Thursday, September 19, 2019

How can I research two historical people or organizations and contrast their lives and purpose in honor of Black History Month?

The best way to begin this research is to google each option given by your teacher, and then read a little about each to find the two persons you would like to write about.
Once you determine the subjects of your research, it becomes important to determine the questions you will ask about those subjects to find out what you will write about. Luckily, your teacher provided several of those questions, making your job much easier.
You may decide to read a little more online to get to know your subjects generally, but it soon becomes important to make it to the library to search for books on your two subjects.
Armed with the questions from your teacher, as well as others you have decided are important, gather the information from books you have obtained from the library and begin to develop a narrative for each person that answers your questions, as well as the questions your teacher provided.
With that information, begin to compare and contrast your two historical persons, and formulate this into your research paper.


The good news is that your instructor gave you many options from which to choose. Now, you have to narrow your choices.
First, Google each name on your list. Google often provides a Wikipedia entry first (Wikipedia is helpful for basic information about backgrounds and is usually correct about that information), which will tell you who each person is and why they mattered. You should select a person whose background coincides with your own interests. For example, if you are interested in feminism, you might want to select a group that includes Shirley Chisholm and Audre Lorde. If you are interested in science, you might choose a group with Dorothy Vaughan, et al. The movie Hidden Figures was about those three women. While you should not use the movie as research (the movie makes some things up, as filmmakers often do), you can use films to help you generate interest, to help you understand something about the time period in which events occurred, and to start off your process of asking questions.
After you have decided on which figures to cover, go to the library and select some texts (e.g., biographies, historical texts) to ensure that you are factually correct when you talk about events, each person's actions, and the socio-political contexts in which they did their work. Be sure to make a parenthetical note showing the page numbers on which you get your information, as well as the author's name. It would look something like this: (Lewis 28). You should also make a list of each book from which you source information, including the author, title, publisher, publishing location, the year of publication, and the type of source (e.g., web, print). You will need this information for your bibliography.
Because your instructor wants a log of your research, take careful notes. Each note-taking session should be dated. Write down interesting facts, as well as the key details that your instructor requires. Find out what the adults in your life know about these people. If they do not know anything at all, mention that, too. Think about why that may be. As you learn more about each figure, think about what else you would like to know. Write down those questions.
In regard to events, your instructor seems to be asking you to record the key events that occurred during the historical figures' lifetimes. However, you may want to confirm that before moving forward with the project.
I hope this helps. Happy researching!

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