InstructionsSectionCShortWritingAssignments.pdf

HIS262C Short Writing Assignments Fall 2020

On two separate occasions, students will write 2-3 page response papers. Papers are due uploaded to Blackboard by 12pm of the beginning of the Friday class of your choosing. You may choose which week you would like to write on based on your interests, other assignments, and your workload in your other classes. EXCEPTION: first-year students must submit a paper by Friday October 2, 2020.

For each of the short papers, you will choose one Review Question listed at the end of each chapter in Give Me Liberty. You are not expected to use any outside sources in your paper, but instead to reflect on the question based on your chapter reading.

Note: the Review Questions for this assignment follow the chapters in the orange book, Give Me Liberty, not the blue document reader. On Friday, September 4, we will have time in-class to discuss the writing assignments and work on thesis statements and incorporating evidence into your writing. General Instructions:

• Essays are due uploaded to Blackboard by 12pm (noon) the Friday of your choosing • Essays must be double-spaced and in a reasonable 12-point font • Please write out the entire question at the top of your paper so I know which

question you chose • Although not a formal research essay, your response should be thoughtful and

demonstrate engagement with the chapter reading. • Incorporate direct evidence from the text in your response. • Use a basic in-text parenthetical citation for Foner quotations to indicate the page

number, e.g. (554). If you use any other source, you will have to cite that as well. Tips:

• Don’t give yourself more work! I do not expect you to do any outside reading or research. Rather, the goal of the short assignments is to have you digest and reflect upon the chapters of Give Me Liberty.

• Organize your essay into clear paragraphs. • Weave the text into your response; for example:

The Compromise of 1877 served to effectively end the Reconstruction era, although as Foner writes, the forces at work in “the nation’s adjustment to the destruction of slavery” continued (583).

• Adhere to the length guidelines as closely as you can. A little bit under or over is not a problem, but please do not hand me a ten-page paper or a single paragraph.

• Proof read for clarity, spelling, and grammar

Questions to Ask Yourself

Did I…

Write out the entire question at the top of my paper?

Use direct quotations from the text in my response?

Answer the question?

Upload my paper to Blackboard by noon on Friday?

Is my paper…

At least 2 pages in length?

Free of spelling and grammatical errors?

Organized into paragraphs?

*If you have completed two papers before the last possible week to submit, you have the option of writing a third paper, and I take your two highest grades. So if you’ve written two papers by Friday, November 6th, you can write the optional third for Friday, November 13th.