Presentation outline - 1

Into w/ hook
Germany 1845
Michigan 1845
Who Immigrated
Why?
Famous family
Lumber and its peak
Side effects
Beer traditions
Fall of lumber
Zehnder's and beer
Prohibition
Arrests and notorioety
Fall of Beer
Lack of farming
WW2
I-75 and its effects
Zehnders and the Fischer Hotel
Bavarian Themes
Re-do the town
Growth and new traditions
Frankenmuth today
Recap on Zehnders and controbutions

Presentation theme

For a ten minuite presentation, I think i shall go into more detail about the history and details of Frankenmuth before the conversion to tourism. This should give the class a better picture of how big an actual change the transition was. For my capabilities, power point presentation seems the safest option.

New Thesis again.

Last thesis was too broad, being a report of sorts. I have decided to instead try to focus on the argument that without the Zehnder Family's leadership and drive to turn itself into a solely tourist based industry, Frankenmuth would have died out when the lumber and beer industries fell. I believe that a thesis should be an argument with a particular stance. Hopefully this new direction should satisfy all the paper requirements.

Reshaped Thesis

How does this sound for a better topic sentence?

Thesis: The German immigrants, whom founded Frankenmuth, drastically altered their work force due to the collapse of the community's two largest industries, lumber and beer production. The community's dynamic changed, forcing the town to unite under one industry - tourism. This union forced workers to "re-tool", reshape, and rethink the town's potential as well as each individual's ability within the town's framwork.

Possible Idea

I believe i found a topic idea.

I want to focus on the industry in detroit that kept the city alive prior to the auto boom. From what i have found this would be carriage building. My plan of attack on this broad topic would be as follows:

Geograpy of area during time period (planning Civil war -1920's)
Population demographics (Race, Ethnicity, religion, community orgs.)
Industry and facilities
Vendors and transportation influences (great lakes, former rail lines)
Owners of Carriage industries and their vision
Worker - Management relations
Community activism and follow on industries (Sort of a before and after look at demographics)
Concluding with a look at how these factors set the stage for the transition to automobiles fabrication.

Is this an appropriate flow to take for my project? Is their anything i missed or should focus on? Thanks alot

Trouble with Direction

Picking a single industry of community is difficult. Where do you start? In state of out of state? What would be an interesting read? What could you actually find accurate information about? Answering these questions alone is a project. This sort of reminds me of the movies... With out a good plot the story is useless. Well I am still looking for that good story. Keep ya posted

Introduction Blog

My name is Alan Wolfe, I am a newly transferred student to Michigan State University. I am from Sterling Heights, Michigan. I decided to transfer to MSU not only for the education, but the atmosphere. My cousin attends this school and after visiting her I decided that this was the place to be. My previous school was the University of Detroit/Mercy. The program I was in (Architecture) didn’t jibe with my expectations for the major, so I decided to change. Instead of logically of analytically deciding upon a new major, I went instead with my gut and chose the subject I enjoyed the most.


I decided this by thinking back to what class I enjoyed the most and could see myself doing in the future. History came to mind and so far I am not disappointed with my choice. I had history last in high school, and that is where I developed my love for it. An anthropology class in college also showed me some of the options available in the field. I also believe traveling throughout the USA and Canada helped me to experience even minor changes in culture and appreciate the history right here at home.

My historical interests however primarily revolve around Europe, and encompass the middle ages to WWII. This large period of time catches my imagination the best and is something I feel I can at least relate to through ethnicity. My favorite time frame however would be late 19th, early 20th Centuries. The optimism of the era and Imperial prowess of Europe at that time really has a hold upon my more romanticized view of history. I am excited to learn more about the stories and viewpoints of our past, and look forward to a future in history.