Loewen devotes attention to how textbooks portray social class, arguing that they often present the United States as a land of opportunity where class divisions barely register. Students may finish a course with lots of information about presidents and wars and very little about who was rich, who was poor, and why. That gap matters for understanding labor, politics, and reform.

Writing assignments about class are a good way to correct that. They require students to look at economic evidence such as wages, working conditions, and land ownership. They also encourage causal thinking about how class shaped events.

The topic can feel abstract, so concrete sources help. Wage tables, workers' letters, and photographs give students something to analyze. A few strong sources can carry an entire essay.

Below are prompts and grading tips to get started.

Prompt Ideas

Frame prompts around a question that can be argued from evidence. Avoid asking students simply to describe inequality. Ask them to evaluate, compare, or explain.

• Evaluate how much opportunity industrial workers had for upward mobility in the late nineteenth century
• Compare how a textbook and labor-related primary sources describe a major strike
• Explain how economic class shaped the experience of the Great Depression
• Argue whether class or race had a greater effect on access to land in a chosen period
• Analyze how a textbook chapter handles wealth and poverty and what it leaves out

Source Selection

Mix quantitative and qualitative evidence. Students can practice reading a table, then match its story to a personal account. That combination strengthens both skills.

Include short context notes so students are not lost. Keep the packet to four or five sources. Too many overwhelms and produces shallow essays.

Rubric Tips

Add a criterion for use of data or specific economic detail. Students who cite actual figures or documented conditions should score higher than those who make broad statements. This nudges them toward precision.

Also score causal reasoning separately. Many students note that inequality existed without explaining what it changed. AI-assisted feedback can flag essays that describe without explaining and draft a comment asking for causes and effects.

Handling Student Backgrounds

Students come from a range of economic situations, and a lesson on class can feel personal. Keep the focus on historical evidence and avoid asking students to reveal their own circumstances. Respect goes a long way here.

Give students room to connect to the topic if they choose. Some will bring family stories that enrich the discussion, and others will prefer to stay in the sources. Either approach can produce strong writing.