Week 4- Level 2 Challenge Option: Remember the Ladies
REMEMBER THE LADIES
American women have been fighting for equal rights since the dawn of the country. In a letter dated March 31, 1776, Abigail Adams wrote to her husband, John Adams, “...in the new code of laws, which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors.” The modern feminist movement in America can be traced back to the 19th Century when women demanded the right to vote, to divorce their husbands for just cause, to own property, to pursue equal education, and to enter the professions. However, the second wave of feminism in the 1960s brought new urgency and new demands for equity in the workplace, reproductive rights, and broad cultural acknowledgment of misogynistic attitudes and practices. For this Challenge, you will choose one of several pre-selected historical feminist issues, trace this issue from its earliest formation as a series of legal demands for equality, and then follow its trajectory up through its current legislative status. You will create an online interactive timeline that will illustrate and explain the critical events and cultural shifts that influenced the progress—and setbacks—feminists have made in the fight for equality in your chosen topic. Your timeline will serve to educate and inspire those who are searching for a more in-depth understanding of your chosen topic. Keep in mind that your primary goal is to explain the feminist milestones for your chosen topic through your timeline, rather than just give a list of dates and events.
PREPARATION
- Select a historical feminist issue from the list below:
- Violence against women
- Equal pay
- Constitutional and legal rights
- Gender discrimination
- Reproductive rights
- Access to education
- Research your issue to determine milestone events and contributing factors to those events, which will comprise the two “layers” of your timeline.
- Milestone Events include such important events such as the passage of laws, a Supreme Court decisions, etc. Contributing Factors include significant social events and trends that led up to the Milestone Events. Think in terms of decades.
- You should list at least 5 Milestone Events, at least one pre-1900, at least one pre-1977, at least one pre-1990.
- Have a minimum of 1 Contributing Factor for each Milestone Event included on your timeline (For example, if one of your milestone events is the passage of a bill, you should include at least 1 significant social event or trend that led up to the passage of that bill, like a key protest or march, or an influential spokesperson for the cause who made an important speech)
- This means that you should have a minimum total of 10 entries on your timeline. You can see a sample of this structure at: http://timeglider.com/t/9a47c320813b19df?min_zoom=1&max_zoom=100 (Links to an external site.) Links to an external site.
ACTION
Choose a timeline creator:
Create your timeline.
- For each entry on the timeline (both Milestone Events and Contributing Factors), you should include a written explanation of 3-4 sentences AND a multimedia component.
- Based on the timeline site you choose, this can be an image with or without web links, audio files, and videos. This will make your timeline both interesting and understandable to your viewers.
- Hopefully, the finished product will leave both you and your viewers with some powerful images and ideas that will help them ‘remember the ladies.’
REFLECTION
Write a 2-page paper in which you evaluate the progress that women have made based on the issue you explored.
NOTE ON SUBMISSION: Use a Word document or PDF to submit the URL to your timeline and your Reflection component.
RESOURCES
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Title |
“The Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments" by Elizabeth Stanton |
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URL |
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/senecafalls.asp Links to an external site. |
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Annotation |
The Seneca Falls Declaration represents the first formally stated list of rights that American feminists collectively agreed to demand of their fellow citizens. Though disagreements existed even among those present, this document can help you as you consider the foundational principles of the feminist movement. It should also prompt you to consider how and why this list expanded in subsequent decades. |
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Title |
Living the Legacy: The Women’s Rights Movement 1848 – 1998, Sponsored by The National Women’s History Project |
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URL |
http://www.nwhp.org/Legacy/index.html Links to an external site. |
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Annotation |
This site provides a thorough overview of the history of the women’s movement, which will help you understand the way that the multiple issues relate to one another. You can (and should!) make use of the timeline given here, since the project seeks to highlight the dates and events that are key to the women’s movement as a whole. The challenge for you is to consider which events are most relevant to your chosen topic, since your job is to determine how your chosen issue developed and advanced over time. You might also take a peek at the core site for the National Women’s History Project [http://www.nwhp.org Links to an external site. (Links to an external site.) Links to an external site. ]. They have an extensive “Biography” section, along with a “Resource” link that is organized by topic (i.e. Education, Politics, Healthcare). |
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Title |
“Analyzing Third Wave Feminism” page on The Feminist eZine |
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URL |
http://www.feministezine.com/feminist/historical/Third-Wave-Feminism.html Links to an external site. |
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Annotation |
The short articles on this page should help you understand the way that various issues in and aspects of contemporary (post 1990s) feminism relate to the “second wave” of feminism (that of the 1960 and 70s). They outline the issues that are important to contemporary “third wave” feminists. |
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Title |
National Organization of Women Website and Resources for Key Women’s Issues |
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URL |
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Annotation |
NOW’s website provides coverage of key women’s issues as well as many actions taken by women to influence legislation, |
RUBRIC
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No credit |
Below expectations |
Meets expectations |
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Breadth of Research |
Timeline includes less than 3 critical milestones; and/or student has not covered all the required time periods as specified above; alternately, student’s critical milestones are incorrectly identified or out of order. |
Timeline includes between 3 and 4 critical milestones; and/or student is missing one (but not more than one) of the required time periods. |
Timeline includes 5 or more critical milestones; also includes at least one pre-1900, one pre-1975, and one pre-1990 event. |
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Analysis of Events |
Some or all of the entries do not have accompanying descriptions; and/or many of the descriptions are minimal and fail to make any cohesive connections between events and milestones. |
Each entry on the timeline has an accompanying description, but the description is 1 – 2 sentences; and/or accompanying descriptions do not make clear connections between events and milestones. |
Each Entry on the timeline has an accompanying description of no less than two 3 – 4 sentences. Written component explains clearly the connections between milestone events and social trends and accompanying events. |
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Reflection |
The student did not complete the Reflection portion of the Challenge. |
The student provided a thoughtful response to the prompt that was less than 7 sentences in length. |
The student provided a complete and thoughtful response to the prompt that was at least 7 sentences in length. |