For this assignment, you’ll pick ONE of the following options:

1. Cooking With History: Create and reflect on making a recipe from this time period (c. 1600-1763)
2. Historical Consultant: Recommend information to a TV show about clothing, dress, or professional life during this time period (c. 1600-1763).

When you are done with your presentation, post it in the discussion forum for others to see.

Instructions:

Option 1: Cooking With History

Step 1: Find a recipe from the colonial or precolonial time period in America (c. 1600-1763). The recipe could be from a British colonist, a Native American, an enslaved person, etc. Some historical sites and museums post recipes (such as these from Williamsburg), but you can also search for historical cookbooks or recipes online.

Step 2: Follow the recipe to prepare the food.

Step 3: Write a blog post about your experience (or create a video documenting your experience). If you choose to do the blog post, you can follow the template provided by most internet food bloggers who post recipes online by beginning with some background information about your recipe. This background must include information about the historical context of the recipe as well as your own reflection on following the recipe. Consider questions such as: Why did you choose that recipe in particular? Where did the recipe originate? Who might have eaten in, and for what occasion? Who would have prepared this recipe during colonial times? What did you find interesting about the task? Was it hard to find ingredients or follow all of the directions? Did you like the taste, and do you think it would be enjoyed by the general population today? How does cooking or baking today differ from cooking curing colonial times? If you choose to create a video of your experience instead, be sure to convey the background information, historical context, and personal reflection in some way. Cite your sources with your submission.

Step 4: Post your finished creation to the discussion forum.

Option 2: Historical Consultant

Step 1: Imagine that you have been hired as a historian to consult a broadcasting company that is making a TV drama about colonial life in the Americas. They want to know more about how people should dress or present themselves for the show. Create three hypothetical characters for the show and conduct research to determine how they should dress or act.

For example, you might pick the year to be Jamestown in 1620 and focus on the clothing worn by the English, the Native Americans, and an indentured servant during this time. Or maybe you want the year to be 1750, and you want to know what a Frenchman, an enslaved woman, and an English soldier would wear. You could also focus on professions—how might the blacksmith, printer, and lawyer appear during a certain time period? What things might they do?

Step 2: Conduct research to find information about your three characters. Keep track of your sources used so you can document them at the end.

Step 3: Create a “pitch deck” in the form of a slideshow or video (using Google Slides, PPT, Powtoon, Visme, Prezi, Animoto, or some similar program). Your deck should include recommendations to the broadcasting company as to how your three chosen characters should appear, given the historical context of the time. The pitch deck must include at least 3 images and 3 cited sources.

Step 4: Post your finished creation to the discussion forum.

Discussion Grading Rubrics: