Short Essay #2

This week’s reading by Peter Duffy gives us a clear example of what is known as narrative history; that is, using the tools of narrative to explore the past. For your second Short Essay, I’d like you to take a stab at this by writing your own work of narrative history. The essay you produce must be on a public historical event; or to put it another way, I’m not looking for an autobiographical memoir. Instead, using contemporary newspaper accounts as well as other published sources, I want you to research an event and then develop a narrative retelling of what happened. The final essay must be true to your sources, demonstrate an awareness of how the narrative arc functions, and be eminently readable.