This should be a research paper on the Louisianna Purchase.
Be sure that your final draft contains footnotes and a bibliography. The final draft will be graded on the following:
Clear, Strong Thesis
Does your thesis clearly state your position on the issue?
Is your thesis arguable?
Is your thesis specific?
Use of Appropriate Sources
Does your paper include primary sources?
Does your paper include scholarly secondary sources?
Does your paper avoid usage of tertiary sources such as Wikipedia, history.com, etc.?
Adequate Primary and Secondary Support (Evidence) for Thesis
Do you back up all of your assertions with specific, verifiable evidence?
Is your paper your own original research, written in your own words?
Historical and Factual Accuracy
Are there factual errors in your paper?
Is your chronology of events correct?
Organization, Clarity and Tone
Is the organization of the paper clear and logical?
Is the tone of the paper academic and professional?
Citations
Do you adequately cite all of the sources of all of your evidence, including both primary and secondary sources?
Are your citations properly formatted Chicago Style footnotes?
Does your paper include a properly formatted bibliography which lists all of your sources?
Mechanics
Is your paper between ten and twelve pages long?
Is your paper formatted according to the requirements described in the class syallabus?
Do you use proper grammar, spelling and syntax?
Is your paper in the correct format?
Is your paper neat?
Just a reminder – if you turn in a final research paper which has been plagiarized or generated by AI, you will receive a zero on the assignment and could fail the class. Don’t do it.
Here is the rubric for the essay:
Clear, Strong Thesis
Your essay should contain a clearly written thesis statement that grapples with a significant historical issue. Your thesis should take a position on that issue. Your thesis should be an arguable statement that expresses your interpretation of historical events.
15 pts
Adequate Primary and Secondary Support for Thesis
Your research paper should support your thesis with both primary and secondary source evidence. All of your secondary sources should be scholarly sources. As appropriate, you should use quotations from primary sources, data and statistics, and specific examples of historical events and trends to support your argument. Your argument should represent your own original point of view.
25 pts
Historical and Factual Accuracy
Your essay should be factually accurate. Your paper should demonstrate an understanding of the important events and chronology associated with your topic.
10 pts
Organization, Clarity and Tone
Your research paper should be clearly organized. You should have an introduction and a conclusion. The paragraphs in the body of the paper should have strong topic sentences that connect the content of the paragraph to the thesis statement. The tone of the essay should be formal and professional.
15 pts
Footnotes and Bibliography
All of the sources you use in your research paper, both primary and secondary, should be documented using footnotes. Your paper should include a bibliography as a separate sheet at the end. Your footnotes and bibliography should be properly formatted in Chicago Style.
15 pts
Mechanics (Grammar, Syntax, Spelling, Format, General Neatness)
Your research paper should be written with good grammar, syntax and spelling. You should proofread carefully to avoid these errors. Your paper should be neat and meet the formatting requirements in the class syllabus. Your paper should be the length required for this assignment (10-12 pages).
10 pts
Use of Appropriate Sources
Paper utilizes at least three scholarly secondary soruces and three primary sources. All secondary sources are scholarly. No tertiary sources are used.
10 pts
Total Points: 100
