Martha Ballard and her family lived on the cusp of tremendous change.  They had lived through the American Revolution and on into a new century, yet their lives remained bound by the technologies of the pre-industrial world and many traditional ideas that persisted.

After reading the book A Midwife’s Tale by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, and other sources provided in Unit 2, write a 4-6 page paper on the following:

How much had the Ballard family modernized?  Using evidence from the book (and documenting the page numbers), show how much you think the Ballard family had moved toward a modernized lifestyle, and how much of their lives still remained grounded in traditional practices or thinking.  If you were using the concept of "middling," just how middling do you think the Ballards were?

Use Chicago Style (Humanities) or MLA Style to document your sources, and make sure to include page numbers for the information you use, whether quoted or not.  Try not to use a lot of direct quotes, however, since it is such a short paper.