Directions
You will write a paper in which you compare and contrast the leisure habits of the working class
women described in Cheap Amusements with the leisure habits of Americans today. You should pick
two examples of leisure activities from the book—putting on style, going to dance halls, going to
amusement parks, and/or going to the movies.
First, you will describe each activity in detail and summarize Kathy Peiss’s analysis of the activity.
For instance, if one of your examples is putting on style, then your paper should explain what it
meant to put on style in the progressive era, and tell us how Peiss interprets the significance of
putting on style. In other words… what is the example, and what does it mean?
Be sure to integrate relevant quotations from the book to support your points.
For each example you choose, you should also discuss and analyze how you think these activities are
similar or different today. So if you pick movies, for instance, you need to describe the experience of
seeing movies in the progressive era and the experience of seeing movies today—what has changed,
what has stayed the same, and what does it mean today? For your contemporary examples, no
additional research is necessary; just offer your own opinion/analysis and make a convincing case.
Your paper should include an introduction and conclusion.
Guidelines regarding format and style
• Your paper should be double-spaced, 12-inch font, 1-inch margins, 3-5 pages long.
• Proofread carefully for standard use of grammar and spelling.
• Italicize the titles of books. For example, Cheap Amusements.
• After the first mention, refer to authors by their last names only. (Kathy Peiss, and then just Peiss)
• Do not refer to nonfiction books as “novels.” They are called books.
• Do not quote the dictionary.
• Do not use “etc.” in academic writing.
• Quoted material that takes up more than three lines in your paper should be indented and written
as a single-spaced block quote.
• Footnotes are not necessary. However, you must use parenthetical citations every time you quote
something. Just the page number, no “p” necessary. For example,
As Peiss points out, “privacy could only be had in public” (72).
• A cover page is not necessary. On page one at the top, single-spaced, include your name, the class
# and your section, my name, and the date.
• No works cited page is necessary for this assignment.
• Include a title for your paper.
• First person voice (“I”) is okay if it fits your paper, especially in the intro and/or conclusion.
You will submit an electronic copy of your paper to turnitin on our class Titanium site.