History 477
Devine
Spring 2013
Essay
Assignment #1 (Option B)
INSTRUCTIONS
Essay
#1 Option B is due Sunday, March 17th by 11:59 pm. If you did not turn in an Option A essay, you must complete this assignment. You may email
your essay to me as an attachment (the preferred method), turn it in to the
History Department office (Sierra Tower 610) during business hours, or hand it
to me in person.
If
you are submitting this essay as a draft and intend to work with a writing
tutor on a revision of your essay, please indicate in your email that the
document you are submitting is a draft. Recall that over the course of the
semester, you must work with a writing tutor on ONE paper assignment.
[Graduate students may work
with a writing tutor, but are not required to do so.]
All
students are welcome to make an appointment with me to go over a draft before
submitting a revision.
If you
completed an Option A essay but submit this assignment
as well, I will count only the higher of the two grades.
How Long?
• Papers MUST be 1500 words and no more than
1900 words.
Format?
• Typed,
double-spaced, 12-point font with one-inch margins all around.
• Please
remember to number your pages.
• Give your
essay a title that indicates what the paper is about. (Something more revealing
than “Essay #1” or “
• Base your
essay entirely on the
assigned course reading. You do not have to (nor should
you) draw on any outside sources.
Don’t
forget to put your name at the top of page 1 of the essay before you email it. (People
actually forget to do this.)
How to cite?
If
you are quoting directly from a source, cite the author and page number in
parentheses within the body of the text, i.e. (Kasson, 47). All direct quotes
MUST be in quotation marks and must be cited. Paraphrases of ideas drawn from
the book MUST also be cited.
How will I be
graded?
You will be
graded on:
1) focus (do you have
a thesis statement and does it answer the question asked?)
2) evidence (do you back
up your argument with specific information from the reading?)
3) coherence (is your argument consistent and
understandable throughout the piece?)
4) scope (does your paper deal with the
question in appropriate depth and breadth?)
If
you have any questions or are in any way unsure about what you are being asked
to do, be sure to speak with me via email or in person.
THE ASSIGNMENT
Choose ONE of the following questions: