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Communication / Rhetoric / Speech: Birthday assignment

A guide to resources for communications and rhetoric studies and research.

Databases to use for birthday assignment

Birthday Assignment

Students are required to get one article from the New York Times that was published on their exact birth date and  year. 

A secondary article is needed. This can come from The Wall Street Journal, Indianapolis Star, the student's hometown newspaper, or from any paper on Newspapers.com. The second article must be published on the student's birth date but not necessarily the same year. 

How to find an article from the New York Times

To find information on your birth date:

Required newspaper: 

Students must find an article from the New York Times that was published on their actual birth date and year

  1. Register for free New York Times access. 
  2. Once registered, navigate to New York Times archive.
  3. Based on your birth year, search one of the following:

    1. Search the Article Archive: 1981-Present »

    2. Search the Article Archive: 1851-1980 »

  4. Narrow down the date range to your actual birth day and year. 

  5. Consider browsing articles by section.

  6. Depending on the article, you may need to click "View on Timemachine" to see a digital copy of the print edition of that article. 

 

 

Second article

Students need to find an additional article that was published on their birth date. It does not have to be the same birth year they were born. 

How to find an article from the Wall Street Journal

Wall Street Journal

  1. Register for free Wall Street Journal access. 
  2. Once registered, navigate to the Wall Street Journal archive.
  3. Select a particular year and click on your birth month.
  4. Click on your birth date.

How to find an article from the Indianapolis Star

Indianapolis Star

  1. Access the Indianapolis Star archives 
  2. Click on Advanced Search
  3. Click on Publication Date and select "On this Date"
  4. Put in your birth date and pick a year. These archives only go up until 2004. 
  5. You may get a date and page number versus article titles. Select a particular page to see a digitized copy of the print edition of the Indianapolis Start on that date. 

How to find an article from Newspapers.com

  1. Use Marian's A-Z database link to find Newspapers.com.

     
  2. Type in date and click enter.
  3. Results will represent the entire digital copy of the print edition of the date selected. 
  4. Click on the date link to see the entire day's paper.