Neist

no.  Move on and focus on the writing sample and statement of purpose.  Those are more important than the GRE.

Don't count on it at all.  Universities are increasingly replacing those tenured positions with adjuncts to capitalize, I mean, exploit the labor force.  Little pay, no benefits.  Departments have to work hard to lobby for tenure-track positions and proposals are not always accepted (I've see a fair share of rejected hiring proposals).

IIRC, University of Illinois - UC has a graduate fellowship program, but I think it's extremely competitive.  Otherwise, funding does not seem to be a popular thing in this field.  I think the most effective 'back door' method of getting funding is finding work at a university or college that has a tuition-remission or tuition-assistance program.  Not easy, and not quick, but it works.  I work at an Ivy League that has a capped benefit and they reimburse my tuition every semester.  The only problem is that I can only do one class at a time, but free is free I guess.

If they're digital, I'd keep them because there's no real cost to maintaining digital files of papers. I'd probably get rid of the hard copies unless there are comments on them you might find valuable (in which case I'd probably scan them).

I like historiographical writing. I know that's not everyone's cup of tea, but...
I'm an ecosystems person. I like to see the big picture.

I haven't written mine yet, but I'm predicting it to be 50-100, which is pretty par for my program.
It's going to be a little technical (the research it will be based off was very statistical in nature), so maybe it's a rather dense 50-100 pages, but, eh.

With British history, out of those two, I'd probably just choose French. But that's just my 2 cents. You might also consider German.

My thesis chair has a dragon tattooed on the side of his head. 
I imagine that some hiring committees looked disfavorably at his tattoos, but he holds a tenure track position. So, I wouldn't necessary say that they severely impact one's employability. 

Your stats are enough to avoid having your application binned immediately at any institution. But if I were you, I would disabuse myself of the notion that a PhD app is like a BA or MA one. Stats have very little relevance beyond a hurdle you have to clear, and the rankings of programs are mostly bullshit.

I find appropriate activities in this regard vary a great deal with the instructor's age, gender presentation, and race. For example, as a straight white dude in my 30s, I can afford to take some self-deprecating potshots at my own authority to relax my sections; the Latina woman in her mid-20s in my cohort cannot. 

This isn't precisely helpful for the upcoming Fall semester, but I suggest that you consider moderating an informal reading group. Depending on one's moderation style, a reading group can be quite similar to a discussion group. 

Honestly, read, read, and read some more. Where are the gaps in our historical understanding of the Holocaust and Nazi Germany? Once you identify those, it'll be easier to come up with a prospectus.

A friend bought me Bolshoi Confidential as a graduation gift, and it's definitely as scandalous as you might imagine. (If not a little melodramatic - but that's how Russian ballet goes...)

I had read Anne Moody's Coming of Age in Mississippi a couple of years ago for a class. In it she writes about the murder of Emmett Till and the fear that blacks experienced as a result of that murder. There is a new book about his murder out this year titled The Blood of Emmett Till. I already have it. Just read Me Before You and its sequel After You. So a little of a variety of things where I'm at. It's summer and probably the last one I will get to slough off.

I read Carol Anderson's White Rage and it was awesome. I also enjoyed Monkey Girl by Edward Humes.

This is precisely the attitude I'm forcing myself to have about it instead of complaining about all the things that aren't working =)  Now if the library would just hurry up and stock the books I want faster then I could really get my reading on.

You might like Killer Germs by Barry and David Zimmerman. It's one of my favorite infectious disease books. Some of the other items on your reading list makes me think you might enjoy it! 

You might be able to see them by appealing to view your application records, but I'm unsure if letters of recommendation are included. 
My writers were pretty much a blank slate in regards to what they wrote. That said, I'd be a little shocked if the letters were negative. One of my writers, a very well known historian in their field, is a critical grader and I managed to receive two high As in in both classes took from them. I hope I made an impression, given all the word I had to put into that course. 
When you think about it, prep for graduate school begins the minute you begin your undergraduate. You're establishing impressions that will greatly aid your applications later on.

Thought I'd post an update: I got off the funding wait-list at University of Tennessee, and will be attending this Fall! 
My thoughts: Relief.

Oh wow, envious! Summer is crazy busy over here, I'm working on 7 different papers, of which 5 or 6 I am expected to be first author. Just got back from a 5 day vacation though which was fantastic! Hit the ground running tomorrow with data collection in the afternoon. I'd love to have a bit of a longer break but going to try to convince my advisor to let me work from home a bit (when I'm on writing). We have a HUGE conference in August, and another smaller one in September so lots of prepping for that stuff too. I passed my candidacy exams so officially a PhD candidate now, and got to deal with all the responsibilities that brings. It's weird to think we've got newbies starting in a few months, and that was us a year ago! 
U Penn will be awesome! I'm actually looking at a lab there for a postdoc...yep looking at postdocs now. It never stops!

No kidding! We made it! Congratulations, all.

I can't believe that soon we'll all be 2nd years.

You are correct. There are two hospitals in Norman. Also, depending on one's need for particular specialists, you may or may not be able to locate a provider in Norman. I've only rarely had to leave the city to look for health care providers, but I typically do not require highly specific specialists, either.  
Haha. That's definitely true! But one could make the same argument for a lot of streets in Norman. 

Chernobyl 

Let me know if you want to know anything about Norman. If you're from Texas, it's possible that you might already be familiar with Norman, but I thought I'd offer, all the same.