Slacks and Calluses

Research papers on women and World War II can look to the outstanding resource of Constance Bowman and Clara Marie Allen "Slacks and Calluses". Have the writers at Paper Masters use Slacks and Calluses in a custom written research paper on how women helped the war cause.

Begin your research paper by thinking about the following questions regarding the book:

• How does the book Slacks and Calluses illustrate/discuss the expectations placed on women by society during WWII?
• How did the traditional gender stereotypes clash with the new expectations of war?

When using Slacks and Calluses as a reference for a World War II research project, think about how after WWII everything that this country did, both domestically and internationally, occurs within the context of the Cold War. Discuss what you think are the most long-lasting effects of the Cold War and if you think our current political/military situations have their roots in that Cold War mentality.

Research Paper on Slacks and Calluses

A good research paper will:

• Briefly summarize the main argument of Slacks and Calluses
  
• Consider the types of evidence used;
  
• Note the author's intention or agenda for the work;
  
• Most important, you should seek to explain why the works you are discussing are important in a scholarly, social, cultural, or political context.

In explaining the works' significance you may want to ask one or more of the following:

• Why does the author's interpretation matter?
  
• How does she or he contribute to our understanding of women's history or of the relationship between race and gender?
• What do they add to an on-going conversation about the relationship between constructions of gender and women's ability to shape public or private life?
  
• What do the shortcomings of their analysis tell us about the nature of historical inquiry?

As you evaluate Slacks and Calluses, situate your other class readings with them within other scholarly efforts you are reading in this class. Why have the authors' chosen their particular topics and methodological approaches? Does this decision enhance or diminish the field?

Thesis Statement

You must have a clear thesis statement and muster evidence from the works to support your analysis. Do not give a laundry list of examples and assume that the reader will figure out how they support your evaluation of the work under review. Explain the connections between your argument and the evidence you present. Make sure your evidence is presented in an orderly and coherent fashion. The reader should be able to follow easily how the pieces of evidence fit together to support your evaluation.

Tie together your paper and place the works you are evaluating and your review of it into a larger historical or analytical framework. Summarize your critique and connect it to a larger context. Why does your essay matter? How does it add to our understanding of women's history as a field of study? Do your thoughts have larger implications for the study of history or raise new types of questions? These or other such questions should be taken up in your conclusion.