as the discussion questions over your theme.

Manchac’s Summer Assignment Pro-tips Are you unfamiliar with a person, place, or thing in your assignment? GOOGLE IT! Understanding the time, place and background of a source or film is important to understanding the author’s purpose or what it says about that topic. Remember: A movie is just as representative of the time that it was made as the time that it is depicting. Knowing this will add a new dimension to your analysis. When all else fails, ASK THE TEACHER! That’s what I’m here for and I promise I won’t charge you too much 

I hear your class is difficult, how can I prepare over the summer? Read! Watch the news. Read the newspaper. Begin reading A People’s History of the United States of America by Howard Zinn. (it’s available for FREE online!) Manchac.wordpress.com

FACT. The NUMBER 1 cause of failure in APUSH is a low homework grade because of missing assignments. DON’T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU!