I. Description
Students are required to write a paper from the perspective of someone living in North America between 1600 and 1945. The paper is worth 60 points [
II. Instructions
This is an open-ended assignment, and creativity is encouraged. Perhaps you are a midwife in New England during the 1770s; your paper could be a letter to family members in England, giving an account of your experiences during the American Revolution. If you are a Scots-Irish immigrant in the Pennsylvania back country during the 1790s, you could give a personalized diary account of the Whiskey Rebellion. If you are a slave in South Carolina during the 1830s, you could write a slave narrative detailing your life on the plantation. If you are a man, woman or child traveling on the Oregon Trail during the 1840s, you could create a journal to chronicle that experience. Other ideas include letters to the editor of a local paper, wills, or other legal documents.
The preliminary bibliography [10 points] is a Works Cited listing of sources to be used on the final paper and must:
cite at least TWO outside sources (other than the assigned textbookno encyclopedia, reference, or popular magazine sources) which you will potentially use for your paper. The actual sources you use may change and must be cited in the final bibliography (See below for the proper bibliographic format). Only ONE of your sources may be an internet source (include copies of the web pages that you use). The best way to find sources is to use the librarys online catalog to search for books that pertain to your specific topic, time period, or event.
No late preliminary bibliographies will be accepted.
The paper [50 points] must:
1. Maintain first person perspective throughout; remember, you are there. You might want to include a short introduction explaining who you are and giving some background information on yourself (this introduction does not have to be in the first person narrative).
2. Include a final bibliography citing at least TWO outside sources (other than the assigned textbook no encyclopedia, reference, or popular magazine sources) used on the paper. Only ONE of your outside sources may be an internet source (include copies of the web pages that you use).
3. Be 2-3 typed, double-spaced pages in length. Papers must include 2-3 pages of text and be typed in Times New Roman, Tahoma or Arial fonts, with a font size no larger than 12 point. Additional content [pictures, charts, etc] do NOT count as text.
4. Include reference to the dominant social, political, and cultural issues of the specific time and place. For example, if you live in New York City during the cholera epidemic, you should make reference to it, and explain how it is changing the way people live. Papers should explore the chosen topic thoroughly within the papers length. References to these issues must be cited [see below].
5. Use proper English, style and mechanics. Students should use current English rules in the writing of the paper. The overall quality of the paper is part of the scoring
Late papers will be penalized.
III. Citations
The Random House dictionary defines plagiarism as: ¢to steal the language, ideas, or
thoughts from another, representing them as one’s own original work. This includes ideas as well as quoted material. Whenever you use material or information from an outside source, you must cite the source. For example, any historical background information used must be credited to its source [ie., cited]. There are several standardized approaches to citation, including the Modern Language Association (MLA) method and the Chicago Manual of Style method. Historians and journalists usually use the Chicago method, but as long as the citations are consistent, either method is acceptable. If you take direct quotations or ideas from your sources, you must use either MLA in text citations, Chicago-style endnotes, or Chicago-style footnotes to cite the specific passages. PLAGIARISM WILL RESULT IN A FAILING GRADE FOR THE COURSE. The Writing Center, 4th Floor Museum Building, offers help to studentswriting papers, and will also provide information about citing sources. Be sure to make an appointment.
IV. Submitting Files
Both of these files MUST be submitted in one of the following formats: .rtf, .doc, or .docx. Any file submitted in a format other than one of these will not be given credit. It will be at the discretion of the instructional staff to allow assignments submitted in an improper file format to be submitted again in a proper format. However, if the assignment is allowed to be re-submitted, the paper will receive a penalty of no less than 10% as if it were a late submission. If you use a program other than Microsoft Office, submit your assignment in the .rtf format. It is very important that you submit in a proper format since the assignment cannot be graded if the document cannot be opened.
To submit a file, click on the Moodle page link for the assignment. You can then browse and find the file you want to upload. Make sure the file is ready to be submitted and that you have chosen the right file as once the file is submitted, you are done. After you have verified that you are submitting the right file to the right assignment link, click on upload. Your assignment is now submitted.
The following is a brief guide to citing books within a bibliography and in endnotes or footnotes, based on the Chicago Manual of Style method. Note that bibliographic listings are alphabetized.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Franklin, John Hope. George Washington Williams: A Biography. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1985.
Kernighan, Brian W., and Dennis M. Ritchie. The C Programming Language.
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1978.
McNamara, Robert S. In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam. New York: Vintage Books, 1995.
National Park Service. ―The Oregon Trail.
www.americanwest.con/trails/pages/oretrail.htm.
CITATIONS
For endnotes or footnotes1, the citations include the page numbers of the specific passages referenced, as follows:
1Brian W. Kernighan and Dennis M. Ritchie, The C Programming Language (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1978), 185.
John Hope Franklin, George Washington Williams, A Biography (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1985), 54.
James T. Patterson, Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945-1974 (New
York: Oxford University Press, 1996), 122-124.
National Park Service, “The Oregon Trail,” 5 October 1999,
www.americanwest.con/trails/pages/oretrail.htm.
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