Since history is, in essence, a story and not a series of random, disconnected facts, students should be able to transform the information covered in this class into a narrative form that articulates something about our nation’s past. Students will submit a 5-7 page essay related to the material covered in the class. The essay will be comprehensive in nature, and students are expected to incorporate information gathered through a variety of different sources. The paper will count 100 points toward the final grade. The paper will be typed and double-spaced and in the proper Chicago/Turabian format and include a works cited page with a minimum of five sources. Any paper turned in a week late will receive a 10 point deduction. No paper will be accepted after a week. The narrative will be turned in trough the eCampus research paper link.
For this paper, each student should choose one of the following topics:
A. Discuss the history of race relations and civil rights in U.S. history from Reconstruction to the present. Identify important events, court cases, and people involved in the story of civil rights and show how American attitudes and opinions regarding race have changed over time. Finally, in your opinion, where are we today regarding this subject?
B. Discuss the changing role of the federal government in American history since 1865. What circumstances brought about the changes in government’s role, and what movements and programs were created to deal with those circumstances? How have the American people viewed their government, and where are we today regarding this subject?
C. Discuss the changing nature of American foreign policy in the modern era. How has the American view of the world and the US relationship to it changed over time? What specific objectives have been emphasized? Identify important events, policies, and individuals that have shaped US foreign policy. Where are we today?
Writing Requirements:
Your essay should be a minimum of 5-7 pages. This page count does not include any cover sheet.
Your essay must be formatted using 1” margins for all margins (top, bottom, left and right).
Your essay should be typed using 12pt. Times New Roman font.
Your essay needs to be double-spaced.
Please do include any headers with page numbers.
Your research essay should be accompanied by a cover sheet that states your paper title, your name, your course, and date.
All of your sources should be cited using the Chicago/Turabian style.
You must cite your sources using footnotes formatted in the Chicago/Turabian citation method. just remember to be consistent throughout your essay with your citation method. Parenthetical reference is not permitted.
If possible, you will want to try to incorporate your image into your essay by embedding it into the text. Otherwise, placing the image at the end of your document is acceptable (after the conclusion and before your Works Cited/Bibliography page).
Your image should include a caption that describes the image and its relevance to your topic, this caption to your image should be at least 150 words. This word count does not count toward the overall word count of your essay.
You must include a Works Cited/Bibliography page at the end of the document. Be sure you are documenting all sources used for your research paper, including your image source in this section. There should be agreement between the sources you document in this section and the sources you cite in your footnotes/endnotes.
Grading Rubric:
Formatting 0-20 points: Paper is formatted correctly, does not include headers in written text, nor utilizes excessively large margins, paper is double-spaced and demonstrates clear organization in the form of paragraph breaks.
Image 0-5 points: Paper includes at least one appropriate image relevant to the research topic, and the image is properly captioned explaining its relevance to the essay.
Academic Honesty & Integrity 0-25 points: Paper is properly cited using either footnotes or endnotes. Includes a properly formatted Works Cited/Bibliography. Demonstrates agreement between documented sources and citations in the essay text.
Essay Content 0-50 points: Paper content is well-written, organized, has a strong introduction with a clear thesis statement, and is concluded with a summarization of research findings. Paper shows editing, lacking excessive spelling and grammatical errors.
Sources (Types and Recommendations):
Two Books, Two Articles, and One Primary Source are mandatory.
Primary Sources: Written materials, images, and artifacts that produced and are contemporary to the time-period of your subject matter. (examples: a cave drawing produced by an indigenous person, a speech given by an individual, a painting of a street scene).
Secondary Sources: Generally, written materials, images, and artifacts that are produced by individuals after the time-period of your research. Most secondary sources are based upon primary sources.
Internet Sources: Any use of Internet sources should be pre-approved by your instructor before using them in your research. Select internet sources that come from government entities, library archives, universities, and other online primary source repositories.
Internet Sources to avoid:
History.com
Wikipedia.com
Khanacademy.com
Britannia.com
UShistory.net
Huffington post
In no way are these lists all-inclusive. These are meant to represent examples of what is and is not acceptable. When in doubt, please contact me before posting any information.
• The use of unacceptable sources or the avoidance of using a source will result in the loss of points for an assignment.
For articles go to one of the following databases from the Dallas College Library or directly through the Internet:
Academic Search Complete
American History Online
American History and Life
Oxford Scholarship Online eBook in History
Project MUSE: Humanities & Social Science
Sabin
Library of Congress: Chronicling America
