Episode HBO Max Miniseries and Lost Letters Diaries

Episode HBO Max Miniseries and Lost Letters Diaries

Introduction:
We are currently living through a pandemic. Look at how it has changed the world around us! How many of you have been to a concert, been on vacation, hugged a vulnerable relative (etc), without wondering about the ripple effects? Our economy has suffered, some of our favorite restaurants have closed, and people have had to learn to operate in different ways. Just look at your educational experiences of the past few years.
Historians in our modern period have asked people like you, and me, to write daily experiences about our lives under this pandemic so future generations can study them. Institutions all over the world are collecting primary source material from this pandemic so that it can be examined by future generations of scholars.
Some of the most important work done on past pandemics comes from the sources of the average person. Microhistories, or a close focus on a small story, provide insight that large records or statistics can miss. They can personalize an event or period of time. In this assignment, you will be creating a creative microhistory of a past pandemic. You have two options (see below). You have creative freedom with your characters, setting (location), and the way you approach the assignment. The parameters are below.
Assignment:
Explore the below infographic. Choose one of the historic pandemics that interests you (except for our modern Coronavirus, Spanish Flu of 1918-1919, and the Black Death 1347-1351). Please use Google and the CMSV Library website to research a little bit about your pandemic, and the historical context of the period it occurred in. Pay attention to the cultural or personal impact that the disease had on society. https://www.visualcapitalist.com/history-of-pandemics-deadliest/
• You must include a list of the sources/references you used to at the end of your work.
• You must include at least 1 scholarly source (book/journal article).
Option 1: Lost Letters/Diaries
• You will write 4 letters/diary entries (400-500 words each) from the point of view of your historical character. Please make sure that your entries touch on the following topics. The order and way you approach or explain the material is entirely up to you.
• What pandemic is your person living through? Has this changed their everyday, normal life? How?
• What are the symptoms/medical effects associated with the disease?
• What regulations (if any) have been put in place to keep the population safe? Are they effective?
• How has society, in general, been affected?
• Remember to include historically accurate details (about both time period and pandemic) to help the reader better understand the experience of your character.
• Write clearly (colloquially is fine), strive for creativity, and pay attention to formatting/sourcing.
Option 2: 5-Episode HBO Max Miniseries
• You’ve been asked to provide a written summary (250-350 words each) for each episode of your new HBO-max miniseries on your chosen pandemic. You are required to cover the following topics, but the order and way you approach the material is entirely up to you. Each “episode” should have a title.
• What pandemic is your miniseries focused on? What is the historical context?
• What are the symptoms/medical effects associated with the disease?
• How has society in general been affected?
• What regulations (if any) have been put in place to keep the population safe? Are they effective?
• How has the daily life of your character/s or plotline been affected? How?
• Remember to include historically accurate details (about both time period and pandemic) to help the reader better understand the experience of living through this disease.