Please write a 5-7 page essay (typed, double-spaced, Times New Roman, 12-point font; one-inch margins all around). Essays are due by 8pm on Friday, May 21. No Late Finals will be accepted. Submit your essay to turnitin via blackboard
Question: As we have seen in the readings for this course, each rights movement had factions that adopted differing strategies— non-violent protest, or radicalism/militancy as the best means to achieving first-class citizenship. Which civil rights strategy (non-violence or militancy/power/liberation) do you think proved the most effective? Why?
Evidence: Your essay should include evidence from and a discussion of at least four of the five groups covered in this course: African Americans, Women, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, and the LGBT movement.
Note: As in all essays in this term, you need at least three sub-arguments. Each sub-argument should be a reason that the chosen strategy is best overall. In each sub-argument section your essay MUST make some contrasting arguments for why the strategy you don’t choose is not as good as the strategy you do choose. In other words, why the strategy you chose was not as effective as overcoming that particular obstacle.
Thought about organization: You can argue that the strategy had better efficacy for some of the groups but not all and split your sub-arguments that way. For instance, “X strategy provided a means of overcoming x. This was especially helpful for group x, y, and z because (whatever reason). However, group U’s (whatever issue they faced) made this strategy less effective. Then the first paragraph will discuss the reason the other strategy was good for “x, y, and z”. Then you can have a second paragraph that discusses why that strategy worked but was less effective for group U.
Both of these strategies—nonviolence and power/liberation movements—have their advantages and disadvantages. Your job here is to demonstrate three things: 1. You know what the intent of the strategies was and can explain that; 2. That you understand the specific issues that these communities faced and how they used the strategies to overcome discrimination; and 3. Show that you understand the positive and negative risks to a specific community using that strategy.
Tip: Questions you should consider when constructing your argument: What do you think are the limitation of such a strategy? Did the strategy offer the same success for each group? Why was this strategy better for some groups but less successful for others? It is possible to choose a strategy that you think works better overall and still believe it wasn’t as successful for some groups as others. I am looking for you to demonstrate this in your essay. Essays that speak to the complications of the strategy for some groups while still maintaining a committed argument for that strategy will be graded more favorably than essays that take a more superficial, one-size-fits-all approach. Possible thesis: Civil Rights Movements have struggled to find effective strategies to break down systemic discrimination. Because each minority group faces different barriers to equality, no single strategy can work on its own. However, if any group had to choose a single movement they should choose X. This strategy provides the best hope for success because x, y, and x. FORMAT FOR YOUR ESSAY: In outline form, the essay should look like this:
-Intro (1/2 page MAXIMUM, with a thesis statement that answers the assigned question) -Supporting paragraph #1 (start with an argumentative topic sentence that summarizes the main argument of that paragraph; fill in the rest of the paragraph with analysis and evidence, especially brief quotations from the primary sources.) -More supporting paragraphs (same format as the first supporting paragraph; aim for six to eight supporting paragraphs in an essay of this length) -Conclusion (1/2 page max; summarize your thesis in a sentence, and then take some liberties and speculate on the broader implications of your argument.) For instance, what do the struggles of these groups tell us about how far the country has come or needs to go? What are the implications for groups that are still experiencing invisibility or discrimination. In this class, conclusion ideas do not require the same clear evidence that the arguments in the earlier parts of the essay require.
Citations: Do not worry about a bibliography or about formal footnotes or endnotes. Instead, use parenthetical citations (with page numbers). Common-sense abbreviations are fine: for example, Gay Rights Movement (GRM, 12). It is ok to simply use the PDF page numbering.
As a general rule, you do not need to provide a citation for information so generic that someone could find it almost anywhere. OTHER TIPS *Avoid editorial commentary in the body of your essay: for instance, “I think it is horrible that African Americans have been subjected to such treatment.” Or “America is a horrible place for ignoring the rights of people.” Stick to evidence and keep your arguments dispassionate.
* Remember to review the rules on plagiarism. Always put the words of other writers in quotation marks and provide a page citation. You can also paraphrase (that is, put the idea into your own words) and provide a parenthetical citation. It is not enough to just change a few words of someone else’s writing; this is still plagiarism. When you paraphrase, make sure you write entirely in your own words. Under no circumstances should you present other people’s writing as something that you created.
