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ENGL 106 / 108: Teaching Assistant Guide For Implementation of Archives and Special Collections into Freshman Composition

A guide for Teaching Assistants for implementing Purdue Archives and Special Collections into their freshman composition courses.

"The life of every man is a diary in which he means to write one story, and writes another." J. M. Barrie

Autographed photograph of J. M. Barrie. From Purdue's Charles and Alice Shaw Major papers.

Autographed photograph of J. M. Barrie. From Purdue's Charles and Alice Shaw Major papers.

Testimonials

English 106 Student: "I believe that anyone can walk into the Purdue Archives and forge their own connections with the past."

English 106 Student: "Getting hands on experience with aged material makes you realize the importance of an artifact. Sure the Internet is a more convenient resource, but to be able to touch newspapers, books, and journals that were printed and written sixty years ago is an indescribable feeling."

English 106 Student: "By the end of my experience with the archives, I really felt a sense of pride with my finished product." 

Hand-Out

This hand-out was designed for the use of English 106 and 108 students. It serves as a friendly reminder of guidelines and what to expect when visiting the Purdue Archives and Special Collections as well as citation information. This is also a useful tool for T.A.s who may need a refresher on the archival research process.

Assignments & Example of Completed Assignments

The website below was created by a group of English 106 students for their final project during Fall 2012. They were asked to expand upon an assignment from the semester, and this group chose to expand their archives profile assignment.

http://portaltothepast.weebly.com/index.html

Document Analysis Worksheets and Guides

Below is a link to helpful document analysis worksheets that were designed and developed by the Education Staff of the National Archives and Records Administration. This may prove useful in helping your students to work through and analyze materials they find in the Purdue Archives and Special Collections.

Worksheets:

http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/worksheets

Below is a link to helpful teacher's guides designed by the Library of Congress to aid teachers in explaining how to analyze primary source materials to their students.

Teacher's Guides:

http://www.loc.gov/teachers/usingprimarysources/guides.html

Citing Archival Materials