SHORT ESSAY O'Neil--Spring 2017

SHORT ESSAY O'Neil--Sprin" rel="nofollow">ing 2017 DUE: THURSDAY April 13th Write a short essay on ONE of the followin" rel="nofollow">ing questions. Your essay should be 3-5 pages in" rel="nofollow">in length, double-spaced, and typed. Use 1" margin" rel="nofollow">ins, number your pages, and in" rel="nofollow">include a title. The essay is worth 20% of your course grade and is DUE at the begin" rel="nofollow">innin" rel="nofollow">ing of class on Thursday, April 13th. Your grade will be marked down by one grade for each day it is late (in" rel="nofollow">includin" rel="nofollow">ing weekends). You must turn in" rel="nofollow">in a hard copy in" rel="nofollow">in class, which will count for your official turn in" rel="nofollow">in time, as well as an electronic copy via Beachboard (go to "Dropbox," click on "Short Essay – Submission," fill in" rel="nofollow">in requested in" rel="nofollow">info (your name), then click "Browse" to submit your paper from your hard or flash drive). If you do not turn in" rel="nofollow">in the electronic copy in" rel="nofollow">in addition to the hard copy you will receive an automatic "0." Be sure to address all parts of the question. To give your essay a more formal and forceful tone, write in" rel="nofollow">in the third person. Use your spell-checkers and a thesaurus, and be sure to proofread your essay. While content is more important than style, generally clear and convin" rel="nofollow">incin" rel="nofollow">ing arguments require clear and coherent writin" rel="nofollow">ing. For an "A" grade, see "Writin" rel="nofollow">ing Guidelin" rel="nofollow">ines" on back. Your essay must be based on, and should demonstrate your understandin" rel="nofollow">ing of, the related textbook readin" rel="nofollow">ings, lectures, and PS Docs. Historians base their arguments on the existin" rel="nofollow">ing primary source record. To ensure that you utilize primary source material, you are required to in" rel="nofollow">integrate at least ONE PRIMARY SOURCE QUOTE. Choose your primary source quote(s) judiciously to support one of your larger poin" rel="nofollow">ints. Be sure to in" rel="nofollow">introduce and contextualize the primary source(s) you utilize (see example on reverse side). Outside readin" rel="nofollow">ing is not required for your essay. If you do consult or quote from outside sources (in" rel="nofollow">includin" rel="nofollow">ing websites), you must list them in" rel="nofollow">in a brief bibliography at the end of your essay. To cite ideas or direct quotes from the class readin" rel="nofollow">ings, you may use footnotes or simply parenthetical citations in" rel="nofollow">in the text [such as (U.S., p.8)]. Your essays must be origin" rel="nofollow">inal work, crafted in" rel="nofollow">in your own words. Any in" rel="nofollow">instance of plagiarism, that is, the copyin" rel="nofollow">ing and unacknowledged use of secondary sources or others' work, will result in" rel="nofollow">in an automatic "F" for the course and possible further disciplin" rel="nofollow">inary action. Your primary source quotes should be clearly delin" rel="nofollow">ineated by the use of quotation marks (""). Your essays should begin" rel="nofollow">in with an engagin" rel="nofollow">ing in" rel="nofollow">introductory paragraph in" rel="nofollow">in which you lay out your focus and argument. The body of your essay should systematically develop your key poin" rel="nofollow">ints and lin" rel="nofollow">ink those poin" rel="nofollow">ints with smooth transitions. Your conclusion should reaffirm your main" rel="nofollow">in argument. HISTORY DEPARTMENT WRITING TUTORS (Consult by THURS April 6th): You are REQUIRED to drop in" rel="nofollow">in and consult with one of the History Department Graduate Writin" rel="nofollow">ing Tutors by THURSDAY April 6th. (Extra Credit will be awarded for consultin" rel="nofollow">ing with a tutor by THURS March 23rd) The tutors are there on a first-come, first-served basis. Go see them after you have chosen a topic, reviewed the related readin" rel="nofollow">ings, and have a rough thesis. They will help you organize and formulate your essay. Brin" rel="nofollow">ing the assignment prompt with you to the consult. The writin" rel="nofollow">ing tutors will document your visit, which will later be given to me. The History Writin" rel="nofollow">ing Tutors’ hours -- in" rel="nofollow">in F02-101A or FO2-226 (or check FO2-106 for current location) – are: Monday – Thursday 9:00am - 6:00pm 1) How did the Flappers of the 1920s challenge Victorian gender conventions? Specifically, how did Flapper attitudes and behaviors undercut Victorian values? [Wk. 7 Readin" rel="nofollow">ings] 2) Compare and contrast the responses of Hoover and FDR to the Great Depression. [Wk. 8 Readin" rel="nofollow">ings] 3) Analyze the effects of World War II on gender roles and women’s participation in" rel="nofollow">in the work force and in" rel="nofollow">in armed forces, 1940-1945. [Wk. 10 Readin" rel="nofollow">ings] 4) Analyze the effects of World War II on the participation of racial min" rel="nofollow">inorities in" rel="nofollow">in the work force and in" rel="nofollow">in the armed forces, 1940-1945. [Wk. 10 Readin" rel="nofollow">ings] Writin" rel="nofollow">ing Guidelin" rel="nofollow">ines ● DON'T WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE! Start early, so you will have time to write more than one draft. ● ORGANIZATION: MAKE AN OUTLINE. Organization is key. Fin" rel="nofollow">ine tune your outlin" rel="nofollow">ine before you begin" rel="nofollow">in writin" rel="nofollow">ing. Your essays should begin" rel="nofollow">in with an engagin" rel="nofollow">ing in" rel="nofollow">introductory paragraph in" rel="nofollow">in which you lay out your subject. The body of your essay should systematically develop your key poin" rel="nofollow">ints and lin" rel="nofollow">ink those poin" rel="nofollow">ints with smooth transitions. Your conclusion should reaffirm your main" rel="nofollow">in argument. ● INTRODUCTION: Your in" rel="nofollow">introduction should grab the attention and in" rel="nofollow">interest of your reader (first and foremost me!). Your in" rel="nofollow">introduction should in" rel="nofollow">introduce the main" rel="nofollow">in poin" rel="nofollow">ints of your essay and convey your overall argument. DO NOT simply list the various part of your essay (e.g., "This essay will examin" rel="nofollow">ine X, Y, and fin" rel="nofollow">inally Z."). Instead, lay out your key poin" rel="nofollow">ints in" rel="nofollow">in strong, assertive sentences (e.g., "Industrialization irrevocably transformed American society, turnin" rel="nofollow">ing the nation in" rel="nofollow">into an urban in" rel="nofollow">industrial powerhouse.'"). ● COHERENT PARAGRAPHS: Paragraphs are the buildin" rel="nofollow">ing blocks of a well-organized and coherent paper. Each paragraph should have a main" rel="nofollow">in poin" rel="nofollow">int relatin" rel="nofollow">ing to your overall subject. The topic sentence of each paragraph (usually the first sentence) should provide a smooth transition (either from the last paragraph or back to some larger issue) and in" rel="nofollow">indicate the main" rel="nofollow">in poin" rel="nofollow">int of the paragraph. The rest of the paragraph should provide evidence or detail (specific examples) about that poin" rel="nofollow">int. As a general rule no paragraph should be more than one page, nor less than 3-4 sentences. ● OUTSIDE READER. For added assistance, use on-campus writin" rel="nofollow">ing resources and try to have someone (not in" rel="nofollow">in this class) read your essay for clarity. ● WRITE IN THE THIRD PERSON and in" rel="nofollow">in the PAST TENSE. The third person gives your essay a more formal and forceful tone. Use of the first person might be justified if you wanted to tell of a personal anecdote directly related to the essay topic, which would best be placed in" rel="nofollow">in your in" rel="nofollow">introduction or conclusion. Stay in" rel="nofollow">in the past tense for consistency and clarity. Avoid the conditional tense (“would”) throughout your essay. ● USE THE ACTIVE VOICE, AVOID THE PASSIVE VOICE! Get away from the verb "to be" whenever possible, especially "was" and "were." For example, in" rel="nofollow">instead of sayin" rel="nofollow">ing "The Indians were subjugated by the US Army by 1890," make the actor (US Army) the subject of your sentence rather than that which is bein" rel="nofollow">ing acted upon (the Indians): "The US Army subjugated all resistin" rel="nofollow">ing Indian groups by 1890." ● PARAPHRASE SECONDARY SOURCE MATERIAL, i.e., ideas or in" rel="nofollow">information you get from other historians (such as from the textbook readin" rel="nofollow">ings). There should be no verbatim quotes from secondary sources. Unacknowledged use of secondary sources constitutes plagiarism. ● INTRODUCE and CONTEXTUALIZE your PRIMARY SOURCE QUOTES taken from the documents. Assume you are writin" rel="nofollow">ing for a general audience that may have little knowledge of the historical topic you are discussin" rel="nofollow">ing. For in" rel="nofollow">instance, say you were writin" rel="nofollow">ing about the Civil War and you wanted to in" rel="nofollow">integrate a quote from Lin" rel="nofollow">incoln's Second Inaugural Address. Your paragraph might look somethin" rel="nofollow">ing like: Lin" rel="nofollow">incoln's vision for postwar reconciliation was eloquently outlin" rel="nofollow">ined in" rel="nofollow">in his Second Inaugural Address delivered on March 4, 1865. Lin" rel="nofollow">incoln famously declared With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in" rel="nofollow">in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to fin" rel="nofollow">inish the work we are in" rel="nofollow">in; to bin" rel="nofollow">ind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and for his orphan—to do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and a lastin" rel="nofollow">ing peace, among ourselves, and with all nations. "Bin" rel="nofollow">indin" rel="nofollow">ing up" the nation's wounds was to be the focus of Lin" rel="nofollow">incoln's second term. Unfortunately, he was assassin" rel="nofollow">inated by a Confederate conspirator one month later. ● Use your spell-checkers and a thesaurus in" rel="nofollow">incessantly—every time you write you have an opportunity to expand your vocabulary and enhance your prose (and by extension, your persona!). Give your essay a title, number your pages, and do not (i.e. don't) use contractions or colloquial language.